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---
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title: What is a loot box?
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credits: XPUB
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contents:
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- pic: what-is-a-loot-box.jpg
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- A closed box with objects inside.
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- A digital or physical box.
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- A virtual box inside video games containing randomized items.
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A virtual box of hidden
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motives, designed
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to persuade and
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trick players.
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A virtual box where
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the user can pay and
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access products. Those
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items can be useful to
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develop you character
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in the game or can
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be collectable.
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- A lottery box.
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It looks like a real gift,
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but you purchase it
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for yourself.
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- You choose it.
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- You get something nice.
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A box embedded in
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a context.
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- It works within the context of a game.
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- It works outside the context of a game.
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- When the game gets tough, the loot box offers you a shortcut.
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- nw: Payment
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se: Reward
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- A virtual feature that players can purchase with real money. It is usually available in free-to-play games or full-price games.
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- "You don't get it for free, and you don't know what you get."
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- A promise for a virtual treasure that is purchased with real money. You buy a virtual treasure hoping it contains something valuable within the world of the game.
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- Fast-thinking
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- It is what motivates immediate irrational purchases.
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- It can be rational in the context of the game.
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- A quest, narrative or social pressure can justify any loot box.
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- It appears and disappears quickly in order to seem exclusive. Thus, it makes the player buy it without thinking too much.
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- Time pressure creates artificial urgency (jeopardy).
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- Excitement and anticipation
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- A feeling of excitement and anticipation could be related to the excitement of gambling.
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- You know that there is a chance of getting some items that you desire.
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- It is desirable because it creates rare chances to get powerful items.
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- It is like gambling because you anticipate what is inside.
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- Surprise mechanism
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- The element of surprise is a highly appreciated aspect of the loot box.
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- A secret treasure that is not worth the money you pay for it, nor the expectations you have for it. However, that is somehow exciting.
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Addictiveness is
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connected to the
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surprise mechanism: the
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moment of anticipation
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is addictive. It makes
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you feel that anything
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is possible.
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- "It's like the cat in the box: is she dead or is she alive? She is both until you open the box."
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- An entertaining element.
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It keeps the players
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hooked to the game by
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using an element
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of surprise.
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- The player never knows what is inside of it.
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Surprise that comes
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with consequences.
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- The immediate reward makes it fun. The risk comes with pleasure.
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- It derives from the loot, a bunch of goodies that you can get as a reward after you conquer a super boss or level up.
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- A reward after accomplishing a really heroic task.
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- An immediately rewarding response preceded by a generally customized trigger.
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- A guaranteed reward in exchange for money.
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- Progress in the game
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- You have more power in the game.
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- Sometimes the game doesn’t reach its full potential without buying a loot box. That makes players feel compelled to make a purchase.
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- You will get better if you buy a loot box.
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- sw: Emotional trigger
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ne: Collectible item
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- Strong emotional reactions are tied to the financial elements.
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- nw: Excitement
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se: Disappointment
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- ne: Desire
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sw: Exploitation
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- "Even if you don't get exactly what you wish for, you will get something, and you feel somehow rewarded."
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- Incremental rewards
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- It is disguised as safe and innocent.
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- You can keep opening loot boxes forever.
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- It interfaces the game and the real world.
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- "It’s an alternate reality experience of collecting things you can't own in real life."
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It’s a pulse in the
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circulation of resources
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between a virtual game
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and the reality outside
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of it.
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- Loot box as currency exchange
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- ne: Game coin
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sw: Real money
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- nw: Power-Up
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se: Pleasure
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- Designed to be addictive
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- Very real addictive mechanisms.
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- A repeated scheme that ensures constant spending into virtual game currencies.
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- Designed to be desirable and to be purchased again and again.
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- Some rewards are rare and that makes the loot box desirable.
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- It puts you in a condition for purchasing without thinking too much.
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- Its timespan is similar to the discount periods or Black Friday.
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- Looking under the hood.
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A trigger for
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addictive behaviour.
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A gambling mechanism,
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exploitative by design,
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that promises immediate
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in-game rewards to
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the player.
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The rewards of the loot
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box can affect both the
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gameplay and the social
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environment around
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the game.
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It sets the beat
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for repeated
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microtransactions.
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It's a repetitive
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rhythm for the
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player's temporality.
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- It builds a habit by triggering the attention and the emotional response of the player.
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- "It's fun."
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It ensures that you
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keep playing
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potentially forever.
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- From habit to addiction.
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- You pay money to obtain something new.
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- sw: Ritual
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ne: Thrill
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- nw: Risk
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se: Destiny
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- It hacks the temporality of a game.
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It allows you
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to customize your
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game character.
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- It shifts the dynamics in the game.
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It provides you with
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collectables or power-
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ups that make you
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progress inside
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the game.
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A temporalized tool
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for the distribution
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and management
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of resources.
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- The potentially endless collection creates artificial needs.
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- The benefits for you are emotional. The benefits for the game platforms are financial.
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- "A money-making mechanism that uses real-world money in video games' worlds."
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It targets
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vulnerable players.
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A trigger for
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addictive behaviour.
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A trigger for
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toxic behaviour.
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- An escape from real life.
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- Fake promises.
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FOMO (fear of
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missing out)
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- The surprise mechanism and exclusivity of the loot box creates a constant FOMO.
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- Peer pressure
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- ne: Social pressure
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sw: Individual engagement
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- A personalized 1 to 1 interaction
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- 1 to machine interaction
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---
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