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---
title: What is a loot box?
credits: XPUB
contents:
- img: purple_what-is-a-loot-box.jpg
alt: ''
- A closed box with objects inside.
- A digital or physical box.
- A virtual box inside video games containing randomized items.
- |-
A virtual box of hidden
motives, designed
to persuade and
trick players.
- |-
A virtual box where
the user can pay and
access products. Those
items can be useful to
develop you character
in the game or can
be collectable.
- A lottery box.
- |-
It looks like a real gift,
but you purchase it
for yourself.
- You choose it.
- You get something nice.
- |-
A box embedded in
a context.
- It works within the context of a game.
- It works outside the context of a game.
- When the game gets tough, the loot box offers you a shortcut.
- nw: Payment
se: Reward
- A virtual feature that players can purchase with real money. It is usually available in free-to-play games or full-price games.
- "You don't get it for free, and you don't know what you get."
- 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.
- Fast-thinking
- It is what motivates immediate irrational purchases.
- It can be rational in the context of the game.
- A quest, narrative or social pressure can justify any loot box.
- It appears and disappears quickly in order to seem exclusive. Thus, it makes the player buy it without thinking too much.
- Time pressure creates artificial urgency (jeopardy).
- Excitement and anticipation
- A feeling of excitement and anticipation could be related to the excitement of gambling.
- You know that there is a chance of getting some items that you desire.
- It is desirable because it creates rare chances to get powerful items.
- It is like gambling because you anticipate what is inside.
- Surprise mechanism
- The element of surprise is a highly appreciated aspect of the loot box.
- 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.
- |-
Addictiveness is
connected to the
surprise mechanism: the
moment of anticipation
is addictive. It makes
you feel that anything
is possible.
- "It's like the cat in the box: is she dead or is she alive? She is both until you open the box."
- An entertaining element.
- |-
It keeps the players
hooked to the game by
using an element
of surprise.
- The player never knows what is inside of it.
- |-
Surprise that comes
with consequences.
- The immediate reward makes it fun. The risk comes with pleasure.
- 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.
- A reward after accomplishing a really heroic task.
- An immediately rewarding response preceded by a generally customized trigger.
- A guaranteed reward in exchange for money.
- Progress in the game
- You have more power in the game.
- Sometimes the game doesnt reach its full potential without buying a loot box. That makes players feel compelled to make a purchase.
- You will get better if you buy a loot box.
- sw: Emotional trigger
ne: Collectible item
- Strong emotional reactions are tied to the financial elements.
- nw: Excitement
se: Disappointment
- ne: Desire
sw: Exploitation
- "Even if you don't get exactly what you wish for, you will get something, and you feel somehow rewarded."
- Incremental rewards
- It is disguised as safe and innocent.
- You can keep opening loot boxes forever.
- It interfaces the game and the real world.
- "Its an alternate reality experience of collecting things you can't own in real life."
- |-
Its a pulse in the
circulation of resources
between a virtual game
and the reality outside
of it.
- Loot box as currency exchange
- ne: Game coin
sw: Real money
- nw: Power-Up
se: Pleasure
- Designed to be addictive
- Very real addictive mechanisms.
- A repeated scheme that ensures constant spending into virtual game currencies.
- Designed to be desirable and to be purchased again and again.
- Some rewards are rare and that makes the loot box desirable.
- It puts you in a condition for purchasing without thinking too much.
- Its timespan is similar to the discount periods or Black Friday.
- Looking under the hood.
- |-
A trigger for
addictive behaviour.
- |-
A gambling mechanism,
exploitative by design,
that promises immediate
in-game rewards to
the player.
- |-
The rewards of the loot
box can affect both the
gameplay and the social
environment around
the game.
- |-
It sets the beat
for repeated
microtransactions.
- |-
It's a repetitive
rhythm for the
player's temporality.
- It builds a habit by triggering the attention and the emotional response of the player.
- "It's fun."
- |-
It ensures that you
keep playing
potentially forever.
- From habit to addiction.
- You pay money to obtain something new.
- sw: Ritual
ne: Thrill
- nw: Risk
se: Destiny
- It hacks the temporality of a game.
- |-
It allows you
to customize your
game character.
- It shifts the dynamics in the game.
- |-
It provides you with
collectables or power-
ups that make you
progress inside
the game.
- |-
A temporalized tool
for the distribution
and management
of resources.
- The potentially endless collection creates artificial needs.
- The benefits for you are emotional. The benefits for the game platforms are financial.
- "A money-making mechanism that uses real-world money in video games' worlds."
- |-
It targets
vulnerable players.
- |-
A trigger for
addictive behaviour.
- |-
A trigger for
toxic behaviour.
- An escape from real life.
- Fake promises.
- |-
FOMO (fear of
missing out)
- The surprise mechanism and exclusivity of the loot box creates a constant FOMO.
- Peer pressure
- ne: Social pressure
sw: Individual engagement
- A personalized 1 to 1 interaction
- 1 to machine interaction
---