Originally, video games were a product you paid for once and that then provided as many hours of entertainment as users wanted to spend at the computer or console. Now, however, on the mobile phones that are in almost everybody\u2019s pockets, the industry\u2019s growth has taken a darker turn, with game design using a range of\u00a0mechanisms that encourage user spending\u00a0and can help normalize gambling habits. These are the findings of a study led by researchers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)\u00a0published in the journal\u00a0Entertainment Computing, which reveals a consistent relationship between these hidden mechanisms and behaviours associated with problematic gambling among young people.<\/p>\n
The article, published in open access, reviews 15 scientific studies of the use of video games by people between the ages of 15 and 24, suggesting that these more or less hidden mechanisms in the architecture of video games exploit the\u00a0vulnerabilities typical of young people, such as impulsiveness, reward sensitivity and social pressure, to push up revenues. \u201cRealizing that, online, the boundaries between playing and betting were becoming blurred, especially among young people, led us to investigate what young people do, but also how the devices themselves and the design of the games condition these practices,\u201d said\u00a0Joan Arnedo\u00a0and\u00a0Daniel Aranda, the researchers from the Learning, Media and Entertainment Research Group (GAME) behind the study.\u201cDark patterns are elements integrated into the game\u2019s architecture, designed to prolong playing time and stimulate spending\u201d<\/p>\n
The research team also included\u00a0Antoni Baena\u00a0(UOC), Joan J. Pons (Pompeu Fabra University) and Paula Rodr\u00edguez-Rivera (University of the Balearic Islands). The researchers highlight various systems built into the design of games to encourage consumption, such as \u201cloot boxes\u201d (collections of\u00a0random rewards\u00a0that serve to personalize games or give players competitive advantages), virtual currencies that disconnect from real money and hide spending, systems to advance faster through payment, and temporary offers that give a sensation of urgency. \u201cThese are not isolated tricks,\u201d explained Aranda, \u201cbut features built into the architecture of the game, designed to prolong playing time and stimulate spending.\u201d<\/p>\n
A conscious \u201cdeception\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the most significant findings of the study is that young people are not simply \u2018fooled\u2019 by monetization systems: they are often aware of them, but accept them as part of the gaming experience. This acceptance cannot be understood only at the individual level, but within the framework of a broader ecosystem in which the video game functions as an\u00a0economic and financial infrastructure. \u201cVideo games based on this type of strategy are platforms designed to generate data, calling for constant attention and continuous spending,\u201d according to researchers from the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Social and Cultural Transformations (UOC-TR\u00c0NSIC).<\/p>\n
The most problematic mechanisms are those that combine uncertainty and reward, especially when they involve repeated spending with no guarantee of results, such as loot boxes, but also\u00a0systems that make it difficult to trace spending, such as virtual currencies, and those that penalize players who do not spend by slowing down their progress in the game. \u201cLoot boxes have been identified as the most significant mechanism, but this is because most of the research has focused almost exclusively on this. The other patterns have not been studied in such detail, but problems associated with them have also been found,\u201d said Joan Arnedo, a member of teaching staff at the\u00a0Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications.<\/p>\n
Young people are no strangers to these video game dynamics. \u201cIn many cases, they know how these systems work and accept them as a\u00a0normal part of the gaming experience, because they do not appear as external or imposed mechanisms, but as a component part of the game itself and its ecosystem,\u201d said Aranda, who teaches in the\u00a0Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences. \u201cMany young people have grown up with these systems and see them as the norm, not as a deviation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Moreover, due to their design, the link between young people and gaming is not only functional. There is also a bond related to\u00a0affection and personal projection: stopping play does not simply imply interrupting an activity, but also turning away from a whole world of possibility, progress, achievement and belonging. This means that, even if they are critically aware, it is often easier to continue playing than to quit.<\/p>\n
Mass consumption, moderate expenditure<\/p>\n
The incorporation of gambling mechanisms into video games, also known as\u00a0gamblification, has had an impact on the habits of young people. A survey carried out in the course of this research of a thousand people between the ages of 16 and 25 showed\u00a092.7% of young people regularly playvcideo games. Mobile phones are the outstanding gaming platform (70.9%), followed by consoles (47.6%) and PCs (45.1%), while tablets are used much less (10.9%). More than half of young people (57.7%) spend between 3 and 10 hours a week playing and 21.8% spend more than 10 hours a week.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0qualitative study, in which\u00a0Ronald S\u00e1enz Leandro, who recently earned his PhD at the UOC and is a researcher in the GAME group, took part, also investigated spending, finding that six out of ten young people say they spend money every month on video games, although mostly in small amounts. The most common case (22.7%) is those who spend between \u20ac1 and \u20ac9.99 per month, followed by 14.3% who spend between \u20ac10 and \u20ac19.99 and 11.3% who spend less than one euro. However, 38.4% of young players don\u2019t spend anything. The data, therefore, show that\u00a0spending is common but consists of occasional small amounts, reinforcing the idea that the design of video games \u2013 based on chance, urgency and payment \u2013 can normalize consumption within the game.<\/p>\n
We need to rethink how games are regulated<\/p>\n
Based on these results, the UOC experts propose\u00a0rethinking current regulations\u00a0by also incorporating the logic of design, monetization and interaction typical of contemporary video games. \u201cThis involves expanding the criteria to explicitly include dark patterns, random-based mechanics and the internal economies of games, as well as strengthening transparency requirements, especially with regard to probabilities, real costs and virtual currency conversion systems,\u201d said Arnedo. \u201cThere is an urgent need for coordinated action to reduce the risks associated with these digital environments,\u201d Aranda added.<\/p>\n
The authors argue that the video game industry is viable without these hidden mechanisms (there are examples of good practice, with transparent one-time purchase, subscription or monetization models).\u00a0Companies should, therefore, review their design practices\u00a0from the viewpoint of responsibility, recognizing that decisions about mechanics, interfaces and monetization systems have direct effects on players\u2019 behaviour, emotions and consumption.<\/p>\n
The UOC develops new tools<\/p>\n
The project has not only made it possible to identify the problem; UOC researchers are also\u00a0developing tools\u00a0to address it. They are already working on the creation of an educational analysis app that will identify and flag these mechanisms in video games. They are also preparing a series of preventive recommendations and lines of action for professionals and institutions.<\/p>\n
In addition, through Joan Arnedo, the UOC is participating in the\u00a0Konexio-Ona\u00a0project, an\u00a0educational and social initiative\u00a0whose main aim is to analyse and work on the impact of technology on young people, especially in the development of their identity and habits. Through educational initiatives, workshops and pedagogical material aimed at schools, families and professionals, the programme, also supported by the University of Vitoria-Gasteiz (EUNEIZ), the TecnoCampus and the \u00c1lava Association of Recovering Gamblers (ASAJER), seeks to raise awareness of the role of hidden patterns in video games and propose safer and more responsible alternatives. Due to its interest, the programme is one of the three short-listed projects to be presented to the Senate this month for the 2026 Internet Day Awards.<\/p>\n
Aranda and Arnedo also agree that the video game industry needs to move away from dependence on self-regulation towards\u00a0more robust control mechanisms, such as effective age verification, the implementation of limits on spending and time, and the introduction of design safeguards that reduce urgency and monetary pressure. The authors also recommend the integration of these problems within the general frameworks of preventive medicine and public health, which do not currently have specific protocols for gamblification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Originally, video games were a product you paid for once and that then provided as many hours of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-450442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}