In the past five years, digital games and gambling have shifted closer together than ever before. However, more recently a number of new phenomena have emerged, and become highly successful, which blur video games and gambling in ways not before seen. Specifically, we are seeing video games increasingly shift to using gambling systems in a number of ways, while gambling systems are developing tropes of video games to appeal to new demographics.
In this evidence brief, the authors outline four key ways that gambling and video games are converging:
- esports betting
- loot boxes
- daily fantasy sports
- gambling-centred live-streaming
These are important new shifts for understanding the contemporary gambling landscape, so this brief is targeted to scholars, policy makers, and the public with an interest in the cutting-edge state of digital gambling.
