Sale of Products with Random Content Including the So-Called Loot Boxes. The Phenomenon and its Similarity to Arranging Gambling Games
Abstract
The goal of this article is to present the problem of the sale of products with random content. Even though such products have been available on the market for many years it was not until recently that they began to raise doubts and controversies. The reason for this change lies mainly in the reactions to the solutions implemented in video games by their producers. More and more often they offer the players so-called loot boxes, i.e. products with randomly generated content which can be used within the game. The phenomenon grew to such a scale that in some countries governments and authorities supervising the gambling sector took interest in it. Similar interest is currently being generated in various fields of science, especially psychology. In this article, basic concepts needed to properly understand this phenomenon are defined. The producers’ motives for the ‘random content’ model of distributionand the reasons behind the legislators’ interest in it are also presented. The work also discusses the similarities between goods with random content and gambling. Presented are both psychological and legal aspects (with regards to laws regulating the gambling industryin selected countries). Reflections on this matter are based mostly on the review of current literature.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/ks.2019.7.2.110-131
Date of publication: 2020-11-19 19:44:13
Date of submission: 2020-06-13 11:35:10
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