What is a loot box?

How it works

You buy or earn a box, crate, chest or pack, open it, and the game picks one or more items at random. Each result has a drop rate, and some games add pity so a long unlucky run ends in a guaranteed rare item. In Europe, PEGI marks games that sell them with an "In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)" notice.

Because the reward is random, the useful number is what a rare item costs on average: its expected value.

In the games we track

• Apex Legends: an Apex Pack has a 7.4% chance of at least one Legendary item, and you can't open more than 30 without one.
• The Elder Scrolls Online: a Crown Crate has a 2% chance of an Apex reward.
• Guild Wars 2: the rarest Black Lion Chest contracts are 0.006%.
• Team Fortress 2: crates open with a Mann Co. key, about £1.74 on the Steam Community Market.

The Drop-rate Index lists the rarest result in every pool we track, and loot box expected value works out the average cost.