More and more young people in Norway are reaching out to the national Gambling Addiction Helpline, Hjelpelinjen, which has started to worry authorities. According to Hjelpelinjen’s 2024 report and comments from national regulators, online casino games are now the main reason behind gambling issues, especially for young men.
“We see that young casino players may have developed their gambling habits in various types of video games,” said Atle Hamar, Director of Norway’s Gambling Authority (Lottstift) in a translated statement.
“The opportunity to gamble for virtual items in games, or outright gambling with real money on the fringe of the gaming environment, has created new habits for a new generation.”
The report comes at the same time authorities admitted that the tool Norway’s government uses to track reports of illegal and problem gambling hasn’t been working for over a year.
Online casinos dominate gambling addiction problems in Norway
The latest numbers from Hjelpelinjen show that 64% of first-time callers with gambling problems pointed to online casino games as their main or only issue. Odds betting was the next most common at 13%, and poker was mentioned by 4%.
Out of 439 first-time conversations about gambling, 87% involved men, and the average age was just 32. For those struggling with video game-related gambling, the average age was even lower at 21.2.
“We’re seeing old tricks from casino games being integrated into modern games, exposing children and young people to risk.” – Bente Øverli, Norwegian Consumer Authority Director
What’s especially worrying is how much people are losing. Nearly half said they had lost more than 10,000 kroner ($987) in the last month alone, and 35% had lost over 20,000 kroner ($1,974). On top of that, 64% admitted they were using borrowed money to gamble, and 37% had racked up gambling-related debts of 100,000 kroner or more ($9,872).
New generational patterns
Norwegian regulators are warning that the line between gaming and gambling is getting harder to see. Things like loot boxes, skin betting, and casino-style features in regular video games are putting kids and teenagers at risk.
“Gambling and in-game purchases have become a bigger part of video games,” said Bente Øverli, Director of the Norwegian Consumer Authority. “We’re seeing old tricks from casino games being integrated into modern games, exposing children and young people to risk.”
The 2024 Children and Media survey backs this up, showing that 9 out of 10 kids between the ages of 9 and 18 play video games, and nearly half of them play every day. In the cases Hjelpelinjen has handled that involve video games, 49% of the players were under 18, and most of them still lived at home.
Surge in young people reaching out via chat
In 2024, Hjelpelinjen handled 836 serious conversations, a small increase from 831 the year before. But the chat service, which is aimed at younger users, saw a noticeable rise in activity. When it came to video game-related cases, 43% of the chats were started by the players themselves, compared to just 11% of phone calls.
“It’s the players themselves who are increasingly reaching out for help. This trend is even stronger on chat than by phone,” noted the 2024 Helpline Report.
While casino-related problems are clearly on the rise, other types of gambling like bingo and horse betting barely came up. And in 82% of the conversations about casinos and odds betting, foreign operators were involved.
In response, Norway’s regulatory bodies, the Lottery Authority, Consumer Authority, and Media Authority, have formed a broad partnership to enhance protections for young people.
“By working together, we as authorities can achieve far more than we can alone,” said Mari Velsand, Director of the Media Authority. “We saw this when we got illegal gambling ads removed from Norwegian TV screens.”
“Those who play online need better protection than they have today, and the gaming industry must take greater responsibility,” stressed Hamar.
Featured image: Grok
