Wheels of fortune allowing you to win special equipment for your character online or treasure chests accelerating progress: these mechanisms, among other games of chance and money integrated into video games, encourage young people to play games real money. This university study is the first in Flanders to examine over the long term the presence of gambling elements in video games and their ecosystem.
Experts particularly warn against loot boxes (paid or free), these “surprise boxes” containing virtual objects, but also casino games, wheels of fortune and gambling videos. Researchers followed around 2,300 students aged 12 to 17 for three years, asking them about their gaming habits. Five hundred of them participated in three phases of the study.
More than eight in ten teenagers reported playing video games regularly across the three surveys. Among them, 60% said they had participated in gambling in the past year. Betting with friends (35%) and scratch games (33%) are the most popular, although games of chance are prohibited for minors.
The researchers found that young people exposed to simulated gambling elements during the first phase of the study showed a higher propensity for gambling and more frequent real-life gambling behaviors one year later. “The effect was in this direction, and not the other way around,” explains Rozane De Cock of the University of Louvain (KU Leuven).
“We did not observe that young people who reported playing gambling games during the first phase then started using gambling games in video games. This starts with gambling games integrated into video games. video games and their ecosystem, then results in an increase in the propensity to play and actual gaming behaviors one year later,” the researchers note.
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