By Gavin Boyle
Popular video games often employ psychological tactics to hook users, including gambling-style methods that cause developing brains to become addicted.
“What really worries me is when we see these gambling-like features in games targeting children,” said Erin Turner, the CEO of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, which recently released a report about addicting video game features.
The report identified multiple systems games use to allow players to gamble. The most common and egregious system is loot boxes which, when opened, provide players with a reward varying in rarity. Most of the time, these rewards can only be obtained through loot boxes, which are sometimes only accessible when rolls are bought with real money. To make the experience even more addictive, the opening animation is often extremely colorful and over the top — similar to a slot machine — further boosting the dopamine released during the experience.
Other addictive features include daily rewards and tasks, daily streaks and constantly rotating game modes that can only be accessed for a limited time. Furthermore, companies may make their game especially hard to progress in, offering a way to purchase the best gear for a faster and more enjoyable experience. These features have only gotten more common as the industry has largely moved towards a free-to-play or subscription based model, where developers need to find alternative ways to extract money from users, rather than a one-time purchase up front.
“We’ve seen this huge transition in the games industry of moving away from the traditional, what I would call ‘unit-sales-based’ business model, towards an ‘engagement-based’ model,” said Karol Severin, MIDia Research’s senior games analyst and VP of data. “I would dare to say that the number of game subscriptions is going to grow much faster than the number of games sold for the next decade.”
While providing games for free, or at a reduced price, this model ends up making developers more money in the long run as there is no limit to how much players can spend during their time with the game. This causes some players to spends hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, making up for the players who pay nothing at all.
The whole games industry used to be about buying games, or downloads — convincing customers that a game is good enough to buy as an individual unit. You’re seeing that model shift largely to being engagement-based, where the games are financially dependent on the amount of time consumers spend in those games, because they’re increasingly monetized through in-game purchases,” Severin explained.
Parents, however, are starting to fight back as they see their kids get sucked in by these addictive games. In 2024, a class action lawsuit was launched against the major game studios for intentionally targeting young audiences with these addictive features.
“Each Defendant is aware that is video games are harmful to minors and young adults because Defendants specifically design their games to addict,” the lawsuit states. “To this avail, each Defendant employs behavioral psychologists and/or neuroscientists in order to develop games that will bests utilize psychological tactics to keep players engaged for longer periods of time.”
It is disappointing that companies would exploit younger brains for profit. However, this practice is nothing new, and until lawmakers hold these companies accountable, parents will need to work extra hard to keep their children safe from gaming addiction.
Read Next: Lawsuit Claims Video Game Companies Intentionally Make Products Addictive
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