The Lure of Loot: Gambling and Manipulative Design in Youth Video Games (

Описание: Popular video games increasingly contain loot boxes and other design features which mimic gambling behavior and increase monetization of youth video game play. Do these features and techniques promote gambling behaviors and addictive patterns among youth? What are these mechanisms, how do they promote problematic behavior, and what can parents, communities, or governments do to protect youth? In this “Ask the Experts'' webinar, a panel of psychologists, researchers, and gambling addiction experts address these very questions and provide actionable advice for parents, communities, governments, and game developers alike.

[00:00] Introduction
Introduction from Kris Perry, MSW, Executive Director of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, and panel moderator Jeffrey Derevensky, PhD, James McGill Professor of Educational and Counseling Psychology, Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviors at McGill University.

[03:46] David Zendle, PhD
David Zendle, PhD, Lecturer of Computer Science at the University of York, provides a brief history of gaming and monetisation, breaking down the function of games as a product and as a platform. Dr. Zendle discusses loot boxes, social casino games, and twitch streams, and the ways each is associated with gambling behaviors. He also details additional predatory practices built around microtransactions and potential solutions from the perspective of various stakeholders, including recommendations for the gaming industry itself.

[13:29] Jeffrey Derevensky, PhD
Dr. Derevensky further breaks down the convergence between gaming and gambling among youth, discussing the normalization and glamorization of gambling behaviors, as well as motivations for and accessibility of gambling for youth. He also shares some data on the prevalence, awareness, and impacts of youth gambing behaviors. Finally, he offers recommendations for prevention at community and individual family levels.

[22:55] Leon Xiao, LLM
Leon Xiao, LLM, PhD fellow at the IT University of Copenhagen and visiting scholar at Queen Mary University of London, presents regulatory measures employed by governments and industries around the world, including probability disclosures, warning labels, and bans, all designed to address the potential harms of loot boxes in games. Leon reviews the various approaches, including their successes and limitations, and provides direct advice to parents on how to navigate the gaps that may remain.

[34:58] Kev Clelland
Kev Clelland, Director of Insight and Engagement at YGAM, talks about strategies that adults can employ to support children and ensure that they have a healthy relationship with gaming. He reviews youth gambling prevalence and harm in the UK, the growing role of gaming, and the importance of education. He shares resources for teaching youth and parents about the convergence of gaming and gambling. For parents, he encourages following the “P-L-A-Y” rules to help engage and protect their children.

[49:35] Group Q&A
Guided by questions submitted from the audience, Dr. Derevensky leads the panel in a discussion that addresses how parents can establish agreement on boundaries for their children and recognize possible signs of harm, whether regulation is important and what new policies should focus on, how community organizations and schools can get involved, and potential strategies for shifting the public narrative around the normalization of gambling. To wrap up the discussion, each panelist shares a key takeaway for the audience.

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