Video Game Development & Its Negative Effects On Kids
As our civilization started to become more advanced, we always strive to create an entertainment medium that could fill our mundane life. From the creation of toys until the inventions of digital mediums such as the radio and the television we always seek for the unimaginable for our enjoyment. The term Game has a very broad definition; anything that has a win or lose condition could be defined as a game even as simple as a conversation. Gaming is also an idea that has been around for a century that constantly changes as we progress technologically and intellectually as a society: an example would be the invention of non-digital mediums, such as board games like chess.
During the year 1958, the very first of what we call Video Game or digital entertainment was born by the hands of a Physicist by the name of William Higinbotham (June, L. 2012); he created a game that could be described as digital tennis. Though it was not widely popular to the general public, it was a start of something much bigger than we could ever imagine. The 1970s could be said to be the start of modern gaming as arcade games started to show up in most cities. Fast-forward 30 years, in the 21st century, the industry and technology grew faster than what was expected. Video gaming that was once only for a certain audience, now in 2018; half of the people living in the United States has a video game console in their homes (Nielson, 2018).
In our modern society that we live in, the Internet now connects everything and the problem of modern gaming is how they try to put monetization within their games. Monetization within video games was not a yesterday worth idea, but it was a decade idea that first showed up in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), where developers try to sell digital products or monthly subscriptions to extend the life of the game, the most widely known game until today is called “World of Warcraft”.
Monetization itself is a good way to support your developers and support the games you love and enjoy; it was not until the release of “Overwatch” in May 26, 2016 where the start and popularization of what is called “Loot Boxes” emerge and started to become sinister. Loot boxes are digital grab bag that you spend real or in-game currency in, and you never know what is inside it. (Freedman, 2018) Due to the rise of Loot Boxes, many video game publishers started to implement these systems within their games with a somewhat unethical ways to milk more money out of their consumers.
One of the problems with Loot boxes are, the way loot boxes work can manipulate the consumers psychologically by preying on individuals that may have a gambling problems and children that may have access to their parents credit cards to keep using it due to the nature of Loot Boxes having a certain random aspect to the transaction. Another problem is the way it forces the players to spend real money by keeping the digital product inaccessible without micro transaction within the game.
Another problem with Loot Boxes is that you won’t know what you’re going to get, which is the definition of gambling. Loot boxes in games are a new type of monetization that is sinister and use unusual ways to attack the audience in ways you may not consider. In this essay, we’ll be discussing the psychological problems that attack children and also adults that may or may not have a history of gambling problems that arise from the popularization of Loot Boxes in video games and providing the solution that will be evaluated properly.
Taken from the Merriam Webster dictionary, Gamble is defined as, “to play a game for money or property / to bet on an uncertain outcome” (Gamble, n.d.). From that definition alone, Loot boxes itself are a digital form of gambling and by that statement we know that gambling comes with its problems. Pathological Gambling or more commonly known as compulsive gambling or gambling disorders are a type of mental disorder that is characterized by continuous excessive gambling that could result in negative physical, psychological and social consequences (Wong, T.W. 2005). T
hat mental disorder is then exploited by Casino’s and from that alone about 30-50% of their revenue comes from pathological gamblers (Institute of American Value. 2013). And the majority of problem gamblers are unable to quit gambling due to anxiety and depression it has been proven that it also higher rates of suicide (NAMH, 2013). Using the method of gambling both casino and now, video game publishers use that to exploit adult consumers.
The exploitation of children has been around for a long time and the one that created a protest in the early 21st century is the exploitative nature of children’s advertising. And why they target children is because the major influence kids have on the consumption patterns of the family and continuous marketing towards children creates the phenomenon called “Pester Power”, where children constantly nag their parents for the things they want (AJFET, 2016).
Children are bombarded by advertisement that are meant to exploit their parents for revenue which lead to a significant protest called “Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children” which lead to the dismissal of many exploitative advertisement (Rhoads, n.d.). This type of behavior is also widely used in games which are marketed towards children, which is excessive advertising in games.
To conclude this essay, a number of solutions could be used to combat Loot Boxes and the most prominent one is creating a law banning Loot boxes itself. As of 2018, the Belgium Gaming Commission has stated that Video game Loot Boxes are Illegal under Belgium gambling laws due to its predatory practices of taking advantage of Kids (Gerken, 2018). After the law was created in Belgium, the shady business practices of implementing Loot Boxes in games are then retracted by the game developers leading to a safer environment for kids. In conclusion, to create a safer place in the video game entertainment industry, creating a law the prohibit such shady business practices would be the best solution according to the facts such as the children exploitation advert and recently the Belgium Gaming Commission Law.
