Social Gaming Does Not Lead To Problem Gambling

Friday November 14,2014 : SOCIAL GAMING DOES NOT LEAD TO PROBLEM GAMBLING
 
New study of a 12 million-player sample over a one month period debunks claims that social gambling endangers the young.
 
Intensive and independent research on a study sample of 12 million international players over a month's social gaming supplied by five major operators has shown that fears that social gaming increases the chances of problem gambling developing among the young are unfounded.
 
The study was carried out at the request of the International Social Games Association by the Harvest Strategy team led by Dr. Rohan Miller of the University of Sydney.
 
The report, titled ‘A Snapshot of Youth in the Digital Playground' reported that what it terms "Digsino" (casino style games played in the social gaming environment) does not constitute a danger to young players in terms of real-money problem gambling later in life.
 
Statistically, only 0.74 percent of the sample was found to be under 18 years of age, with only 0.56 percent of those spending real money in purchasing credits or advancements. These numbers are supported by demographics from the DoubleDown social casino, where the majority of players are older than 50 years.
 
Social gamers under age 18 constituted only 0.15 percent of all real-money paying players, and spent an average of less than $3 a day…half that of older age groups.
 
The researchers could not find any factual and documented correlation showing that Digsino gaming had coincided anywhere with an increase in problem gambling, and they opined that the social style of casino gaming was conducted in far briefer sessions than is the case in real-money gambling, suggesting that this did not fit the typical problem gambling profile.
 
Digsino activity does not require the expenditure or reward of real money in a direct gambling sense, and therefore does not encourage participants into financially disastrous behaviour such as chasing losses, the researchers noted.
 
The bottom line to the findings is that there does not appear to be any "meaningful relationship" between Digsino activity and other forms of commercial gambling.
 
See the full report here:
 
http://blogs.dlapiper.com/all-in/files/2014/11/ISGA-Research-A-Snapshot-of-Youth-in-the-Digital-Playground.pdf