eSports, skins and loot boxes: Participants, practices and problematic behaviour associated with emergent forms of gambling

Abstract

Twenty years since the internet transformed gambling products and services, the convergence of online games and gambling has initiated a new means of consuming internet-based media.Gambling specifically connected to esports is a significant development, offering not only a new avenue for existing gambling products to be inserted into gaming media, but also affording several novel experiences (e.g. skins and loot boxes). This study assesses participation rates and demographic characteristics of esports spectators who gamble via an international online survey (N=582). The sample highlighted the prevalence of young, often under-age, males in esportsrelated gambling activities. Participation in gambling, and gambling-like activities, was found to be 67%, with rates of problematic and potentially problematic gambling in the sample being 50.34%. Finally, increased gambling is associated with increased spectating of esports. Although the results are not generalisable to the wider population, they suggest a need for increased attention, from academia and regulators, regarding newly-emergent gambling behaviours in contemporary digital culture.

GamCog: A measurement instrument for miscognitions related to gamblification, gambling, and video gaming.

“…The use of particular mechanics in contemporary digital games has also led to concerns about the promotion of gambling and gambling-like behaviours. The most contentious example of which are loot boxes, which have been likened to scratch cards and slot machines, and have been associated with problematic gambling behaviours (Macey & Hamari, 2019;Zendle & Cairns, 2018 where a gambling game, such as poker or roulette, forms part of the main game, usually in the form of a mission or a mini-game (King et al, 2010a). Also present within games is player-led emergent gambling, as has been seen in the game Runescape (Pips, 2013), among others.…”

“…Video gamers who gamble tend to be young males who often gamble using multiple channels, primarily online (King, Delfabbro and Griffiths, 2010;Forrest, King and Delfabbro, 2016a; Sally M. Gainsbury, Abarbanel and Blaszczynski, 2017;Macey and Hamari, 2018). Furthermore, they are not limited to any particular region or country, irrespective of local laws which may restrict access to traditional gambling products (Macey and Hamari, 2019).…”

“…An example of the constantly changing context is provided by the increasing regulation of loot boxes, seeMacey and Hamari (2019), andGriffiths (2018) for detailed summaries.…”

Online Gambling of Pure Chance: Wager Distribution, Risk Attitude, and Anomalous Diffusion

“…To avoid abusing the hosting websites (i.e., the gambling websites), the request rates of data-collecting are limited to 1 request per second. Considering the legal concerns and potential negative effects of online gambling [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] , our analysis aims only to help better prevent adolescent gambling and problem gambling.…”

From the Hands of an Early Adopter’s Avatar to Virtual Junkyards: Analysis of Virtual Goods’ Lifetime Survival

“…Virtual goods mostly take up the forms of in-game items related to the theme of the game, such as avatar clothing, gear, vehicles, pets, emoticons, and other customization options [5,14], as well as different types of items related to the recent proliferation of "gamblification", where acquiring virtual www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci goods is increasingly based on gambling-like mechanics, effectively blurring the line between gaming and gambling [15].…”