Loot boxes are a staple of modern gaming. From integration to debate, we may be seeing developers adapt their use in the near future.

Also known as loot crates and prize boxes, in-game assets are now commonplace. In fact, the power-up has been a staple of narratives and game development for some time. Yet the random reward in a game has come a long way since Mario’s bonus box round on the Nintendo Entertainment System. As loot boxes provide more valuable and prized assets, where could they possibly go next?

What is a Loot Box?

A loot box is an in-game prize, of which the content is not disclosed until the user acquires it. These items can help players within the game, giving them boosts or advantages. Other items may include objects such as skins, which afford no in-game bonus but can be used to customize the objects and avatars a player uses.

As they have an element of randomness, the contents are often given out in various levels of rarity. Some items may appear frequently, while others may only be found as items in one of hundreds of boxes. This has led to online marketplaces such as https://ggchest.com/ being created. Here, people can buy and sell the items they have acquired. In addition, full accounts and even in-game currencies can be purchased.

Lootboxes have been adopted by developers, as they have provided an extra way to make revenue. When combined with ad revenue, it has even been enough to allow many developers to give games away for free. Titles such as Fortnite are huge and have become so by giving the title away for nothing and making money in this way.

A History of the Loot Box

As long as toys and collecting have gone hand in hand, random elements have managed to lure consumers and prize their cold, hard cash out of their hands. From purchasing sports cards to Panini sticker albums in the UK and Europe, buying a pack without knowing what's inside sparks a treasure hunter ability in all of us.

Online multiplayer games had long used random loot in their titles, from Diablo to World of Warcraft. Yet it was ZT Online, a Chinese MMO from 2006, that can be credited for introducing the lootbox we know today into gaming. These loot crates let players spin a wheel, showing what could possibly be in the chest. Obviously, the rarest items were seldom, if ever, landed upon.

The Valuable Items in Lootboxes

Items in loot boxes can be valuable due to a range of factors. Rarity is the most common factor. Players view these items as ones held by the most ardent followers of the game, giving an air of authority and experience. With rarity comes the desire to have these items, and some of them have accumulated real-world value outside their games. 

Lootboxes have not been without their controversy. Many games have begun to back off on using them due to the way they can halt the progress of games. This is what has become known as ‘pay to play’. It involves a game being unplayable unless people begin making in-game purchases. Games such as Star Wars Battlefront II were publicly torn to shreds for this.

Titles such as Overwatch have toyed with the concept of lootboxes as a result. They were included in the base game, then excluded from Overwatch II. This then saw them return once more, though they could only be earned through gameplay or with the battle pass. The result was that this only made in game items even more valuable to players.