Video Games, Gambling and
Addiction: Converging Business
Models, Converging Problems
www.netaddiction.co.nz
Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
James Driver
• Completing Master’s dissertation into
experiences of treatment for gaming addiction
• Founder of NetAddiction NZ
• Psychotherapist in private practice and
working at an AoD service
www.netaddiction.co.nz
Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Benway Monochrome
• Level 60 Bard
• Had epic weapon, killed many
internet dragons
• Member of one of the most accomplished
guilds on the server
• Over 2000 hours played (plus many more on
other characters – around 16 hours per day for
two years)
• Eventually sold on ebay for ~ $300 USD (about
15c per hour)
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What I Spent 16 Hours
Per Day Staring At
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Overview of Today’s Talk
• Hypothesis and Examples
• Problem Video Gaming statistics
• High Engagement, Problematic, and Addictive
gaming
• Coercive Monetization and the Link to
Gambling
• Conclusion
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
The Hypothesis
• Increased availability of video gaming devices combined with
increased advertising and social acceptance of gaming has
lead to growing rates of video gaming addiction
• The economic model of games, particularly mobile games, has
moved towards “In-App Purchases” and coercive
monetization
• These two facts combined will lead to an increase in video
game addicts exhibiting symptoms and behaviours similar to
problem gamblers, and more players will transition to online
gambling
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
“Given the pressure on media enterprises to
‘monetize’ their business and look for different
revenue streams, there is likely to be even greater
media convergence between gaming and other more
profit-making activities such as gambling. Given the
well established addictive potential of gambling, this
may also have implications for the incidence of video
game addiction.”
– Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, Nottingham Trent University
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Chinese Official Embezzles 2.6
Million Yuan to Spend on Online Game
- Chinese official embezzles $424,247 USD to spend on online
game
- Spent up to $1,633 in a single purchase on virtual equipment
in the game
- Spent $16, 327 to create two “high level” accounts instead of
just one regular account
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/115807-chinese-official-blows-millions-on-online-game-addiction/
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Whales
Whale (in gaming) – someone who spends
exorbitantly or recklessly in Free To Play (F2P)
games.
“The top 10 percent of players can account for
as much as 50 percent of all in-app purchase
revenue,” says Andy Yang, CEO of the mobile
monetization research firm PlayHaven.”
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Whales – High Spenders
or Problem Gamers?
“Chris found himself draining his bank account until he didn't have a spare
dollar to his name..
..Chris even had a few health scares along the way,
and found that he couldn't afford to pay the medical bills because his
savings account had been stripped for TF2 (Team Fortress 2) money.”
“Kyle describes PlanetSide 2 as his "danger game," thanks to the financial
situations his obsession with the game put him in. "I'm in a position where
I'm living paycheck to paycheck for the moment as the result of that
spending - beyond incurring overdraft for my rent””
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/195806/chasing_the_whale_examining_the_.php
www.netaddiction.co.nz
Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Whales – High Spenders
or Problem Gamers?
“One player told me that he has spent around $3,000 on MapleStory,
including dropping a whole $500 in an attempt to create a single weapon
in the game. "Both buying the points, and gambling those points on
random drops would give me a rush," he says.”
““You want to be the top guy,” Vince says. “Once you convince yourself to
spend two hundred dollars on it, another two hundred dollars isn’t that
much more.””
-
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/11/meet-the-whales/all/
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Interesting Facts
• One of the best performing mobile games, Puzzle
and Dragons, makes over $5 million USD per day.
• The most expensive hat in the first person shooter
“Team Fortress 2” currently costs around $500. It
does nothing.
• In the Zynga game “Frontierville”, the player is
confronted with a wounded crying baby deer that
has been attacked by coyotes. The player is then told
that if they don’t pay $5 to cure the deer, it will die.
• The worldwide market for virtual goods was $15
billion in 2012 and is growing rapidly
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Problem Gaming Statistics
• Studies conducted in Germany, USA, South Korea
and Australia amongst others
• Addiction rates range anywhere from 3% to 25%
depending on criteria used. Most findings indicate
problematic gaming rates of around 10% of the
general population aged 13-25
• Difficult to research due to no established criteria
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
The Problem of Diagnosis
• No clear consensus regarding behavioural
addictions
• “Internet Gaming Disorder” added to DSM-V
as requiring further research
• Diagnostic tools may need to be conservative,
yet the rate of technological change
subsequently limits their effectiveness
• Different forms of gaming meet different
needs
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Problem Gaming as a Continuum
Casual
Gaming
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Highly Engaged
Gaming
Problematic
Gaming
Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Gaming
Addiction
Symptoms
– Think obsessively about gaming even when not playing
– Lose track of time while gaming
– Become agitated or depressed when their gaming is
interrupted
– Develop tolerance – needing to play for longer to feel
satisfied
– Use gaming as a coping strategy
– Experience reduced behavioural control – continue to
game even though they no longer enjoy it, and neglect
other aspects of their life to a critical degree, including
disrupted eating and sleeping patterns
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Gaming vs Gambling –
What’s the Same?
• The “rush”, sense of “flow” while playing
• Sense of potency, satisfaction when winning
• Compulsive desire to continue – “just one
more turn/game”
• Real life dull and uninteresting compared to
the immediate feedback and rewards of the
game
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Gaming vs Gambling –
What’s Different?
• Social environment – players often feel a sense of being
admired, important or needed in game
• Games not seen as socially harmful, sometimes encouraged by
parents as a coping mechanism
• Persistence – gamers’ progress carries over from one session to
the next, leading to a reluctance to quit and “lose” what they
have achieved
• Games not designed to offer players any chance of recouping
their money
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Development of
economic game models
• Games as a good – one-off purchases
• Games as a service – “pay to play”,
subscription models
• Games as a modular good – “downloadable
content/DLC”, episodic releases
• Games as gateway to a service – “free to
play/F2P” games, In-App Purchases (IAP),
coercive monetization, “prestige goods” and
“supremacy goods”
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Which mobile games earn the most?
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
So how does that work?
• Games are free to play, rely on skill up to a
certain point
• At a certain point, it is difficult to progress
further without spending real money. It
becomes a “money game” rather than a “skill
game”
• Players are persuaded to spend money in a
variety of ways that exploit player psychology
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Coercive Monetization
“A coercive monetization model depends on the ability to
“trick” a person into making a purchase with incomplete
information, or by hiding that information such that while it is
technically available, the brain of the consumer does not access
that information”
– Ramin Shokrizade, gamasutra.com
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Coercive Monetization – Premium Currencies
“Research has shown that putting even one intermediate currency between
the consumer and real money makes the consumer much less adept at
assessing the value of the transaction” – Ramin Shokrizade, Game Economist
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Coercive Monetization –
Creating a Sense of Urgency
“A user that is capable of doing basic
math (handled in a different part of
the brain that develops earlier) can
feel the urge to “save money” by
buying more. The younger the
consumer, the more effective this
technique is, assuming they are able
to do the math.”
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Coercive Monetization –
Rewarding Frequent Players
“The end result of having your players return time
and time again to your app is greater confidence in
your products, which leads people to spend more
on in-app purchases.”
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Coercive Monetization –
Progress Gates and Loss Avoidance
+1000
+2000
+500
1500
3500
500
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Coercive monetization – randomised rewards
and non-monetary gambling
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
From Gaming to Gambling
• Familiarise and make players comfortable with
the concept of in-game spending
• Use variable reward ratios and non-monetary
gambling to incentivise risk taking
• Utilise a range of psychological “tricks” to lead
players to spend impulsively and irrationally
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Working With Problem Gamers
• Respect their experience
• Learn from the client
• Understand their patterns in detail – when,
why, how – what do they feel/think/do?
• Address the underlying thoughts/feelings
• Build new coping strategies and alternatives
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Conclusions
• No clear diagnostic criteria for gaming addiction
• Problematic and addictive gaming primarily seems to arise
when gaming is meeting psychological needs that are not
otherwise being met
• The change in business models of video games is leading to
the use of psychological tactics more akin to those found in
gambling games
• The exploitation of a minority of addicted players is leading to
significant detrimental effects for those players
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Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Reading List
•
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•
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•
Blaszczynski, A. (2008). Commentary: A response to “Problems with the concept of video game “addiction”: Some case study examples”.
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 6, 179-181.
•
Chan, P. A. & Rabinowitz, T. (2006). A cross-sectional analysis of video games and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adolescents.
Annals of General Psychiatry, 5(1), 16-26.
•
Chia-Yi, L., & Feng-Yang, K. (2007). A study of internet addiction through the lens of the interpersonal theory. Cyberpsychology & Behaviour, 10, 6,
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Griffiths, M. D. (2013). Screen play thoughts: A speculative look at trends in video game addiction. Retrieved from
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www.netaddiction.co.nz
Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Reading List Continued
•
Griffiths, M. D. (2013). Bitter sweet? A brief look at ‘addiction’ to Candy Crush. Retrieved from
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IGEA (2012). Digital New Zealand 2012 (DNZ12). Retrieved from http://www.igea.net/2011/10/digital-new-zealand-2012-dnz12/
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Rigney, R. (2012). These guys $5k spending sprees keep your games free to play. Retrieved from
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Rose, M. (2013). Chasing the whale: Examining the ethics of free to play games. Retrieved from
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www.netaddiction.co.nz
Copyright © 2014 – James Driver
Reading List Continued
•
Shokrizade, R. (2013). Mastering F2P: The Titanic effect. Retrieved from
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•
Shokrizade, R. (2013). Systems of control in F2P. Retrieved from
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•
Shokrizade, R. (2013). The top F2P monetization tricks. Retrieved from
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•
Shorrock, M. (2012). Why people become internet addicted: A qualitative meta-synthesis of studies that explore aetiology, predisposing factors and
other antecedents to Internet addiction (1996-2012). Retrieved from http://www.oaktreetherapy.co.uk/#/resource-centre/4570807326.
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Suler, J. (2001). Internet addiction. Retrieved from http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/ausinterview.html.
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www.netaddiction.co.nz
Copyright © 2014 – James Driver