Interactive SOCIAL GAMING
l Ensuring that it is conducted in a fair and open way
l Protecting children and other vulnerable per- sons from being harmed or exploited by it
l Preventing it from being a source of crime or disorder, or being used to support crime
If we look at some of the various types of games that historically have been classed as “Social”, listed below, each have elements that would ben- efit from some form of control to ensure that the above principles are upheld.
FREE TO DOWNLOAD The simplest case where the total investment in the game is known upfront and no other pay- ments are demanded during gameplay. The only real area of concern here is the graphical content of the game. Computer games played on consoles attract a film style rating system to advice parents on the suitability of each game for the young and vulnerable. Why should that not apply to Social Gaming as well?
DURING GAMEPLAY In addition to the rating classification, care needs to be taken regarding under what circumstances
SINGLE PLAYER – ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS SINGLE PLAYER – SINGLE PAYMENT OR
players buy additional time/chips/articles. Stories of a game aimed at children have circulated where the player’s pony became sick and a medi- cine was offered for sale. Clearly any such offer- ings should be outlawed. In addition, if chips can be purchased for a gambling style game, is there an outside market for them? This may make then game one that needs to be licensed.
PLAY FOR FUN – CASINO STYLE GAMES On the face of it why would this cause a problem?
No money changes hands and it’s just for fun, isn’t it?….In reality, staff from companies offering such games are on record as saying that the RNGs were seeded to allow the players to win more often, giving the player an inflated opinion of the payout and perhaps their own abilities. Those play for - fun sites aimed at the USA and attempting to “teach” players on-line games should surely not be allowed to manipulate results in this manner.
Why should RNGs and game play for such sites not be subject to the same exacting testing stan- dards as real money gaming? A Gamcare survey quoted at the Social Gambling conference last year apparently mentioned that some addicted gamblers were being weaned off by using Social Games. If these players came away with an over- optimistic view of their chances of winning then how is this protecting the vulnerable?
Other concerns in this rapidly growing market include new in-game analytics and the stated goal of some social gaming operators to build into their games ways to make players “crave” winnings – or to put it another way, to make the games more addictive.
Advanced data analytics now enables an operator to offer two players two different options at the same place in a game depending upon what the game has learnt about their gaming behaviour. Whilst this has a number of innocent applications into true social games the fact that this type of ability exists is extremely concerning if this were to be taken into a gambling environment. The fact that programs could determine which players would bet on a particular poker hand could be used by an unscrupulous operator to entice them into a losing situation.
In summary, there is obviously a place for a responsible Social Gaming industry offering fun games to an eager public.
Social gaming is a $3bn business with over 120 million customers worldwide. 2014 will be the year when this sector comes under heavy scruti- ny to prove that it can put in place extremely strong, robust and effective self-regulation. Failure to prove this will undoubtedly lead to for- mal regulation.
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