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15 Wash. J. L. Tech. & Arts 200 (2019-2020)
Pseudo-Gambling and Whaling: How Loot Boxes Prey on Vulnerable Populations and How to Curtail Future Predatory Behavior

handle is hein.journals/washjolta15 and id is 203 raw text is: WASHINGTON JOURNAL OF LAW, TECHNOLOGY & ARTS VOLUME 15, ISSUE 3 SPRING 2020 PSEUDO-GAMBLING AND WHALING: How LOOT BOXES PREY ON VULNERABLE POPULATIONS AND HOW TO CURTAIL FUTURE PREDATORY BEHAVIOR Alexander Mann* CITE AS: A MANN, 15 WASH. J.L. TECH. & ARTS 200 (2020) https:/digitalcommons.law. uw. edu/cgi/ivewcontent cgi?article 1307&context- wjlta ABSTRACT The video game industry has blossomed fom a niche hobby into a mainstream cultural industry, outpacing global box office sales in annual revenue. Yet the price of a video game has barely increased since the industry's inception, and the current standard price point of sixty dollars has survivedfor over a decade. Competitive market forces drive companies to invest ever more time and money into creating increasingly complex software in order to remain on the cutting edge of graphics and design, while simultaneously increasing revenue. Thus, video game developers and publishers have developed a multitude of alternative money- making services to provide revenue beyond the initial sale of a game. Of these, the one technique that has garnered the most attention, and the most legislative scrutiny, is the loot box. Through this system, players are allowed to pay a sum of real-world currency in exchange for receiving one or more random in-game items. This technique simulates gamblingpractices yet escapes current gambling oversight, leaving games containing this technique available to anyone. This includes vulnerable populations that do not have the capacity for rational spending, such as minors and * J.D. Candidate, University of San Diego School of Law, Class of 2021, concentrating in Intellectual Property and International Law; President of the USD Business Law Society; M.B.A., University of California, San Diego. With thanks to Prof. Ted Sichelman for inspiration and guidance, and to the staff of the WJLTA for their patience, assistance, and correcting my many, many fornatting mistakes.

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