[Air-L] Special Issue on Monetization, Gambling Mechanics and Loot Boxes in Video Games

[Mark R Johnson]

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Journal of Consumer Culture

**Digital Transformations in Gaming and Gambling Consumption**

Guest Editors:
Dr Tom Brock, Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Mark R Johnson, Political Science, University of Alberta

SCOPE

Consumption patterns of video games and gambling are undergoing a number of
profound shifts, with new phenomena emerging almost every year to
complicate and confuse the once-clear boundaries between these two forms of
play. Perhaps the most visible element of this trend is the rise of “loot
boxes”, virtual containers that contain an unknown selection of items
either cosmetic or gameplay-changing in nature. These are part of a broader
trend of “microtransactions” in digital games, small purchases that are
designed to enhance or progress a player’s experience; loot boxes in
particular are the most “gamblified” of all of these. Similar trends are
occurring elsewhere. Within Esports, a growing number of betting sites are
now accepting wagers on professional gaming competitions, and the market
for Esports wagering is estimated to be seven times the size of the market
for Esports itself (Smith, 2018). Within Esports games themselves, skin
betting entails the wagering of digital cosmetic items, “skins”, against
and with other players, sometimes in traditional gambling games and
sometimes in custom competitions designed uniquely for that purpose (Perez,
2018). On live streaming websites, broadcasters have developed a wide range
of systems that resemble competitions, raffles or even lotteries monetise
their content (Johnson & Woodcock, Forthcoming) and encourage viewers to
remain loyal. Social casino games reproduce many forms of play from
traditional brick-and-mortar casinos on mobile phones, with easy user
interfaces and “juicy” game elements designed to maximise appeal and user
retention (Cassidy, 2013; Gainsbury et al, 2016). Online poker is also
gradually experiencing a resurgence since the legal controversies of 2011,
and some of the largest sites have themselves begun using a loot box system
to reward long-term players for their loyalty (Derbyshire, 2018). Finally,
the recent classification of “gaming addiction” by the World Health
Organisation uses understandings of pathological gambling to define a
threat of pathological gaming (Judge, 2018). This brings medicalized
understandings of gaming and gambling closer together than ever before.

In particular, we note the controversies around many of these phenomena
have brought forth a series of debates about the integration of gambling
mechanics into video games and vice versa. For example, there is extensive
disagreement about whether or not ‘loot boxes’ are a form of gambling, and
major games developers, such as Electronic Arts, are now sharply at odds
with regulatory bodies in North America, Europe and Asia. Equally, the
concept of ‘paying-to-win’ is changing established cultural and discursive
concepts around ‘gaming meritocracy’, whilst many policymakers have
expressed fears that, through microtransactions, those under legal age
limits are experiencing gambling mechanics in an environment that is
difficult to control or regulate. All of these combined disputes and issues
set a timely context for studying such new forms of digital gambling and
gaming, and the distinctive online cultures that have arisen around them.
Whatever the moral or ethical responses to these trends, this blurring is
now an increasingly central element of all kinds of play, and is deeply
reshaping consumption patterns across both existing and new demographic
lines.

TOPICS

This special issue is therefore concerned with unpacking how the rise of
gaming systems in gambling, the rise of gambling systems in gaming, and how
the implementation of new forms of monetary gameplay cutting across these
boundaries are reshaping our production, consumption and prosumption
(Ritzer and Jurgenson, 2010; Beer and Burrows, 2010) of digital play. In
particular, we invite papers on the following topics, although this is not
an exhaustive list:

- The consumption of loot boxes, microtransactions, and other "pay-to-win"
mechanics.
- New gambling technologies and platforms (e.g. "skill-based" video
gambling machines).
- Live-streaming and Twitch.tv gambling integration, e.g. viewer
competitions.
- Skin betting and other traded or wagered virtual currencies.
- Cultural changes surrounding play and money, leisure and work.
- Economic challenges and new business models of the games industry.
- New ways that game consumption and gambling consumption are being
stigmatised.

SUBMISSION AND REVIEW

Proposals should include an abstract of 500-750 words, and bios for all
authors of no more than 100 words. The deadline for proposals is December
31st 2018, with invitations to submit a full paper going out on January
31st 2019. The guest editors welcome both theoretical and empirical
contributions. Invited paper submissions will be due 1st June 2019 and
should be submitted to both Guest Editors by email. Once submitted they
will undergo peer review under the normal procedures of Journal of Consumer
Culture; therefore, invitation to submit does not guarantee acceptance to
the special issue. The special issue is scheduled for online publication in
2020. If you have any questions, please feel free to discuss your ideas
with the authors at T.Brock at mmu.ac.uk and markrjohnsongames at gmail.com.

REFERENCES

Beer, D. and Burrows, R. Consumption, Production and Participatory Web
Cultures, Journal of Consumer Culture, 10(1), p3-12.

Cassidy, R. (2013). Partial convergence: social gaming and real-money
gambling. In Qualitative research in gambling (pp. 86-103). Routledge.

Derbyshire, M. (2018). PokerStars NJ Ditching Old VIP Club In Favor Of
Stars Rewards This Year. US Poker, available at
https://www.uspoker.com/blog/pokerstars-vip-club-stars-rewards/24289/

Gainsbury, S. M., Russell, A. M., King, D. L., Delfabbro, P., & Hing, N.
(2016). Migration from social casino games to gambling: Motivations and
characteristics of gamers who gamble. Computers in Human Behavior, 63,
59-67.

Johnson, M. R. & Woodcock, J. (Forthcoming). “And today’s top donator is”:
How Live Streamers on Twitch.tv Monetise and Gamify their Broadcasts.
Social Media + Society.

Judge, A. (2018). Video games and mental health: 'Nobody's properly
talking'. BBC News, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44662669
.

Perez, M. (2018). From Unikrn To Skin Betting: How The Supreme Court's
Sports Gambling Ruling Impacts Esports. Forbes, available at
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2018/05/15/from-unikrn-to-skin-betting-how-the-supreme-courts-sports-gambling-ruling-impacts-esports/


Ritzer, R. Jurgenson, N. 2010. Production, Consumption, Prosumption. The
Nature of Capitalism on the Age of the Digital Prosumer, Journal of
Consumer Culture, 10(1), p.13-36.

Smith, N. (2018). Esports bookmaking? Globally, it’s already a
billion-dollar gambling industry. Washington Post, available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/esports-bookmaking-globally-its-already-a-billion-dollar-gambling-industry/2018/04/06/be89c282-2b99-11e8-8688-e053ba58f1e4_story.html