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The line between gambling and video games is blurring. Betting on e-sports, video game-themed slot machines, gashapon games, and loot box mechanics-all of which link gambling and video games in one way or another.

The following is the legislation and status of gambling in video games and e-sports, and the role of video games in online gambling.

Whether you consider online gambling as part of video games in general, and more specifically e-sports, is a matter of perspective and definition. Many people will say that it is not, but there are some intersections, such as microtransactions and digital bags with random items such as FIFA Ultimate Team. Let's take a look at poker.

We have demonstrated our argument here. Since personal skills, logic and determination play a role in whether you win or not, there are some similarities between e-sports and online poker tournaments.

Chess and other board games are excluded from events such as the Olympics because they are not considered a sport. Most e-sports are not either.

If you look at sports betting, online gambling and e-sports will become more chaotic. In addition to betting on football matches or horse racing, many betting sites now also include betting on e-sports events.

At the same time, more and more online casino games are compared to video games. Whether it's a quick little app next to a regular mobile game on a mobile phone, or a theme and actual storyline added to a slot machine. Online casinos like Euro Casino even offer games like Monopoly and games from other famous franchises to attract gamers to join them.

In this review of Casino Euro (www.casinomeister.com/casino-reviews/casino-euro), you can check the list of different game studios and software providers, and of course mention video game poker and tournaments. Gorgeous images and graphics will remind some of the video game or mobile gaming industry, especially when you consider tablet and smartphone games.

This problem keeps some studios vigilant. In most cases, because from a legal point of view, gambling and video games are difficult to merge.

Most countries have gambling legislation, and the protection of minors and the prevention of general gambling addiction are very strict. This is what makes games with gashapon or loot boxes a controversial topic.

The entire gashapon trend started in Japan. It is based on small vending machines including capsule toys. In order to get the full set, the collector must pay many coins and hope for good luck. These gashapon machines are very popular overseas, and the entire store on several floors is full of machines.

In fact, Konami chose this concept for mobile games. In 2010, they added it to the game Dragon Collection, which is a dungeon exploration game with card elements. They implemented a lottery that allows you to win powerful cards with real-life money.

In fact, the situation is worse than this, because usually you have to collect a complete set of cards to build more powerful cards. In 2002, the potentially crazy amount of money people had to pay for the card they wanted made this form of gashapon banned in mobile games.

Thus, the loophole of the "Box Gacha" was born. The items are now packed in boxes, and the probability of each possible item is clearly stated. We still see this loot strategy in video games. Although outside of mobile games, they mostly contain skins and other cosmetics to prevent pay-to-win mechanisms, especially in PVP multiplayer games.

Nonetheless, games like Fire Emblem Heroes or Genshin Impact take advantage of this-let's be realistic-gambling mechanics to get stronger characters. Although you don't have to spend real-life money to play games or even win loot boxes, there are many ways to make it tempting.

The more you "spin", the more likely you are to get the items you need. No wonder some gamers end up playing loot boxes and gashapon games with their own money or their parents' money.

The profit model of gaming companies increasingly incorporates video games and gambling mechanisms. However, there is a difference in marketing these games to adults or children.

The latter should be critically reviewed. Long-form games with stories and cartoon characters can attract children to play gashapon games. The loot box mechanism, even if it is optional, is a quick way for them to spend money on the game. Most importantly, these companies have added mechanisms to reward players who spend a lot of money at once.

Especially in easily accessible games such as mobile games, these strategies should be strictly restricted. Online gambling, which is also a form of video games, belongs to online casinos. These websites are specifically established to provide these services and therefore have a professional framework based on gambling laws, child protection and addiction prevention.

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Dom is an award-winning author who graduated from Bournemouth University in 2007 with a 2:1 degree in multimedia journalism.

As a long-term gamer who first used NES controllers in the late 1980s, he wrote for a series of publications, including GamesTM, Nintendo's official magazine, industry publications MCV and Riot Games. He has been the content leader of the British Esports Association until February 2021, after which he returned to work full-time in British Esports News and served as an esports consultant to help brands and companies better understand the industry.

You can follow Espors News UK on Twitter, Facebook, Discord and YouTube, and get the latest updates from the Espors News UK RSS feed.

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