I see this as a result of the evolution of data-driven optimisation (as a methodology) in concert with data becoming increasingly more available. Back in the d

I see this as a result of the evolution of data-driven optimisation (as a methodology) in concert with data becoming increasingly more available. Back in the day of stickers/baseball cards your data granularity was probably down to state/city-level sales by month. Now in the world of F2P gaming, you have per-minute per-user level of data. You're able to A/B the uplift in sales: - for introducing slot-machine like sound effects when opening the loot box - adding flashes when you open the loot box - giving out fewer lootboxes per hour - introducing more rare and powerful things in the lootbox You have "engagement" people who's sole job is to make stuff addictive nowadays, no longer is it a few people's job to dream up something fun to use and collect. It's now a cynical and scientific exercise to ruthlessly optimise IAP.