Lewis Pek Editor


Comment


October 2022


When I was a video games journalist, we used the word ‘addictive’ as a positive - it described a great game, one that you couldn’t stop playing, as opposed to a forgettable one. Switching into pay-to-play, real money gambling coverage, the word used within the context of games was taboo. Still is. A game can be appealing, attractive, alluring even - but what it most definitely can’t be - is addictive.


Before going to press, the news that Twitch is banning the streaming of gambling sites that include slots, roulette and dice games that aren’t licensed in the US (or other jurisdictions), is a big moment. The ban comes into effect on October 18, and it has sent shockwaves through the streaming community.


Twitch is a streaming channel that hosts streamers creating predominantly video game content in which viewers watch presenters play popular (and often obscure) video games in a live studio format. Many play games such as Fornite, Call of Duty and League of Legends while engaging with an audience over chat messages, between sponsored advertising content and the persistent call for followers to subscribe and pay towards their channels. Popular streamers earn millions.


THE NEWS THAT TWITCH IS BANNING THE STREAMING OF UNLICENSED GAMBLING SITES IS A BIG MOMENT


The distinction with streaming gambling content on Twitch is that streamers are playing age restricted games to an unvetted audience. A conservative estimate puts the number of under 18s watching an average slots stream at around 30 per cent of the overall follower figure. Imagine a live video feed from a casino to your child’s phone. Not only that, but it’s completely unregulated. Who streams, who pays for the streamers to play games for 12 hours straight, who’s sponsoring them and contributing to a bankroll that allows play for such periods is undisclosed.


The move by Twitch to self-regulate is laudable, despite the fact that it’ll have been prompted by regulatory warnings. The threat that streamers will ‘go dark’ and play on unregulated streaming platforms is a given, but as an excuse for legitimising continued play on mainstream platforms - that doesn’t hold water.


EDITORIAL ADVERTISING


G3 Magazine Editor Lewis Pek


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G3Newswire Editor Phil Martin


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Deputy Editor Karen Southall


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Features Editor William Bolton


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International Reporter James Marrison


PRODUCTION


Senior Designer Gareth Irwin


Production Manager Paul Jolleys


Subscriptions Manager Jennifer Pek


Commercial Administrator Lisa Nichols


P6 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS


Commercial Director John Slattery john@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)7917 166471


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Contributors Oron Barber, Stefan Sbordoni, Ivan Kurochkin, Sophia Balashvili, Duncan Faithfull, Brooks Pierce, Yordan Georgiev, Plamen Slavov, Nik Robinson, Tom Wood, Alex Ratcliffe, Vadim Potapenko, David Newstead, Andrew Crosby, Robert Lee, Carlo Cooke, Ivan Kravchuk, Brad Rose, Micheal Bauer, Almir Kudic, Nikolay Illiustrov, Callum Sultana, Julian Borg-Barthet and Raphael Di Guisto.


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