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Author: Theharbo

Jan 5th 2018 at 4:07:03 AM

^ I agree the trope could use some cleaning up in the description. How about this?

Loot boxes are, simply put, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin boxes containing multiple pieces of loot]]. More specifically, randomized (and often sometimes rare) loot. The first clear examples of this mechanic are the Chinese ''ZT Online'' (2007) and Canadian ''[[VideoGame/FIFASoccer FIFA 09]]'' ([[NonIndicativeName 2008]]). In UsefulNotes/TheFarEast it would soon come to dominate the mobile and browser gaming markets. In the West, the concept was [[TropeCodifier codified]] in 2010 (which saw both ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''[='=]s "Supply Crates" update and a number of gacha games being translated into English), but it would not become ubiquitous until ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''[='s=] [[TropeNamer "loot boxes"]] in 2016.

Japan refers to these as "gacha games", after toy capsule machines of the same name. Surprisingly enough, they're [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff really popular]] there, in spite of the backlash these get in other counties. where they serve as a point of contention due to ''[[SturgeonsLaw many]]'' [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free games]] which have hidden real and tangible  ways of BribingYourWayToVictory behind this randomized method of aquisition, with countries such as Australia and Belgium investigating whether or not a lootbox-driven system should be regulated as ''gambling'' - something China, Japan, and the Isle of Man already do.

YourMileageMayVary on whether lootboxes are a detriment: While a lot of AlledgedlyFreeGames use them as a PaperThinDisguise to hide that they allow BribingYourWayToVictory, some games allow them to be earned freely, some have the lootboxes only contain {{Cosmetic Award}}s, some allow the purchase of items contained inside them through other means, and some have the lootbox acquisition be parallel to just playing the game and not dropped along with your average [[RandomDrops random loot drops]], and some utilize lootboxes as their only way of monetising a FreeToPlay model. It's the vast difference in business models surrounding lootboxes that has made the general public sceptical of them, considering that one lootbox system may be ''wildly'' different to another despite appearing to be the same on the surface.

The paid version of these is a sub-trope to {{Microtransactions}}, though the tropes are not mutual as some instances of loot boxes are not paid for. A sub-trope of MysteryBox. Mutually related to the RandomDrop.