It's in the game, the ethics of loot boxes in video games aimed at children

Loot boxes and other similar mechanics have been popular in games since the mid 2000s (Wright, 2017). Loot boxes are an in-game system where players can pay real word money for a loot box that contains a random assortment of in game items, some are only cosmetic, others impact gameplay and someone’s chances of winning in a serious way. These practices can bring in tens of billions of dollars per year (Osborne, 2024). With many of the people spending money on this being children (Osborne, 2024) this raises the question of should loot boxes and similar things in video games such as Star Wars…