Content uploaded by Joseph Macey
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Joseph Macey on Jan 22, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
VGO, NFT, OMG! Commentary on Continued Developments in Skins Wagering
... Greer et al. (2019) provide an introduction on skin gambling and esports betting and outline the need for more research on these topics. Abarbanel and Macey (2019) present the case of VGOskin, developed by a skin exchange website, and describe how it connects to online gambling activities. King and Delfabbro (2020) reveal a correlational between in-game spending and gambling. ...
Skin gambling” is a new form of online gambling that has gained significant popularity over the last decade in the People’s Republic of China. Drawing on government reports and business media, this study employed two case studies of three leading Chinese skin gambling businesses to investigate how these companies survived and thrived despite Chinese laws that regulate online gambling. The findings revealed that the industry used the division of online gambling into virtual “skin” items and the separate exchange of these items for cash to shield businesses from the crackdowns ordered on online cash gambling events. Further, the skin gambling businesses were found to operate under the cover of the “esports industry,” “predictive games in public forums,” and “virtual assets markets.” The study demonstrated the significance of cultural framing in negotiating the regulation of illicit market practices.
... Furthermore, some rewards obtained via loot boxes can be transferred between players or exchanged for realworld currencies via online marketplaces. Other rewards cannot be transferred and are tied to an individual player's account (Abarbanel & Macey, 2019;Greer et al., 2019). It is hard to estimate the exact amount of money raised by the sale of loot boxes for a number of reasons, primarily due to the reluctance of the industry to make such figures publicly available. ...
Background and aims:
Loot boxes are in-game items which distribute rewards to players via random-number generation; many games require players to make in-game payments to access their contents. The combination of financial outlay and random rewards has raised concern about similarities to gambling. This debate paper presents a series of themes identified by an inter-institutional working group in Finland, alongside suggested actions, and are presented with the intention of stimulating debate among stakeholders.
Methods:
This work uses an exploratory research approach to gather data from a range of sources, including state-of-the-art reports from several fields and qualitative content analysis of invited presentations from a range of stakeholders, including affected individuals, practitioners, and field-specific experts.
Results and discussion:
Several significant themes emerged from the work and are presented alongside a series of proposed action points. Based on this preliminary exploration we propose a series of, non-exhaustive, actions for both primary and secondary prevention. Furthermore, the group identified the potential for responsible gaming practices to be adopted which would help to minimize the harm from overspending in gaming activities. Finally, we identified the need for further research in the field, for example the use of player data and both longitudinal and qualitative studies.
Conclusions:
The emergent themes are discussed in relation to both the views of the presenters and existing research in the field and are intended to promote discussion concerning the viability of context-specific approaches to an issue of global reach and significance.
This chapter offers an introduction to the diverse and evolving esports scenes and communities in four prominent South American countries: Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile, to provide a glimpse of the esports culture in the region. The gaming culture and context of each country are explored, with a brief historical background of main titles and events, emphasizing similarities and differences in current esports consumption. The chapter delves into the prominent platforms, games, communities, competitive events, players, teams, developers, and the passionate player base that characterizes each country’s esports scene, along with accompanying challenges. This chapter underscores the region’s role in the global esports phenomenon. Key highlights include: (1) while the first competitive video gaming championships appeared in South America in the 1980s, the esports scene did not start to grow exponentially until around 2010; (2) esports labor management policies are slowly developing in South America, but support from governments, game developers, and professional teams is still a challenge; and (3) as a space marked by power asymmetries and the characteristic inequalities of post-colonial territories, South America contributes greatly to the esports ecosystem and as time passes esports will continue to grow and professionalize in the region.
Play-to-earn (P2E) is a new form of monetised gaming based on blockchain and crypto-currency technology. Such games offer opportunities to combine gaming with speculative investment through the purchase of tradable in-game currencies and assets (non-fungible tokens). In this paper, we investigate the profile of people most likely to be attracted to this emerging form of gaming. A sample of 560 participants aged between 18-65 (M = 28.3, SD = 8.3) were recruited via Prolific to complete an online survey that included measures of gaming (Petry’s Internet Gaming Disorder Scale) and gaming risk (Problem Gambling Severity Index), measures of gaming motivation and impulsivity. Other existing engagement in gaming monetization as well as digital asset ownership was also assessed. P2E interest was associated with higher gambling risk scores, but not with internet gaming disorder. P2E gamers also scored higher on extrinsic motivation and monetised gaming was generally associated with higher impulsivity. The results suggest that P2E may be attractive to those with a pre-existing interest in financially risky activities. Policy implications include the increasing need to monitor the growth of digital asset technology and the increasing convergence of gambling, financial speculation and gaming and the potential for increasing financial harm in gaming populations.
Past research indicates strong monetary motives for gambling often elevate an individual’s risk of experiencing symptoms of gambling disorder, with personal relative deprivation (PRD) and upward mobility (UM) identified as key factors in this relationship. Nevertheless, few studies have examined how financial motives, PRD, and UM might interact for people playing modern video games—many of which offer financial incentives to encourage participation. Due to the overlap between gambling and (video) gaming, evidence suggests disordered gambling and disordered gaming might also share similarities. Therefore, the present study explored whether PRD influences associations between playing video games for financial motives, symptoms of Internet gaming disorder (IGD), and UM in two samples: 797 college students (Study 1) and 179 adult gamers over 25 years old (Study 2). Results from Study 1 revealed more PRD predicted more IGD symptoms, with higher financial gaming motives mediating the relationship. In Study 2, PRD also predicted IGD severity, but only coping motives appeared to mediate the positive association between PRD and IGD severity. In both samples, perceived UM inversely moderated the effect of PRD on one’s financial or coping gaming motives. These findings suggest financial motives for video games might lead to more problematic forms of participation for younger adults and negative perceptions of PRD and UM might interact, similar to gambling, to elevate a gamer’s vulnerability for IGD.
Background and aims
Play-to-earn (P2E) gaming is a newly emerging form of gaming increasingly based on blockchain technology. In this paper, we examine the mechanics and business model of these games and their potential benefits and risks for players.
Methods
The paper draws upon and critically synthesises the developing published literature on predatory monetization in gaming as well as objective market data drawn from credible online sources.
Results
P2E gaming blurs the boundaries between gaming and trading and may not yield many of the benefits promoted to consumers or otherwise conveyed through marketing and social media messaging. Particular risks include the deflationary nature of reward currencies and the asymmetric reward structures that heavily favour early investors and exploit late adopters.
Discussion and conclusions
This paper highlights the need for greater consumer awareness of the mechanics and risks of these new gaming models. It will be important for business models to be more transparent and designed so as to encourage more equitable game outcomes, sustainable returns, a balance between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and protection for potentially vulnerable players.
Background
Over the last decade, the provision of online gambling has intensified with increased access, enhanced betting markets, a broader product range, and prolific marketing. However, little research has explored how this intensification is influencing contemporary gambling experiences. This study focused on two research questions: 1) What changes in online gambling have online gamblers observed over the past decade? 2) How have these changes influenced the online gambling experiences and behaviours reported by treatment-seeking and non-treatment-seeking gamblers?
Methods
Two samples of Australian adults were interviewed: 1) 19 people who had been gambling online for at least a decade and with no history of treatment-seeking for online gambling, and 2) 10 people who had recently sought professional help for an online gambling problem. Telephone interviews were semi-structured, with questions that encouraged participants to consider how their online gambling, including any harmful gambling, had been influenced by changes in operator practices and online gambling environments. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Results
Both treatment- and non-treatment-seekers noted the increased speed and ease of online gambling, which now enables instant access from anywhere at any time and increased their gambling opportunities. Both groups highlighted the continued proliferation of advertising and inducements for online gambling, particularly during televised sports and racing events, in social media, and through targeted push marketing. Many treatment- and non-treatment-seekers were aware of the vast range of recently introduced bet types, particularly multi-bets. Treatment-seekers disproportionately reported negative effects from these changes, and described how and why they fostered their increased gambling, impulsive gambling, persistence and loss-chasing. They reported limited uptake and effectiveness of current harm minimisation tools.
Conclusions
Counter to stated policy and practice objectives to minimise gambling harm, industry changes that have made online gambling easier, faster, and more heavily incentivised, and increased the array of complex bets with poorer odds, unduly affect addicted and harmed individuals – who are also the most profitable customers. Further consideration is needed to ensure gambling policy, industry practices and public health measures more effectively reduce gambling harm in contemporary settings. Inducements and the poor pricing of complex bets such as multi-bets, and their outsized attraction to players with problems, should be a key focus.
The invention of blockchain technology, coupled with the growing interest in cryptocurrencies, has given rise to a new form of monetised gaming known as “Play to Earn” (PTE). “Axie Infinity” (AI) is currently the most popular PTE game, occupying a large portion of the online gaming market. In this paper, we profile the risks and benefits of PTE gaming, with a specific focus on AI. Qualitative data in the form of online chat threads was evaluated via a Thematic Analysis (TA) approach. The analysis revealed a number of themes including the dominance of extrinsically motivated gameplay in conjunction with negative appraisals of game quality, the benefits and costs of play, and the potential for PTE scholarship models to be associated with exploitation. The results did, however, indicate awareness of potential consumer risks. The findings have implications for informing consumer education, regulation, as well as areas of focus in future quantitative research.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.