Opening Pandora’s Loot Box: Weak Links Between Gambling and Loot Box Expenditure in China, and Player Opinions on Probability Disclosures and Pity-Timers

Loot boxes are quasi-gambling virtual products in video games that provide randomised rewards of varying value. Previous studies in Western contexts have identified a positive correlation between loot box purchasing and problem gambling. A preregistered survey of People’s Republic of China (PRC) video game players (N = 879) failed to replicate this correlation, possibly due to a low level of gambling participation (n = 87). Statistically significant but clinically insignificant positive correlations between loot box expenditure and past-year gambling participation, and between loot box expenditure and impulsiveness, were found. The only legally permitted form of gambling in the PRC is the lottery: the unavailability of gamified and electronic legal gambling products in the PRC may have affected these relationships. Additionally, the PRC is presently the only country to legally require loot box probability disclosures as a consumer protection measure. Most loot box purchasers (84.6%) reported seeing loot box probability disclosures, but only 19.3% of this group reported consequently spending less money. Most loot box purchasers (86.9%) thought that pity-timers, which increase the winning probabilities of obtaining rarer rewards, are appropriate for implementation. Future loot box research should give greater consideration to cultural contexts, methodological choices, and novel consumer protection measures.