History Main / LootBoxes

The paid version of these is a sub-trope to {{Microtransactions}}, though the tropes are not mutual as some instances of loot boxes are not paid for. A sub-trope of MysteryBox. Mutually related to RandomLoot.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Global Offensive'' features these, which drop weapon skins, knife skins and...glove skins (one per crate). Third-party sites used to be able to manipulate the odds of dropping high-level skins and such, and it led to a rather large controversy when it was discovered that some of these third-party sites were a) involved in legitimate gambling incidents, and b) manipulating the odds to sell their site, but then making it literally impossible to get high-level drops by turning the high-level drops to 0%.

* A non-paid example from ''VideoGame/AntiIdleTheGame'' comes the various boxes/crates. These can be gained a number of ways, but usually you can buy them with your coins.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is the TropeCodifier of this, with the Mann Co. Supply Crates. Crates randomly drop for free but require keys purchased from the Mann Co. Store to open, or traded for with [[WeirdCurrency Refined Metal, or just lots of cosmetic items]]. It was infamous for being one of the first, if not the first, paid-for game that features this. However months after Mann Co. Supply Crates were added, the game was made free to play, although those who download after it's being F2P has a lot of limitations compared to those who buy (of course for a very low price the F2P players still can purchase either any store items or the Orange Box bundle, removing the limitations)

Loot boxes serve as a point of contention due to ''[[SturgeonsLaw many]]'' [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free games]] which have hidden real and tangible ways of BribingYourWayToVictory behind this randomized method of acquisition. It also crept to paid-for games to starting from ''Videogame/CounterStrike'' Global Offensive (though Videogame/TeamFortress2 popularize it, but the Mann Co system just added months before it's transitioned to free to play) and most infamously, ''Videogame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'' with countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom investigating whether or not a lootbox-driven system should be regulated as ''gambling'' - something China, Belgium, Japan, and the Isle of Man already do.

Loot boxes serve as a point of contention due to ''[[SturgeonsLaw many]]'' [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free games]] which have hidden real and tangible ways of BribingYourWayToVictory behind this randomized method of acquisition, with countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom investigating whether or not a lootbox-driven system should be regulated as ''gambling'' - something China, Belgium, Japan, and the Isle of Man already do.

[[YMMV/HomePage Your Mileage May Vary]] on whether lootboxes are a detriment: While a lot of [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free games]] use them as a PaperThinDisguise to hide that they allow BribingYourWayToVictory, some games allow them to be earned freely, some have the lootboxes only contain {{Cosmetic Award}}s, some allow the purchase of items contained inside them through other means, and some have the lootbox acquisition be parallel to just playing the game and not dropped along with your average [[RandomDrops random loot drops]], and some utilize lootboxes as their only way of monetising a FreeToPlay model. It's the vast difference in business models surrounding lootboxes that has made the general public sceptical of them, considering that one lootbox system may be ''wildly'' different to another despite appearing to be the same on the surface. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The vast difference also makes it a pain to trope them sometimes]]. In 2016 they also began to come under government scrutiny as possible violations of gambling laws.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is the TropeCodifier of this, with the Mann Co. Supply Crates. Crates randomly drop for free but require keys purchased from the Mann Co. Store to open, or traded for with [[WeirdCurrency Refined Metal, or just lots of cosmetic items]].

* ''Videogame/DragonBallFighterZ'' allows you to purchase 'Capsules' which contain a number of {{Palette Swap}}s for the fighters, in-game avatars, and titles. Although these are not purchased with real currency, their contents are entirely cosmetic and have no bearing whatsoever on the gameplay itself. If you get a duplicate item, you get a Premium Z Coin in exchange; ten of those can be traded in for something you do not have.

* ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'' has loot boxes that are obtained in 3 ways; Earning enough XP for a new player level, purchased in bulk via in-game {{Microtransactions}}, or by playing the Arcade, which lets you earn a lootbox after every third win, stacking 3 times per week. Each one contains four hero-based cosmetic rewards, or varying amounts of gold coins to purchase said rewards with. Any duplicates will be converted to coins, albeit at a lower rate at what they actually cost. All event-specific items are tied to Event-Specific lootboxes, which requires opening those specific LootBoxes to get at the stuff you want, or by obtaining enough coins to buy them outright for '''''three times their normal cost''''' [[note]]Voice Lines and Emotes are 750 (From 250), Victory Poses are 225 (from 75), Sprays are 75 (from 25) and Skins vary on rarity, but Legendaries are the most egregious, requiring '''3000 coins''' to purchase, the same as a Golden Weapon.[[/note]] People have taken to not liking the event-specific skin costs being disproportionately high for what their normal cost is, and see it as way of Blizzard trying to make players buy the aforementioned bulk lootbox packs, in order to up the chance of getting something you want, despite lootboxes, by nature, being incredibly unreliable. Notably, [[TropeNamer It's also the first game to directly call this trope by the name of "loot boxes"]]. Like with Battlefront II above, It was investigated by Belgium for whether its lootboxes constitutes gambling or not: [[https://www.nu.nl/games/5238218/fifa-18-en-overwatch-overtreden-wet-volgens-belgische-kansspelcommissie-.html And their final word is that they do.]]

Loot boxes serve as a point of contention due to ''[[SturgeonsLaw many]]'' [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free games]] which have hidden real and tangible ways of BribingYourWayToVictory behind this randomized method of aquisition, with countries such as Australia and Belgium investigating whether or not a lootbox-driven system should be regulated as ''gambling'' - something China, Japan, and the Isle of Man already do.

* ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'' has loot boxes that are obtained in 3 ways; Earning enough XP for a new player level, purchased in bulk via in-game {{Microtransactions}}, or by playing the Arcade, which lets you earn a lootbox after every third win, stacking 3 times per week. Each one contains four hero-based cosmetic rewards, or varying amounts of gold coins to purchase said rewards with. Any duplicates will be converted to coins, albeit at a lower rate at what they actually cost. All event-specific items are tied to Event-Specific lootboxes, which requires opening those specific LootBoxes to get at the stuff you want, or by obtaining enough coins to buy them outright for '''''three times their normal cost''''' [[note]]Voice Lines and Emotes are 750 (From 250), Victory Poses are 225 (from 75), Sprays are 75 (from 25) and Skins vary on rarity, but Legendaries are the most egregious, requiring '''3000 coins''' to purchase, the same as a Golden Weapon.[[/note]] People have taken to not liking the event-specific skin costs being disproportionately high for what their normal cost is, and see it as way of Blizzard trying to make players buy the aforementioned bulk lootbox packs, in order to up the chance of getting something you want, despite lootboxes, by nature, being incredibly unreliable. Notably, [[TropeNamer It's also the first game to directly call this trope by the name of "loot boxes"]]. Like with Battlefront II above, It was investigated by Belgium for whether its lootboxes constitutes gambling or not: [[And their final word is that they do. https://www.nu.nl/games/5238218/fifa-18-en-overwatch-overtreden-wet-volgens-belgische-kansspelcommissie-.html]]

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'' was infamous for this; despite being a paid full game, the game ''still'' contained these, and among other things (such as having things from the first game locked behind paywalls), this got the game hit with ''serious'' InternetBackdraft, and [=EA=]'s attempt to defend this on Reddit netted them [[EpicFail the lowest rated post in the site's history]]. Even worse for the developers, the game would end up being investigated by Belgium, Australia, and parts of the [=UK=] and US for containing gambling elements, with a politician from the state of Hawaii [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J-UusEcM10 even calling them a trap.]]
* ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'' has loot boxes that are obtained in 3 ways; Earning enough XP for a new player level, purchased in bulk via in-game {{Microtransactions}}, or by playing the Arcade, which lets you earn a lootbox after every third win, stacking 3 times per week. Each one contains four hero-based cosmetic rewards, or varying amounts of gold coins to purchase said rewards with. Any duplicates will be converted to coins, albeit at a lower rate at what they actually cost. All event-specific items are tied to Event-Specific lootboxes, which requires opening those specific LootBoxes to get at the stuff you want, or by obtaining enough coins to buy them outright for '''''three times their normal cost''''' [[note]]Voice Lines and Emotes are 750 (From 250), Victory Poses are 225 (from 75), Sprays are 75 (from 25) and Skins vary on rarity, but Legendaries are the most egregious, requiring '''3000 coins''' to purchase, the same as a Golden Weapon.[[/note]] People have taken to not liking the event-specific skin costs being disproportionately high for what their normal cost is, and see it as way of Blizzard trying to make players buy the aforementioned bulk lootbox packs, in order to up the chance of getting something you want, despite lootboxes, by nature, being incredibly unreliable. Notably, [[TropeNamer It's also the first game to directly call this trope by the name of "loot boxes"]]. Like with Battlefront II above, it's being investigated by Belgium for whether it's lootboxes constitutes gambling or not.

* ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'' has loot boxes that are obtained in 3 ways; Earning enough XP for a new player level, purchased in bulk via in-game {{Microtransactions}}, or by playing the Arcade, which lets you earn a lootbox after every third win, stacking 3 times per week. Each one contains four hero-based cosmetic rewards, or varying amounts of gold coins to purchase said rewards with. Any duplicates will be converted to coins, albeit at a lower rate at what they actually cost. All event-specific items are tied to Event-Specific lootboxes, which requires opening those specific LootBoxes to get at the stuff you want, or by obtaining enough coins to buy them outright for '''''three times their normal cost''''' [[note]]Voice Lines and Emotes are 750, Victory Poses are 225 (from 75), Sprays are 75 and Skins vary on rarity, but Legendaries are the most egregious, requiring '''3000 coins''' to purchase, the same as a Golden Weapon.[[/note]] People have taken to not liking the event-specific skin costs being disproportionately high for what they're cost is, and see it as way of Blizzard trying to make players buy the aforementioned bulk lootbox packs, in order to up the chance of getting something you want. Notably, [[TropeNamer It's also the first game to directly call this trope by the name of "loot boxes"]]. Like with Battlefront II above, it's being investigated by Belgium for whether it's lootboxes constitutes gambling or not.

* ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'' has loot boxes that are obtained in 3 ways; Earning enough XP for a new player level, purchased in bulk via in-game {{Microtransactions}}, or by playing the Arcade, which lets you earn a lootbox after every third win, stacking 3 times per week. Each one contains four hero-based cosmetic rewards, or varying amounts of gold coins to purchase said rewards with. Any duplicates will be converted to coins, albeit at a lower rate at what they actually cost. All event-specific items are tied to Event-Specific lootboxes, which requires opening those specific LootBoxes to get at the stuff you want, or by obtaining enough coins to buy them outright for '''''three times their normal cost''''' [[note]]Voice Lines and Emotes are 750, Victory Poses are 225 (from 75), Sprays are 75 and Skins vary on rarity, but Legendaries are the most egregious, requiring '''3000 coins''' to purchase, the same as a Golden Weapon.[[/note]] People have taken to not liking the event-specific skin costs being disproportionately high for what they're cost is, and see it as way of Blizzard trying to make players buy the aforementioned bulk lootbox packs, in order to up the chance of getting something you want.
Notably, [[TropeNamer It's also the first game to directly call this trope by the name of "loot boxes"]]. Like with Battlefront II above, it's being investigated by Belgium for whether it's lootboxes constitutes gambling or not.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is the TropeCodifier of this, with the Mann Co. Supply Crates. Crates randomly drop for free but require keys from the Mann Co. Store to open.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'' was infamous for this; despite being a paid full game, the game ''still'' contained these, and among other things (such as having things from the first game locked behind paywalls), this got the game hit with ''serious'' InternetBackdraft, and [=EA=]'s attempt to defend this on Reddit netted them [[EpicFail the lowest rated post in the site's history]]. Even worse for the developers, the game would end up investigated by Belgium, Australia, and parts of the [=UK=] and US for containing gambling elements.
* ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'' has loot boxes that are obtained after earning a level, though they can be purchased in bulk. Each one contains four hero-based items (all of which are aesthetic) or gold coins. Any duplicates will be converted to coins, which can be used to purchase the items directly. Notably, [[TropeNamer It's also the first game to directly call this trope by the name of "loot boxes"]].
* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Global Offensive'' features these, which drop weapon skins (one per crate). Third-party sites used to be able to manipulate the odds of dropping high-level skins and such, and it led to a rather large controversy when it was discovered that some of these third-party sites were a) involved in legitimate gambling incidents, and b) manipulating the odds to sell their site, but then making it literally impossible to get high-level drops by turning the high-level drops to 0%.

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'' was infamous for this; despite being a paid full game, the game ''still'' contained these, and among other things (such as having things from the first game locked behind paywalls), this got the game hit with ''serious'' InternetBackdraft, and [=EA=]'s attempt to defend this on Reddit netted them [[EpicFail the lowest rated post in the site's history]]. Even worse for the developers, the game would end up investigated by Belgium, Australia, and parts of the [=UK=] for containing gambling elements.

** Event chests are only available for a limited time and contain event-exclusive items. They come in two versions: a basic version that replaces Silver chests, and a premium version that contains at least one non-duplicate item (so opening enough of these chests guarantees you will have all event items).
** Special chests are available when a new Champion is released, and guarantee that you will get said Champion's Legendary items.

->What? Expecting [[TheStinger a stinger?]] That's a rare drop from the [[TropeCO Trope Co.]] [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 Supply Crate]]; keep looking.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' has the rare non-paid example in the form of the bonuses you get rewarded with in Salmon Run, which are obtained every 100 points. Usually, these just contain things such as coins, tickets for Crusty Sean's food, or the occasional Grizzco. equipment items (which are no different from any other equipment items).

* ''Videogame/DragonballFighterz'' allows you to purchase 'Capsules' which contain a number of {{Palette Swap}}s for the fighters, in-game avatars, and titles. Although these can be purchased with real currency their contents are entirely cosmetic and have no bearing whatsoever on the gameplay itself.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is the TropeCodifier of this, with the Mann Co. Supply Crates.

* ''[=ZT=] Online'' is the UrExample of a loot box in the traditional sense.

[[YMMV/HomePage Your Mileage May Vary]] on whether lootboxes are a detriment: While a lot of [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free games]] use them as a PaperThinDisguise to hide that they allow BribingYourWayToVictory, some games allow them to be earned freely, some have the lootboxes only contain {{Cosmetic Award}}s, some allow the purchase of items contained inside them through other means, and some have the lootbox acquisition be parallel to just playing the game and not dropped along with your average [[RandomDrops random loot drops]], and some utilize lootboxes as their only way of monetising a FreeToPlay model. It's the vast difference in business models surrounding lootboxes that has made the general public sceptical of them, considering that one lootbox system may be ''wildly'' different to another despite appearing to be the same on the surface. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The vast difference also makes it a pain to trope them sometimes]].

[[folder:MMORPGs]]

* A gacha system exists in Videogame/GetAmped; some of the gacha uses the in-game money, some others use real-life ones. The gacha can give you either multiple copies of weapons, enhancement cards, or powerful accessories, the latter of which being the higher grade prizes.

* Videogame/DragonballFighterz allows you to purchase 'Capsules' which contain a number of {{Palette Swap}}s for the fighters, in-game avatars, and titles. Although these can be purchased with real currency their contents are entirely cosmetic and have no bearing whatsoever on the gameplay itself.

* Downplayed with {{Zombidle}}: Chests contain three items (only one of which can be chosen per chest) of variable usefulness. While they're mostly obtained by defeating bosses and reset after every run, they can be crafted in exchange for white orbs (which are obtained at the end of every run), which can also be bought in exchange for diamonds (the only currency that can be purchased for real money, though there's plenty of ways to earn them in-game).

* ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' features Eggs and Incubators. The former are randomly given from PokeStops (one per Stop, up to a maximum of nine) and come available in three different types. The latter are what are used to hatch Eggs, and can only be earned in large numbers by using real money. Once the Egg is being incubated, it does not hatch instantly like other examples of loot boxes. The player must walk during the incubation process to hatch the Egg, which can take from two to ten kilometers depending on the egg's color. Pokemon hatched from eggs have a far greater chance of having high IV's, while those hatched from 10km eggs having the potential to hatch into rarer Pokemon.

* Videogame/MegaManBattleNetwork: The Chip Trader machine works like a gacha, with a twist: you have to insert 3 (or 10 for the better version of the trader) [[FightLikeACardPlayer Battle Chips]] into it, and then the trader will give you one random Battle Chip, usually of the (relatively) higher quality. The 10-Chip Trader predictably gives better chips than the 3-chip one. Then there's the Bug Frag Chip Trader, which requires you to insert 10 [[GlobalCurrencyException Bug Frags]] instead; they give even better chips than any normal Chip Trader, but Bug Frags are quite harder to farm than Battle Chips.

The first clear examples of this mechanic are the Chinese ZT Online (2007) and Canadian FIFA 09 (2008). In The Far East it would soon come to dominate the mobile and browser gaming markets, where it's known as "gacha" after the toy capsule machines.

Loot boxes serve as a point of contention due to ''[[SturgeonsLaw many]]'' [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free games]] which have hidden real and tangible ways of BribingYourWayToVictory behind this randomized method of aquisition, with countries such as Australia and Belgium investigating whether or not a lootbox-driven system should be regulated as ''gambling'' - something China, Japan, and the Isle of Man already do, effectively making the trope [[TropeBreaker broken in those parts of the world]].

%% If they contain exclusive items, they may also be related to DownloadableContent, though this is very rare.
%% This one is a maybe due to it being so specific that it might as well not be a related trope.