French regulator warns video games act as gateway to real money gambling

France's gambling regulator is raising the alarm that video games with gambling-like mechanics are acting as a gateway to real money gambling for adolescents.

A new study by the Association for Research and Prevention of Excessive Gambling (ARPEJ), published on Monday and carried out with the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), found 39% of surveyed teenagers aged 15-17 had played "hybrid digital games" in the preceding three-month period.

The research agency said "two thirds of the minors say they took part in JNH, and, more specifically, hybrid casino games, before engaging in real-money gambling."

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The research agency further expressed alarm at how the games acted as a 'gateway effect': initiating players to gambling mechanics before they became real money gamblers.

The survey interviewed 5,000 teenagers about games that use techniques linked to real money gaming products.

These formats include social casino games that replicate slot machines or card games with virtual currencies, games like Grand Theft Auto where users can interact in casinos, titles with randomised reward purchases like loot boxes, and fantasy sports games.

Boys accounted for 42.4% of those who played such games, girls for 35.4%, with 15.6% of respondents making a financial transaction linked to the games.

While mostly free to play, the study noted they "frequently incorporate mechanisms that encourage young players to make microtransactions in order to progress more quickly or gain advantages within the game."

Nearly 69% of players had been exposed to advertising that "encouraged them to bet on real money games, mainly on social networks such as TikTok and Instagram."

Using the Canadian Adolescent Gambling Inventory to assess risk, the study found minors who played both traditional gambling games and hybrid digital games had a higher severity score (26%) than those who played only traditional gambling games (3.9%).

The research also detailed concerns about sleep disturbances, stress and mood regulation difficulties among French youth engaged with these games.

The findings follow an ARPEJ announcement from February showing nearly 43% of respondents had played a real money game of chance in the prior 12-month period, an eight-point rise from 2021.

The ANJ is among three European gambling authorities, alongside Sweden and Denmark, that have launched a dedicated research project to examine links between video gaming and gambling on youth behaviours.

Authorities in Spain and the Netherlands have noted game design features but concentrated reports on loot box interactions and protections.

The European Union has yet to establish a common legal framework determining whether loot boxes should be regulated as gambling, leaving classification to national authorities.

This uncertainty has fuelled legal disputes, including in the Netherlands where Electronic Arts successfully challenged enforcement penalties totalling up to €10m over FIFA loot boxes in 2022.