Credit: GameQuitters
FC Points, Valorant Points, ML Diamonds, Primogems, those are only a few of the many names that all lead to the same concept of “In-Game Currency” which is not a foreign term for avid or even casual gamers out there. For the uninitiated, in-game currencies are technically money you can spend in a game to get items that can help you progress further, providing added advantage or make your characters more visually appealing. It usually is obtained through completing quests, increasing game-time or real-money purchases, playing the game more, or buying it with real money.
I used to be deeply immersed in gaming and ultimately got enticed by the thought of spending my money on in-game currency to make my gaming experience more aesthetically pleasing by getting in-game cosmetics. What started with just buying RM10 MOLPoints using daily school savings at a local 7-Eleven ended up becoming worse after having my own debit card. The more I spent on in-game cosmetics, the more I felt the need to own it all which led me to splash out more money. And to make things worse, I was still in high school, with no reliable source of income.
Example of how in-game cosmetics can make characters more appealing
Credit: Dota2 Official Website and swaGreg via Reddit
On a surface level, there is technically nothing wrong with game developers promoting in-game currency and cosmetics. However, what I feel is detrimental to society is the method of acquiring “premium” cosmetics used in certain games. This idea of making some in-game cosmetics more premium is implemented by making it harder to obtain for players. And one of the most common methods used by game developers is using the gacha or loot box systems where you open a loot box and stand a chance to get a random in-game cosmetic. However, the catch is, some cosmetics have a significantly lower chance of dropping compared to the others (some rare ones could even go as low as a 0.1% chance to obtain). And the worst part is, you likely need to pay with in-game currency for every time you want to try and open a loot box.
So imagine yourself in a position wanting something so bad that you would sacrifice a lot of things to obtain it. The reality is, there are a bunch of players out there that are in this exact position, longing for such in-game cosmetics that they would go distances to obtain it. Sadly, this loot box concept is also exposed to the younger generations, some of which are still attending primary school.
Example of a loot box with varied odds of drops
Credit: Blast.Tv
How is it gambling?
After experiencing it myself, I believe that the action of opening in-game loot boxes with no guarantee of obtaining the desired item is clearly a form of gambling. On a good day, one might get their desired item in two tries. However, in most cases, one could still be left stranded without the item that they wanted even after 100 tries since all of the rolls are independent of each other. For the unlucky ones, they might continue to splurge out money and gamble that the system would give them their desired in-game cosmetics in the next loot box that might never come.
The fact that children could be exposed to elements of gambling at a young age is something that adults should be aware of and take preventive measures to ensure that they do not indulge in this hidden form of gambling.
In Malaysia, the Office of the Mufti for Federal Territories has ruled the action of opening loot boxes as prohibited in Islam (i.e. Haram). However, such action is still unregulated by the government, meaning there are no formal restrictions on opening loot boxes which means that people under 18 would be exposed to this different kind of gambling which I see as bad for the development of our society as it could embed the thrill of gambling to the younger generation unconsciously.
Reflections and Lessons Learnt
A good starting point to mitigate this issue is stronger regulations by relevant government bodies (which I think falls under MCMC but I could be wrong). Although this might seem like a niche issue to some, I believe the mobile gaming industry is quite widespread among the youths in Malaysia and the lack of proper awareness about gambling in loot boxes by relevant stakeholders might lead to future behavioural or financial issues to our youths.
Although some in-game cosmetics could be used as possible long-term investments (e.g. Counter-Strike stickers), a higher percentage of them tend to lose value over-time and some might even be non-liquid (i.e. unable to be sold back for real cash). Furthermore, some individuals even stop playing the game once they reach a certain point in their life (or once a new edition of the game comes out), rendering all the money spent on the game useless.
With the everlasting rise of cost of living, who knows how much money is needed for one to survive in the future. Hence, I believe spreading awareness on this unnecessary possible outflow of cash by children/teenagers should be a collective effort by everybody.
I was lucky in a sense that some of my in-game cosmetics were able to be liquidated to cash (although at a hugely discounted rate), but some games don’t have the option to do so. And if I could ever have the option to turn back time, I would’ve stuck to being a free-to-play player and instead invested the money in a place where it could lead to future inflow rather than past outflow.
