A growing number of Canadian teens are engaging in gambling-like activities while playing video games, blurring the line between play and real-world financial risk, according to a report by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
The 2023 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) is back in the spotlight after Dr. Daniela Lobo, a psychiatrist at Toronto’s CAMH, told The Globe and Mail that some of her patients as young as 16 are spending their savings on loot boxes.
These virtual “goodie bags” offer up weapons and other in-game items, but what teens don’t always realize is that the whole system works a lot like gambling. They’re getting pulled in without even recognizing it.
She said: “As people start to develop problems with it, there are increased conflicts at home, lower grades, people missing school [and] sleeping less.”
This is reflected in the study, which found that “about one-quarter (24%) of students report gambling while playing a video game” in 2023, including spending real money on loot boxes, keys, in-game currency, or skins betting.
The OSDUHS, run by CAMH, is Canada’s longest-running health survey in schools. In the latest round, more than 10,000 students from grades 7 to 12 took part. One finding revealed a gender gap in online gambling. About 12% of boys said they gambled online between November 2022 and June 2023, compared to just 3% of girls.
Dr. Lobo noted that around 4% of secondary school students show signs of gambling problems, a rate that is more than twice as high as some serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. She added: “It’s not everybody, but the problem is the people who are affected are severely affected.”
Why are loot boxes seen as a gateway to gambling?
Loot boxes might not officially count as gambling in Canada, but a lot of experts see them as a gateway to it. They’re virtual containers you can find in some video games, and players can unlock them by using in-game currency, real money, or by reaching certain milestones in the game.
Inside, you might find things like weapons or cosmetic upgrades, often called “skins,” that change how your character looks. The catch is that these skins can be traded, sold for real money, or even bet on third-party gambling sites.
A 2019 study published in Royal Society Open Science looked at the link between teens and loot boxes and found some troubling possibilities. The researchers from the University of York in the UK said loot boxes might actually cause problem gambling in older adolescents.
Or, they suggested, game companies could be making huge profits off teens who already struggle with gambling issues. In some cases, it could be both.
They added: “The link between loot box spending and problem gambling among these older adolescents was of moderate to large magnitude. It was stronger than relationships previously observed in adults.”
On Monday (May 5), the UK’s Gambling Commission released its 2024 Young People and Gambling Report, and the findings echoed many of the same concerns. In 2019, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee had already pushed for loot boxes to be regulated under the Gambling Act of 2005, which would have effectively banned them for children.
A year later, a House of Lords committee focused on gambling harm backed the same recommendation. But instead of making changes to the law, the government at the time chose to stick with industry-developed guidelines, a move critics say hasn’t done enough to protect kids.
Featured image: Canva
