The use of loot boxes is endemic in contemporary games, having
originated in the free-to-play games of China and Japan they are now a
common feature in almost every type of business model and genre.
Primarily used to increase monetisation they are not without controversy
as they have been accused of driving a “pay-to-win” approach to gaming
and have even been linked to the development of problematic gambling
behaviours. Considering the fact that there are a huge range of
disparate practices connected to loot boxes, and that loot boxes are
present in all forms of contemporary games this research asks the
following question: Which business models and game genres, if any, are
associated with increased opening of paid loot boxes? We employed survey
data (N=613) gathered among gamers. We can conclude that loot boxes
seem to be pervasive across games and there is no strong evidence that
any business model of genre would clearly predict loot box opening
activities and that players of all kinds of games probably encounter
them in the gaming activities one way or the other. However, we can also
conclude that loot box opening activities seems to be most strongly
connected with both the retail and free-to-play business models as well
as the shooter game genre.