National Charity, YGAM has joined other research teams from Newcastle and Loughborough Universities on Loot Boxes. The research intends to inform parents and carers about the dangers of Loot Boxes.
The advice and the insight would be posted on the Parents Hub of the website www.parents.ygam.com. The funding for the website has been received from Lottoland, GVC, and Playtech. The intention is to provide the families with the much-required resources, information, and activities to safeguard children and form digital resilience. It explains the reason children are attracted to the Loot Box, like suspense, surprise, elevated social status among others.
It also covers the harm that the Loot Boxes can cause. It talks about how it can normalize the gambling style systems.
Similarly, it talks about financial and emotional harm from repeated use. It follows with the advice to parents to
safeguard the children and identify signs of the harm.
Dr. James Ash, Researcher at Newcastle University, said that for children, a loot box is attractive because of its content and that can cause repeated purchases. He explained that children have expressed anger, frustration, disappointment, and regret over the loot box but still they purchase it. According to the research, this is the point of concern. Visual stimulus, random content, unfavorable odds make children buy loot boxes repeatedly.
Amanda Atkinson, Head of Parental Engagement at YAGM said that this research would help create an environment and educational program which would not make children vulnerable. She further added that there many varieties and in-app purchases and that makes it difficult for the parents to keep a check. Hence, the information and advice on the loot boxes would help parents to take the crucial decisions.
YGAM is delivering the National Education and Prevention Program along with GamCare. The program is supported by the Betting and Gaming Council. The £10mn program aims to reach out to 3mn young people to raise awareness and educate about the risks of gambling.