Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
Microtransactions and loot boxes have become core revenue mechanisms in contemporary video games, raising policy concern that gambling-like design and frictionless payments may be associated with addictive consumption patterns and welfare-reducing outcomes. Although a growing literature links loot box spending with problem gambling severity, evidence remains mixed on the broader relationship between disordered gaming, gambling, and other compulsive spending behaviours. This paper proposes an Australian study estimating prevalence patterns and conditional associations, not causal effects, to map how microtransaction demand relates to three distinct but potentially overlapping constructs: disordered gaming, problem gambling severity, and compulsive buying. Using a cross-sectional online survey of approximately 800 Australian university students who have played video games in the past 90 days, the design measures (i) monthly microtransaction expenditure in AUD and (ii) weekly gaming hours, alongside validated scales: the Gaming Addiction Scale (GAS), the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), and the Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale (BSAS). The primary econometric approach is a two-part model separating participation (any microtransaction spend) from conditional intensity (log(1 + spend)), supplemented by quantile regression for upper-tail spending and pre-specified robustness checks addressing non-linearity, heteroskedasticity, and influential outliers. Interaction terms (eg, GAS × PGSI) test hypotheses about substitution versus complementarity between addictive behaviours within microtransaction demand. The papers contribution is threefold: it distinguishes monetary spending from time as separate consumption constructs, integrates compulsive buying as an additional harm channel, and directly connects empirical tests to policy debates, including Australias strengthened classification settings for gambling-like content in video games commencing 22 September 2024 [2] and the ICD-11 coming into effect [19].

Vega Esquivel, Juan, Evaluating the Relationship Between Video Game Microtransactions and Addictive Behaviours (February 6, 2026).