Loot box limit-setting is not sufficient on its own to prevent players from overspending: a reply to Drummond, Sauer & Hall

In their recent letter, Drummond, Sauer & Hall 1 argue that policymakers should consider the introduction of limit‐setting for ‘loot boxes’ (i.e. a type of in‐game purchasing option found in popular online video games) to prevent vulnerable players from overspending. We share the authors’ concerns that there are striking similarities between loot box spending and continuous forms of gambling 2, and that some vulnerable users, including underage players, could experience financial harms (to themselves and/or others) and other problems due to overspending 3. However, we believe that there are some elements of their arguments which could be qualified.