Yet they can also apply more broadly than video games, especially to firms that offer controversial products or services that do not yet fit within current regulatory frameworks. These tactics highlight a wide range of broader strategies that game developers and other stakeholders can pursue to improve customer relations and more publicly signal their commitment to self-regulation and to avoiding consumer harm. It then explains ongoing industry-level and firm-level attempts to self-regulate to placate consumers and governments.

It first considers current regulatory responses to the controversy and what they mean for business practice.

This paper examines the controversy from a management perspective. Consumers and legislators are calling for the regulation of these revenue models on the grounds that they are unfair, predatory, or types of gambling. The video game industry has ignited a global controversy surrounding microtransactions in gaming, especially the use of “loot boxes”-randomized rewards with potential real-world value.

Esrb say loot crates aren't gambling