Study finds “clear link” between gaming and gambling

A study has found that those who play video games regularly are 4.3 times more likely to participate in betting than people who play infrequently.

In a study conducted by Entain, one of the world’s largest betting companies, who owns Coral and Ladbrokes, it found a “clear link” between those who play video games on a weekly basis and those who partake in betting. As reported by SBCNews, the study which surveyed over 16,000 people found that those who said they play videos games weekly were 4.3 times more likely to say they bet than those who play less.

This figure is also hiding other gambling based statistics. Weekly gamers were 4.5 times more likely to take part in in-game forms of gambling such as microtransactions and loot boxes than those who play infrequently.  The study believes this is in part due to the increasing popularity of esports.

37 per cent of adults surveyed say they watch or intend to watch esports a new area in which Entain is seeing people gamble. Commenting on the survey, Dom Grounsell of Entain said:

“People of all ages – particularly middle-aged dads – enjoy gaming and seem to love experimenting with new and exciting content.”

The most concerning figure in the survey is that it is younger age groups who are most likely to be involved in both betting and gaming. While the survey only questioned adults, the youngest group, 18-24 year olds, were the most likely to participate in both, with figures decreasing as age increased.

Companies appear to be exploiting this similarity. Companies like Ubisoft have been promoting risk based in-game transactions by implementing NFT based programmes into its games.

In other news, a leaked image from Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, hints that a completely new title from a major Nintendo IP will be announced next month (February) though no further details are given.