Videogame player experiences with micro-transactions: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Review Communication

Loot boxes, problem gambling and problem video gaming: A systematic review and meta-synthesis

Stuart Gordon Spicer et al.

Summary: Research indicates associations between loot box purchasing and problem gambling/problem video gaming, with varying effect sizes, but suggests potential benefits for harm minimisation through policy interventions.

NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Article Business

Predatory Monetisation? A Categorisation of Unfair, Misleading and Aggressive Monetisation Techniques in Digital Games from the Player Perspective

Elena Petrovskaya et al.

Summary: Technological shifts in the video game industry have transformed many games into platforms requiring repeated spending, raising concerns about unfair or exploitative practices. A study identified various problematic monetisation techniques perceived by players, some of which do not align with existing UK consumer protection regulations.

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Review Psychology, Multidisciplinary

The relationship between videogame micro-transactions and problem gaming and gambling: A systematic review

Erin Gibson et al.

Summary: A systematic review of 19 studies found that there is a relationship between micro-transactions and problem gambling, and the frequency of payment for micro-transactions is a key factor in this relationship. Further research is needed to understand the causality of these relationships.

COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Review Psychology, Multidisciplinary

Gaming Disorder: A systematic review exploring the user-avatar relationship in videogames

Kim Szolin et al.

Summary: The study found that players often design avatars to resemble their ideal selves and use them to compensate for perceived physical-world inadequacies. The user-avatar relationship may help reduce feelings of inadequacy, but can also contribute to gaming disorder.

COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Article Business

Rocking the Boat: Loot Boxes in Online Digital Games, the Regulatory Challenge, and the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

D. Leahy

Summary: This paper examines the regulatory puzzle of loot boxes and proposes an alternative paradigm of player protection. It also argues for an interim approach to tackle immediate concerns and explores the role of the updated UCPD in game design.

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER POLICY (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Article Substance Abuse

Pay-to-Win Gaming and its Interrelation with Gambling: Findings from a Representative Population Sample

Fred Steinmetz et al.

Summary: Pay-to-Win gaming is a common type of video game design where players can advance in the game by paying, sharing similarities with gambling and attracting a distinct consumer group with considerable attraction to gambling. High engagement and problematic behavior in one game form affects involvement in the other, with a common ground being the facilitation of recurring payments.

JOURNAL OF GAMBLING STUDIES (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Article Substance Abuse

On the stability and the progression of gambling problems: longitudinal relations between different problems related to gambling

Pawel Sleczka et al.

Summary: This study investigated the association between baseline symptoms of gambling problems and other symptoms, as well as the overall severity of gambling problems after 12 months. It found that chasing and tolerance significantly increased the risk of transitioning to more severe gambling problems. After 1 year, stability rates of different symptoms ranged from 22% to 42%, with chasing being the most stable problem.

ADDICTION (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Medicine, General & Internal

It's the Attraction of Winning That Draws You in-A Qualitative Investigation of Reasons and Facilitators for Videogame Loot Box Engagement in UK Gamers

Laura Louise Nicklin et al.

Summary: Excessive engagement with loot boxes in games is consistently linked with disordered gambling and/or gaming. Understanding motivations for buying loot boxes is important, and this qualitative study categorised reasons into seven themes through in-depth interviews with gamers. Findings suggest that certain motivations were disproportionately endorsed by participants with symptoms of problematic gambling, potentially impacting policy and warranting further study.

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Psychology, Clinical

Secondary analysis of loot box data: Are high-spending ? whales ? wealthy gamers or problem gamblers?

James Close et al.

Summary: Research indicates that a significant portion of loot box revenue comes from high-level spenders, who also show correlations with problem gambling. This suggests that game developers may be profiting from moderate and high-risk gamblers, rather than high earning customers.

ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Psychiatry

Skin gambling predicts problematic gambling amongst adolescents when controlling for monetary gambling

Nerilee Hing et al.

Summary: The study found that adolescent skin gamblers were more likely to have lower well-being and to meet criteria for Internet gaming disorder and problem gambling. Even when controlling for other forms of monetary gambling, past-month skin gambling uniquely predicted problem gambling. This highlights the unique contribution of skin gambling to gambling problems and risks.

JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL ADDICTIONS (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Psychology, Multidisciplinary

Achieving excellence in interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA): Four markers of high quality

Isabella E. Nizza et al.

Summary: This article presents four qualities that are considered hallmark of high quality IPA research, with detailed discussions and illustrations from exemplary IPA works. These qualities include constructing a compelling narrative, developing a vigorous experiential and/or existential account, close analytic reading of participants' words, and attending to convergence and divergence. Finally, the four qualities are briefly discussed in relation to the theoretical underpinnings of IPA.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Psychology, Social

Loot Boxes, Gambling, and Problem Gambling Among Young People: Results from a Cross-Sectional Online Survey

Heather Wardle et al.

Summary: This study examined the relationship between purchasing loot boxes within video games, gambling behavior, and problem gambling among young adults. The results showed that young adults who purchase loot boxes are more likely to be gamblers and experience problem gambling, highlighting them as a high-risk group for developing gambling problems.

CYBERPSYCHOLOGY BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL NETWORKING (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Substance Abuse

General motivations, basic psychological needs, and problem gambling: applying the framework of Self-Determination Theory

Devin J. Mills et al.

Summary: Research has shown that problem gambling is influenced by a complex mix of bio-psycho-social factors, and Self-Determination Theory suggests that individual characteristics may lead to problem gambling through frustration of basic psychological needs. Increased susceptibility to external pressures and lack of control have been found to be associated with frustration of basic needs and subsequently problem gambling. Gamblers are particularly vulnerable to problem gambling when they perceive little or no control over their actions.

ADDICTION RESEARCH & THEORY (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Cultural Studies

Are Loot Boxes Addictive? Analyzing Participant's Physiological Arousal While Opening a Loot Box

Andrew Brady et al.

Summary: The research suggests that gamers purchasing loot boxes through microtransactions may experience increases in physiological arousal, while problematic gamblers become hyposensitive to rewards. The negative correlation between gaming addiction scores and physiological arousal indicates that microtransactions in gaming could lead to problematic levels of use.

GAMES AND CULTURE (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Substance Abuse

Rare Loot Box Rewards Trigger Larger Arousal and Reward Responses, and Greater Urge to Open More Loot Boxes

Chanel J. Larche et al.

Summary: The research shows that loot boxes containing rarer items are more valuable and arousing to players, triggering larger physiological responses. These findings suggest potential risks of excessive use for some players.

JOURNAL OF GAMBLING STUDIES (2021)

添加到收藏夹

Article Psychology, Biological