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Loot boxes are digital containers of randomised rewards present in some video games which are often purchasable for real world money. Recently, concerns have been raised that loot boxes might approximate traditional gambling activities, and that people with gambling problems have been shown to spend more on loot boxes than peers without gambling problems. Some argue that the regulation of loot boxes as gambling-like mechanics is inappropriate because similar activities which also bear striking similarities to traditional forms of gambling, such as collectable card games, are not subject to such regulations. Players of collectible card games often buy sealed physical packs of cards, and these 'booster packs' share many formal similarities with loot boxes. However, not everything which appears similar to gambling requires regulation. Here, in a large sample of collectible card game players (n = 726), we show no statistically significant link between in real-world store spending on physical booster and problem gambling (p = 0.110, η2 = 0.004), and a trivial in magnitude relationship between spending on booster packs in online stores and problem gambling (p = 0.035, η2 = 0.008). Follow-up equivalence tests using the TOST procedure rejected the hypothesis that either of these effects was of practical importance (η2 > 0.04). Thus, although collectable card game booster packs, like loot boxes, share structural similarities with gambling, it appears that they may not be linked to problem gambling in the same way as loot boxes. We discuss potential reasons for these differences. Decisions regarding regulation of activities which share structural features with traditional forms of gambling should be made on the basis of definitional criteria as well as whether people with gambling problems purchase such items at a higher rate than peers with no gambling problems. Our research suggests that there is currently little evidence to support the regulation of collectable card games., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Feature-based attention allocates resources to particular stimulus features and reduces processing and retention of unattended features. We performed four experiments using self-paced video games to investigate whether sustained attentional selection of features could be created without a distractor task requiring continuous processing. Experiments 1 and 2 compared two versions of the game Two Dots, each containing a sequence of images. For the more immersive game post-game recognition of images was very low, but for the less immersive game it was significantly higher. Experiments 3 and 4 found that post-game image recognition was very low if the images were irrelevant to the game task but significantly higher if the images were relevant to the task. We conclude that games create sustained attentional selection away from task-irrelevant features, even if they are in full view, which leads to reduced retention. This reduced retention is due to differences in attentional set rather than a response to limited processing resources. The consistency of this attentional selection is moderated by the level of immersion in the game. We also discuss possible attentional mechanisms for the changes in recognition rates and the implications for applications such as serious games.

Background and Aims: Loot boxes are items in video games that may be bought for real-world money but provide randomized rewards. Formal similarities between loot boxes and gambling have led to concerns that they may provide a 'gateway' to gambling amongst children. However, the availability of loot boxes is unclear. This study aimed to determine what proportion of top-grossing video games contained loot boxes, and how many of those games were available to children., Design, Setting and Cases: Survey of the 100 top-grossing games on both the Google Play store and the Apple App store, and the top 50 most-played games on Steam according to the data aggregator SteamSpy., Measurements: The prevalence of loot boxes was measured for each platform outlined above, split by age rating., Findings: A total of 58.0% of the top games on the Google Play store contained loot boxes, 59.0% of the top iPhone games contained loot boxes and 36.0% of the top games on the Steam store contained loot boxes; 93.1% of the Android games that featured loot boxes and 94.9% of the iPhone games that featured loot boxes were deemed suitable for children aged 12+. Age ratings were more conservative for desktop games. Only 38.8% of desktop games that featured loot boxes were available to children aged 12+., Conclusions: Loot boxes appear to be prevalent in video games that are deemed suitable for children, especially on mobile platforms., (© 2020 Society for the Study of Addiction.)

Loot boxes are items in video games that can be paid for with real-world money and contain randomised contents. In recent years, loot boxes have become increasingly common. There is concern in the research community that similarities between loot boxes and gambling may lead to increases in problem gambling amongst gamers. A large-scale survey of gamers (n = 7,422) found evidence for a link (η2 = 0.054) between the amount that gamers spent on loot boxes and the severity of their problem gambling. This link was stronger than a link between problem gambling and buying other in-game items with real-world money (η2 = 0.004), suggesting that the gambling-like features of loot boxes are specifically responsible for the observed relationship between problem gambling and spending on loot boxes. It is unclear from this study whether buying loot boxes acts as a gateway to problem gambling, or whether spending large amounts of money on loot boxes appeals more to problem gamblers. However, in either case these results suggest that there may be good reason to regulate loot boxes in games., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

It is increasingly recognized that there are many players of mainstream digital games who have some form of disability. It is not known which aspects of games are valued by players, regardless of whether they have a disability. We report on a survey of 71 players from the general game community and 123 players with disabilities asking what makes games important to them. We found established motivations to play such as social connection and escapism but additionally that players find games beneficial and provide artistic experiences. Players with disabilities explicitly referred to games helping them to feel enabled or being on a level footing with nondisabled players. The value of accessible games is not just mere play but playing the same games as everyone else. This implies that achieving accessibility through adapting games is an important approach to provide the valued connection and enablement that games provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be bought with real-world money but contain randomised contents. Due to similarities between loot boxes and gambling, various countries are considering regulating them to reduce gambling-related harm. However, loot boxes are extremely diverse. A key problem facing regulators is determining whether specific types of loot boxes carry more potential for harm, and should be regulated accordingly. In this study, we specify seven key ways that loot boxes may differ from each other: They may involve paid or unpaid openings; give opportunities for cashing out; allow gamers to pay to win; involve the use of an in-game currency; feature crate and key mechanics; show near misses; and contain exclusive items. We then use a large-scale preregistered correlational analysis (n = 1200) to determine if any of these features strengthen the link between loot box spending and problem gambling. Our results indicate that being able to cash out, showing near-misses, and letting players use in-game currency to buy loot boxes may weakly strengthen the relationship between loot box spending and problem gambling. However, our main conclusion is that regardless of the presence or absence of specific features of loot boxes, if they are being sold to players for real-world money, then their purchase is linked to problem gambling. • Preregistered analysis replicates links between loot box spending and problem gambling (η2 = 0.092). • Loot box spending remains linked to problem gambling, regardless of presence or absence of features like cash-out. • Cash out, near-misses, and using in-game currency strengthened links between problem gambling and loot box spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loot boxes are items in video games that contain randomised contents and can be purchased with real-world money. Similarities between loot boxes and forms of gambling have led to questions about their legal status, and whether they should be regulated as gambling. Previous research has suggested a link between the amount that gamers spend on loot boxes and their problem gambling: The more individuals spent on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling. However, the generalisability of prior work may be limited by both the self-selected nature of the sample under test, and the fact that participants were aware of the study’s aims. A large-scale survey of gamers (n = 1,172) was undertaken to determine if this link remained when these limitations of previous work were taken into account. These gamers did not self-select into a loot box study and were not aware of the study’s aims. This study found similar evidence for a link (η2 = 0.051) between the amount that gamers spent on loot boxes and the severity of their problem gambling. Previous research strongly suggested both the size and the direction of link between loot box use and problem gambling. This paper provides further support for this link. These results suggest either that loot boxes act as a gateway to problem gambling, or that individuals with gambling problems are drawn to spend more on loot boxes. In either case, we believe that these results suggest there is good reason to regulate loot boxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video games depict a variety of different concepts. Models of learning in games like the GLM (General Learning Model) and GAM (General Aggression Model) predict that exposing players to these in-game concepts can lead to important changes in player behaviour. Priming effects are thought to be key to determining these changes in behaviour. However, recent research has suggested problems with the priming effects that have previously been observed in the video game literature. Indeed, widespread methodological issues with this body of research make it unclear whether priming effects occur at all in video games. Two experiments (total N = 532) investigated whether priming effects still occurred in video games when known confounds in the literature were accounted for. Priming was observed in neither study. However, in both studies a novel negative priming effect was observed instead, in which exposure to a specific concept inhibited players’ reactions to things that were related to that concept. These studies support previous research which indicates there may be serious confounding in the video game literature. They also suggest that the priming-related effects of video games may be overestimated. Finally, they highlight the potential existence of negative priming as an effect of video game play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social play is an increasingly important constituent of the digital game experience. Though there is a growing understanding of how the social context influences the experience of playing, there is little known about how the experience of play influences the social experience. Specifically, it is not even known whether winning or losing affects a player's sense of social presence with their co-players. This paper provides the results of two studies aiming to explore this interaction. The first study is a lab-based study that looked at whether social presence varied in collocated teams playing team-based games depending on whether they won or lost. The second study is a user experience survey which measured how variables in the context of gameplay affected social presence across a number of team-based online games. The results of both studies show that when teams lose, the negative impact on social presence is greater within teams than between the competing teams. This has implications for how studies in this area should be analysed and also, through consideration of individual games, suggests that mechanisms in the games may lead to the reduced social presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational analysis of player style has significant potential for video game design: it can provide insights into player behavior, as well as the means to dynamically adapt a game to each individual's style of play. To realize this potential, computational methods need to go beyond considerations of challenge and ability and account for aesthetic aspects of player style. We describe here a semiautomatic unsupervised learning approach to modeling player style using multiclass linear discriminant analysis (LDA). We argue that this approach is widely applicable for modeling player style in a wide range of games, including commercial applications, and illustrate it with two case studies: the first for a novel arcade game called Snakeotron, and the second for Rogue Trooper, a modern commercial third-person shooter video game. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Scale measuring perceived challenge in video games. • Four sub-scales (30 items) measuring four types of perceived challenge in video games: cognitive, performative, emotional, and decision-making challenge. • Development and validation are carried out over three studies including 1390 players with diverse backgrounds playing video games from a range of genres. • The questionnaire is a systematic, extensive, reliable, and valid tool to measure perceived challenge in video games. Challenge is a key element of digital games, but a clear conceptualisation and operationalisation of this player experience were long missing. This made it hard for game researchers to measure this experience in different video games across different skill sets and impeded the synthesis of challenge-related games research. To overcome this, we introduce a systematic, extensive, and reliable instrument to evaluate the level of players' perceived challenge in digital games. We conceptualise challenge based on a survey of related literature in games user research, design and AI, as well as interviews with researchers and players. Exploratory factor analysis (N=394) highlights four components of experienced challenge: performative, emotional, cognitive and decision-making challenge. Refinement of the items allowed us to devise the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS), which has been further validated in a study with nearly 1000 players. The questionnaire exhibits good construct validity for use by both game developers and researchers to quantify players' challenge experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]