The dynamics of problematic gaming in e-sports through the lens of FIFA gaming

ABSTRACT-Purpose This research looks at the relationship between gamer roles, motivations, and their association with problematic gaming. Particularly, attitudes, flow, and sunk cost were explored within EA Sport’s FIFA, a popular eSports video game that features loot boxes. Loot boxes are purchases made within video games that yield random in-game items, akin to gambling. eSports are popular video games that have attracted fandom, spectators, and audiences often streamed online.Design/methodology This study conducted an online survey (n = 200) of FIFA gamers. Participants were screened to ensure they played FIFA’s Ultimate Teams game mode which features the predominant use of loot boxes.Findings Attitudes and flow predicted problematic gaming. Sunk cost was also found to be highly associated with problematic gaming. Importantly, two emergent gaming roles (manager and trader) were explored and discussed in this study. These roles that gamers adopt within the game are defined by gamer motivations. This provides knowledge regarding the impact of loot boxes and its association with problematic gaming.Practical implications The findings from this research suggest that the gamer roles of trader and manager in FIFA are dynamic, such that sunk cost is greater for those that lean more toward trading, which is associated with problematic gaming. Additionally, games like FIFA as an eSport may create a sense of normalcy for competitive online games that utilize gambling style mechanics.Keywords: Problematic gaminggaming disordersunk costloot boxgamer rolesaddiction AcknowledgementThe authors would like to thank Ellison Kelling and Gregory P. Perreault for their invaluable help in this research project.Ethical statementThis research has complied with the ethical guidelines set forth by Addiction Research & Theory.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe dataset for both the focus group and interview is stored on OSF and can be found at: https://osf.io/tbjdz/?view_only = 2b55b7435940428b8bc54407975c12b6Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Faculty Development Grant under Grant FDR1188.