The Gambling Commission has issued its report into the known and understood risks of gambling-style social games on Facebook, as it considers its future policy on the burgeoning sector.
While primarily an evidence-gathering exercise aimed at laying the groundwork for wider discussion of the“potential implications for risk, harm and responsible play in relation to gaming and gambling behaviour”, the report by four gaming academics on behalf of the British gambling regulator did however draw three initial conclusions.
First, that stricter age verification may be required in situations where children are playing gambling-style games and “real money gambling is being advertised using this media”, in order to avoid exposure to inappropriate “harder” forms of marketing such as for big wins and deposit bonuses.
Second, the report argues, some games and features should “be closely monitored and comprehensively researched”, including those relating to accessibility via social media, and their social influence, particularly among children and adolesents. The acadmics however admit that these games may also have positive influences on gambling behaviour, by satisfying leisure needs without the need to lose real money, or promoting “a more adaptiave approach to gambling and gaming as a leisure activity” by promoting the social element.
Third, the four academics stress the need for original research on social gaming rather than simply applying what is already understood in the field of traditional gambling studies, because: “Consumer behaviour in relation to social gaming and social gambling may be counterintuitive and inferences based on pre-existing gambling may not apply.”
According to the report, just two studies into social gambling are currently being conducted into social gaming, one by the Victorian Government and another by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, with both at a very early stage.
Recommendations for future research within the report included consultation with social gaming operators “to explore whether objective data about player profiles and behaviour can be shared”.
The overview identified 16 main risk factors associated with gambling-style social games, the majority arising from their “social” and “freemium” characteristics. These included the oft-cited concern that the more frequent and larger virtual pay-outs of social games could lead players to have unrealistic expectations when they migrated to real-money formats, resulting in their “chasing losses” for longer during losing periods.
The Social Gaming Commission announced last week it had responded to the Gambling Commission’s call to the industry for more data on social gaming to help inform its analysis and shape future policy.
