Video games are considered a niche entertainment market by many authorities. Prevailing business models are technically complex or novel. Over the past two decades, in-game purchases – in-game sales of additional digital content – have become a major source of revenue for the industry, generating more than USD 15 billion in 2020.ĭespite being a major industry, the video game sector has largely evaded regulatory scrutiny. The industry has historically generated revenue largely from the sale of video games. Worldwide, more than 2.8 billion consumers reportedly play video games on a regular basis, including children, teenagers, and adults.
The video game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world, more lucrative than box office movies and music sales. Targeting loot boxes and manipulative practices towards minors.Using layers of virtual currencies to mask or distort real-world monetary costs.Exploiting cognitive biases and vulnerabilities through deceptive design and marketing.
The report highlights problematic practices, including: – Games manipulate consumers to spend large sums of money through aggressive marketing, exploitation of cognitive biases, and misleading probabilities, says Myrstad. The report shows how gaming companies utilize a variety of highly problematic practices to increase their own revenue. Foto: The Norwegioan consumer council A variety of problematic mechanisms Through our work we have established that the sale and presentation of loot boxes often involve exploiting consumers through predatory mechanisms, fostering addiction, targeting vulnerable consumer groups and more, says Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council. – Loot boxes have been the source of several controversies already. Consumers have no way of knowing what they contain until they have paid for them. The contents of loot boxes are randomized, containing in-game content which gives gamers advantages or cosmetic items to use in the game. Loot boxes are “mystery packages” of digital content in video games which consumers purchase with real money. The Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) published the report “INSERT COIN: How the gaming industry exploits consumers using loot boxes” today, and more than 20 consumer groups from 18 European countries are launching a coordinated action asking authorities to act. Consumer organizations all over the world are coming together to call for regulation. Loot boxes present consumers with an array of problematic practices. Loot boxes: How the gaming industry manipulates and exploits consumersĭeceptive design, aggressive marketing, and misleading probabilities.
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