Gamblers in Mature Economies Expect Responsible Gaming to Be There

Two Thirds of Players Globally Prefer Socially Responsible Games

If an online game is tied to a socially responsible cause, two thirds or 66% of the players around the world agree (39%) or completely agree (27%) that they are more likely to choose to play this game over one that doesn't pay attention to community needs, Statista data for 2021 reveals.

Out of 4,000 surveyed respondents globally, 26% gave a neutral answer, and only 8% in total disagreed (5%) or completely disagreed (3%) that the social responsibility aspect would play a role in their gaming preferences.

At the same time, more than four fifths of people agree that video games help them connect with others with similar interests (84%), meet new people (80%), and stay in touch with friends, while online gaming has become a larger part of their gaming experience for 76% of the players over the first year of the pandemic, shows a detailed look into the survey conducted by Accenture.

Player Expectations Extend to Platform Safety

The results of the Accenture survey show that gaming is no longer "product-centred", as it has evolved into an full-scale end-to-end service with operators striving to provide positive customer experiences and gamer happiness.

The socially-related expectations of modern-day gamers increasingly include the overall safety of the platform, as observed by the research team at SevenJackpots who have examined these findings among others in their recent overview of responsible gaming (RG) policies, methods, tools and achievements.

Another online survey brought forth by the SevenJackpots study was conducted in 2020 in a regulated and mature market - the UK, and reveals an established awareness of RG tools and a wide-spread acceptance of such policies.

Financial limit tools are the most used mechanisms for safe and responsible gambling, while younger age adults, online and engaged gamblers are the groups most likely to employ such tools, including self-exclusion.

Among the most common reasons for using a self-exclusion measure stand out the need to control gambling amounts overall (49%) or with a particular operator (41%), as well as to close the account with that particular operator, for example in order to reduce marketing.

Most Common RG Tools are Available in India as Well

The SevenJackpots research paper goes through a brief, but comprehensive inventory of the most common responsible gaming tools that have been made available to desi players as well through Casino Days India and the whole array of internationally licensed online real money gaming platforms.

Besides time-limited or permanent self-exclusion bans or cool-off breaks and various limits on deposits, spending or log-in time, the basic set of RG tools includes easy access buttons to information on how to get help and support, actual helplines linking to additional resources, and warning signs that pop up based on gaming behaviour monitoring and other signals.
Other frequently, but not always implemented RG tools range from interactive self-assessment surveys that enable users to evaluate their gambling habits, references to support groups and online forums, parent tips, game mechanics and other useful information, to single wager limits, bank-card restrictions and permanent account closures.

The recently published proposal for amendments to the IT Rules, 2021 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) specifically includes responsible gaming requirements at the levels of self-regulatory organisations and the individual online gaming intermediaries.

Thus, Indian gamers may soon get access to uniform responsible gaming solutions from all real money gaming platforms operating in the country, including homegrown skill gaming sites, as the Union's upcoming regulatory framework over online games will reportedly cover skill and chance-based variants alike.

Such an all-encompassing approach is crucial according to the researchers at SevenJackpots, because "in the end, however, all games involving real money can generate potentially sensitive conditions that may be harmful to minors or vulnerable players. Getting carried away, chasing losses or "rematch" sessions is no different between skill and chance genres."