At the end of November 2018, Reddit user Kensgold wrote an open letter to Electronic Arts. In an interview with Kotaku, he said that he had spent about $13,000 on loot boxes in three years: Kensgold went to school and worked part-time as a waiter and spent his entire salary on games. At one point, he even had to get a second job to be able to spend even more money on loot boxes. The young man managed to get rid of his addiction and start a normal life only with the help of a psychoanalyst.

Ruth, a 39-year-old London resident, closed her credit lines. She wrote an overdraft waiver to her bank and deleted all games from her phone, where she could spend money on loot boxes. She explained that addiction is extremely difficult to spot: it remains invisible until it's too late.

To understand exactly what people who have become addicted are talking about, it is worth explaining the concept of "addiction". A psychologist gives this comment:

"Addiction is a person's need for a certain activity, which arises in an addicted person when it is impossible to cope with emotion or situation that is difficult to endure. The addictive action helps to escape from reality for a while. The action leaves a positive experience in mind - the person feels good for a while after the addictive action has taken place. Addiction appears when the person realizes that this action made his reality more bearable for a while. Then the person strenuously seeks to repeat it over and over again.

Many people compare loot boxes to sports betting and casinos. Many players who first get free no deposit bonuses like https://topcadcasinos.net/no-deposit/, then become addicted to real bets and lose all their money on them.

So, you've come to the conclusion that your game needs loot boxes, especially since players don't mind and the genre allows it. What should you pay attention to when integrating such mechanics into the game?

• Avoid creating a betting structure that gives you a chance to win or lose.
• Make it so that currency to buy loot boxes can be earned during the game.
• Try to show players in advance what they will get in the loot box: cosmetics, weapons, and so on.
• If a loot box may drop an item that a player already has, allow players to use a duplicate item to their advantage so that loot boxes are always satisfying.
• Prohibit swapping items obtained in loot boxes to minimize the feeling that certain items are more valuable.
• Consider implementing parental controls on loot box purchases.
• Take care to detail the mechanics of the loot boxes so that players clearly understand what they are buying and for what purpose.
• Create a system of protection against unauthorized secondary markets, where virtual items from your game can be sold illegally and at an inflated price.