Australian study: Loot boxes are more like gambling than baseball cards

In June, the Australian Parliament’s Environment and Communications References Committee began researching video game loot boxes. Just two-and-a-half months later, the group has reported its findings. And it’s bad news Electronic Arts and most of the mobile gaming business, according to news site Lexology.

Lead investigators Dr. David Zendle and Dr. Paul Cairns examined nearly 7,500 individuals. The researchers claim people who have problems with gambling tend to spend more on loot boxes. I’ve reached out to committee to get more details on its methodology. I’ll update this post once I have that information.