Abstract
Video gaming is a billion‐dollar global industry which is continuously growing and evolving. An important innovation which has fuelled industry development has been the expansion of digital purchase options, including the emergence of virtual goods, that can be purchased from within the game in small payments termed ‘microtransactions’. In 2017, the game publisher Activision Blizzard reported that it had made more than $4 billion, or more than half its annual income, from microtransactions 1. Microtransactions enable players to obtain additional game content or premiums (e.g. virtual items, textures/skins, currency, levels or power‐ups). These types of purchases are common in mobile game revenue models where the base game is ‘free‐to‐play’, but the player is encouraged to spend money to make unimpeded progress in the game (i.e. overcome a ‘paywall’).
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1967-1969 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Addiction |
Volume | 113 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Jun 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Internet gaming disorder
- loot box
- microtransaction
- money
- on-line game
- predatory monetization