The Gambling Permeation? Cultural, Social and Economic Intersections Between Games and Gambling

Games, digital or otherwise, have always taken inspiration from their broader social, cultural and economic surroundings. They have been used to attempt to teach moral values and changed to reflect new, more modern, ideals. Their recent development is contingent on changing technological infrastructure, giving rise to a multi-billion pound entertainment commodity. Developing concurrently, gambling commodities are also deeply tied to technology with ever changing modern gambling industries reflecting shifting normative values about the role and position of gambling in our lives. As gambling has become more acceptable, more “normal”, its visibility has vastly increased. Against this backdrop it, perhaps, feels increasingly obvious that gambling would increasingly permeate digital games: game designers look to mechanics which hook people into products; games reflect broader societal trends and there is a pressing need to make returns on investments, commoditising play at a hitherto unknown scale.

When Games and Gambling Collide: Modern Examples and Controversies

The intersection of gaming and gambling has a long lineage. In recent years this process has amplified, arguably accelerated by developing technological infrastructures which facilitate rapid payment purchases and online and real-time systems which allow companies to communicate directly with users and users to communicate with each other. This chapter traces key issues relating to some notable recent examples of the gaming/gambling intersection. It includes controversies about the status of social casino games and loot boxes; the development and expansion of daily fantasy sports markets; the betting and wagering of skins won or bought through digital games, and; rising opportunities to bet on esports. Each exemplifies how these activities are products of a unique set of social and economic circumstances, how corporations are diversifying and becoming part of a more complex gaming/gambling ecosystem and using data to drive growth, all of which raise particular issues for consumer protection.

Introduction

Recent academic and policy attention focuses on the “convergence” of gambling and games. Yet, looking at the social and historical context of gambling and games, we see they were always intertwined, with both reflecting broader social, economic and cultural conditions. Setting out the argument for this book, this chapter contends that what we see today, with phenomena like loot boxes, is an acceleration of this trend, amplified by the changing technologies which underpin both industries. Little attention has been paid to these broader social and historical processes, which limits our understanding of them and our anticipation of what might happen next. This book aims to act as a primer to place the “convergence” of gambling and gaming within its rightful historical context and encourages us to take a broader perspective when thinking about the impact of these developments.

Concluding Remarks

Changing technology has accelerated the intersection between gaming and gambling products and practices, generated new products and thus created concerns about the impact of things like loot boxes or social casinos. Games which incorporate gambling-like practices (aside from generating profit) reflect the increasing normalisation of gambling within everyday life but these games also become accelerants of this trend, through the vast power and reach they have, especially among young people. Attention tends to focus on whether these practices should be defined as “gambling” or not. Whilst important, this arguably misses a range of other considerations—such as the potential exploitative or coercive nature of these products and the mechanics that underlie them. Games and gambling tend to be viewed as distinct practices but increasing intersection of products, practices and common mechanics used by both means they are increasingly viewed as intertwined, where the improbity of each will likely reflect on the other.

Challenging “Play”

Our understanding of when gaming ends and gambling begins is unclear. This has been hotly debated among theorists and the inclusion of gambling-like practices within digital games makes this even more indistinct, arguably subverting traditional notions of what it means to play. We are hyper-attuned to changes in game play because we know the learning power and potential of games and thus worry, rightly or wrongly, about their content: debate over loot boxes is the latest example of this. Whilst young people themselves have varied perspectives on whether wagering with or for in-game currency or items is gambling or not, they do tend to see these practices as coercive and as potentially addictive. They are acutely aware that these gambling-like mechanics do precisely what they were designed to—obtain money—raising broader questions about the ethics and responsibilities of the games industry as the creators of this content.