Betting on video games: a worrying trend on children and adolescents

The world of video games has changed its income dynamics: it is no longer enough to buy the game, but now a range of possibilities opens up for users to acquire certain items to progress or obtain benefits, which has a second or dangerous side that grew after the pandemic and that many families are already dealing with: gambling.

In the context of Gamer’s Day, August 29, ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, analyzes the world of betting and video games, the addiction it can generate in children and adolescents, and the role of influencers They benefit when users lose. In addition, it shares what measures countries are taking in response to this situation and what actions mothers and fathers can take to help and guide their children.

“Not many years ago, video games used to be a one-time purchase: that already guaranteed the complete experience. But currently, companies in the industry often offer their users video games for free, with “loot boxes” and other in-game transactions being the most important source of income,” says Camilo. Gutiérrez Amaya, Head of the ESET Latin America Research Laboratory.

“LOOT BOXES” are a specific monetization dynamic that is represented in products that can be purchased at some specific stage of a game. They can hide elements or rewards highly valued by the communities. Of course, they have a cost and their content is random. They acquired such an important status that an economy even emerged based on them, and they can even be used to bet on third-party sites.

 

Something that began as a game, over time, became a great concern for parents and even governments because its casino-style betting format to obtain and market them encourages addictive consumer spending. This is also enhanced by the great accessibility that mobile devices allow and the little (or no) control that exists regarding the age of majority of users on these platforms.

Child and adolescent gambling

The consequences can be very serious: from generating an addictive habit in users, such as debt for large sums of money, often unknown to the parents themselves. Thus, child and adolescent gambling addiction emerges as a gambling addiction in minors, which manifests itself in compulsive behaviors in video games and online betting, among others.

Beyond this, large video game franchises such as Candy Crush, Fornite, FIFA, League of Legends, or Final Fantasy continue to launch titles whose income to offset the cost of developing the game itself depends largely on “loot boxes.” or microtransactions. So much so that recent studies estimate that by 2025 “loot boxes” will generate more than $20 billion.

“The “loot box” mechanics literally work like any casino: the user must replenish the account with monetary funds, then place their bet, and finally wait for the graphics to spin to find out if they won or lost. This is how the service that video games have offers alarming similarities with the characteristics of an online casino: in fact, they imitate roulette and even slot machines,” adds the ESET researcher. The fundamental difference between casinos and the dynamics proposed by video games is that the latter do not have a gaming license from any official body and, in many cases, they do not offer reliable verification that prevents those under 18 years of age from placing their bets. . It is worth remembering that it is illegal for a minor to place bets.

The link between video games and betting is, in certain cases, enhanced by the figure of influencers, who play a key and at the same time ambiguous role in the growth of this problem. This is because many of them promote betting platforms or give recommendations that, directly or indirectly, lead their followers to make bets that logically can end in losing money.

What stands out within this dynamic is that there are several influencers who receive payments and commissions from these betting platforms, but based on the money losses of their followers. The conflict of interest is as clear as it is controversial, influencers have a financial incentive for their followers to lose money instead of earning it.

A serious problem

A real example of this was what happened in 2016 with YouTubers TmarTn and Syndicate, who promoted Counter Strike skin betting sites and were accused of not disclosing that they had their financial interests in the pages they promoted. In both cases they earned money from visits to each of their videos, but also from users’ losses on the betting sites they promoted and which they even owned.

To counteract this trend, many countries have taken this scenario as a serious problem, and that is why they have begun to enact laws and regulations against the operation of sites that operate in a gray zone, without official license or adequate controls.

In Argentina, for example, the government of the city of Buenos Aires sent letters to a large number of influencers because they advertised on their social networks for online gambling platforms.

In the United States, for their part, they took concrete actions to regulate young people’s access to online betting sites. In fact, there are laws that force these websites to implement more advanced age verification technologies and others that limit the amount of money that can be bet.

Another case is that of the United Kingdom, a country in which the Betting Commission implemented very strict regulations that aim to limit the advertising of games of chance and access to minors, while in Spain they prohibit the access of minors to the loot boxes to prevent addictive behavior and in Australia reforms were introduced whose main objective is to have stricter controls on the identity of users to also prevent the development of future addictions.

To accompany the little ones in their interactions on the Internet, the first step is not to underestimate the underlying problems between video games and gambling. Recent studies suggest that “loot box” purchases and similar habits can lead to children and adolescents developing future gambling and other severe problems.

Support and advice

To avoid this, ESET shares concrete actions that can be implemented to accompany and advise children in the midst of this worrying scenario:

• Have conversations with children/teenagers about their online activities and interests.
• Provide information about what gambling addiction is and its consequences.
• Carry out a joint analysis of betting advertisements, so that they can make good decisions and incorporate good habits.
• Encourage them to carry out recreational activities, without the mobile device.
• As older people, set an example and give balanced use to devices.

Contact coordinates with ESET in Venezuela: https://www.eset.com/ve/. Also, their social networks: Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook: (ESET).

With information and reference image provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland

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