Around one in six children steal money from their parents to pay for video game loot boxes – in-game ‘treasure chests’ that award players random virtual prizes.
In a survey of British teen and young adult gamers, Gambling Health Alliance (GHA) found 15 percent had taken money from parents without permission to buy loot boxes.
Overall, one in ten – 11 percent – had used their parents’ credit or สล็อต debit cards to fund their loot box purchases, while 9 percent had borrowed money they couldn’t repay for the addictive in-game feature.
Three young gamers’ loot box buying habits resulted in their families having to re-mortgage their homes to cover the costs, according to the study.
GHA is currently putting pressure on the UK government to class loot boxes in video games virtual prizes as a form of gambling.
Experts argue that ‘loot boxes’ in video games are a form of gambling.
One psychologist has said that the boxes, which regularly appear in games for children and สล็อต can be bought with real money, are ‘literally slot machines’. Pictured is a loot box in the popular shooter Overwatch
