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Shopping for packs of buying and selling playing cards like Pokémon or Magic: The Gathering could also be extra just like playing than many notice, in line with a brand new worldwide research. Researchers discovered that spending cash on each online game “loot boxes” and bodily card packs is linked to downside playing behaviors.
The research was carried out by researchers from Metropolis College of Hong Kong, College of York, College of Lincoln, IT College of Copenhagen, and College of Bristol, and printed in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
The research, which surveyed almost 2,000 gamers throughout the U.S., U.Ok., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Eire, confirmed that:
Loot field spending had the strongest hyperlink to playing issues.
Bodily card packs and digital card packs additionally confirmed connections to downside playing, although weaker.
No sort of buy was related to poor psychological well being, which means gamers with worse well-being or extra misery didn’t report spending extra on these merchandise.
“Our results show that both physical and digital gambling-like products resemble gambling and are linked to problem gambling,” stated lead writer Leon Y. Xiao of Metropolis College of Hong Kong. “There are two problems with current gambling laws.”
“First, the existing law is not strictly enforced against physical gambling-like products like card packs and blind boxes containing Labubus, which constitute unlicensed illegal gambling in most countries, because their content can be and often are sold in exchange for real money on the secondary market.”
“Second, loot boxes, the gambling-like product mostly strongly linked to problem gambling, remain largely unregulated in most countries. Legal definitions of gambling should be updated to reflect scientific evidence about potential harms.”
Card packs and loot packing containers generate billions of {dollars} annually worldwide, making them a serious a part of trendy gaming. The researchers urge policymakers to strictly implement and replace playing laws.
Extra data:
Leon Y. Xiao et al, Bodily card pack and particularly online game loot field spending are each positively correlated with downside playing however not linked to detrimental psychological well being: A world survey., Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (2025). DOI: 10.1037/adb0001082
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Metropolis College of Hong Kong
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Research finds each online game loot packing containers and bodily card packs are linked to downside playing (2025, August 22)
retrieved 22 August 2025
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