"When I spot the rare purple skin that is available in games like World of Warcraft , I'll purchase more lootboxes" Morrison said. "When I see that purple or golden flash when I open the box buy WoTLK Gold , that makes me feel good. I'm 33 years old, I'm not sure how that affects a 13-year-old's brain. I think what people do not realize--and I'm not a first-hand observer as a game developer, but many have an online profile of your consumer that includes the number of lootboxes you purchase, they are aware of how often you refill your account, what you fill it up with the amount you spend on the account... If you don't spend money on lootboxes, they may offer you a good likelihood of getting that purple or gold-colored item because you're basically a billboard for how cool the skin is. It's a business, and , like every other market they know how to deal with you."

"There are a myriad of bad, corrupt ways to run the gaming industry right now and we're testing every one options."

Morrison pointed out that some variations of the formula for lootboxes could comply with the legal definition of gambling in certain countries specifically as lawmakers in the US and around the world consider changing the current paradigm with targeted legislation. While he said that some games might be closer than others--for example, players can sell the randomly awarded skins and other in-game items for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Dota 2 on the Steam marketplace--previous efforts to regulate this sort of activity were stymied by the fact that it's difficult to "cash out" of the store entirely, making the line between earning in-game items and converting them to cash less clear.

(You could always sell your account on a third-party site like Ebay however, doing so would be against the Steam Terms of Service.) "Let's not forgetthat legally you don't have ownership of any of the games listed above, but you do own a license to play the games," Morrison said.

"You aren't able to give you Steam library or library of games to your child, it's not yours buy WoW WoTLK Classic Gold, it's a non-transferable licence... until there's an established economic model that's good for the people that works, I can't imagine one of the gaming companies spending the time to figure this out, unless government is able to create them. There are a myriad of fraudulent, shady ways to run the gaming business right now and we're testing all the options."