Being able to engage and watch someone playing games on streaming websites, is no shocking aspect of online culture. Shocking though, is the grasp these streamers and platforms now have on younger audiences and their ability to introduce new trends. Gambling has taken a new form and transitioned to online formats, where streamers on platforms such as Twitch, broadcast themselves winning big to thousands of impressionable viewers.
Lucas Elias, a Melbourne student and avid gamer, has dabbled in watching streams and resultingly had heavy influence from in-game gambling mechanisms. These include in-game purchases for potential prizes, such as loot-boxes. He says how easy it is to get roped in by watching your favourite streamer on Twitch and found himself spending money he didn’t have on virtual items.
“You know, if they’ve seen somebody win big, they believe that they can win big and some people, I suppose, will stop at nothing to get there. And I’ve kind of fallen into that trap myself, especially when it comes to games.”
Twitch is a streaming service that is highly engaged with, averaging more than 2.6 million viewers this year so far, where people can actively live broadcast spinning through virtual slot machines or betting on new skins for in game characters. The gambling categories of Slots, Virtual casinos and Poker have increased over the past few years, becoming a point of concern for many parents and individuals alike. Slots particularly pulling interest with a 185 per cent increase in hours watched from 2019 to 2021.
The motive behind this sudden surge of Slots streams though, is questionable.
It may not be the potluck or chance of winning big viewers believe it to be, but actually an increase in sponsorships from emerging gambling companies where streamers are paid money to promote these companies.
Stake.com makes a large impression when it comes to slapping their logo everywhere, trying to push the company to new heights. It may be seen as one of the largest crypto-gambling sites on the internet, and that’s thanks to the likes of multiple streamers with millions of viewers.
This is clearly paying off considering Stake.com’s owner Edward Craven bought two houses in Toorak this year; A $38.5 million dollar home in March and a $80 million dollar home in August.
Trainwreckstv and xQc are both notable streamers, if not the top streamers on the platform, with two and 11 million followers respectively. They have both promoted Stake.com by playing Slots live and still do, generally averaging an audience of 50,000 people at one time, regardless of what they play.
So, it is no surprise that Slots as a gaming category is eighth overall on Twitch, with more than 2900 different types of games being played on Twitch recently.
Mr Elias noted that gambling hasn’t been as detrimental to him as it has other people, but it has cost him enough to make him reconsider.
“I lost $800 on NBA2K which may not seem like a lot, but I’m a uni student, so it adds up.”
“I know of a viewer once mentioning in Pokimane’s chat that they were $60,000 in debt after watching Trainwrecktv’s stream, so the influence is definitely real,” he said.
It could be assumed that online gambling isn’t that serious and playing a ‘game’ can’t be that harmful but there are clear risks here. By having it increasingly available online and promoted through trusted figureheads, it can enable audiences and a lot of the time, those audiences are young and impressionable.
A 2022 report analysed a 2017 survey from Australian secondary school students and noted that 81 per cent of them had been exposed to some sort of online advertising or promotion of gambling. This is also tightened by the lack of online regulation and age restrictions on platforms such as Twitch.
Research done on Twitch and streamers influence does not shy away from stating that it can impact and promote new gambling behaviours in people.
Dr Sally Gainsbury, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Gambling Treatment Clinic at The University of Sydney noted the importance of regulation and protecting young minds; especially to minimise an uprise of problem gamblers in the future.
“Online games often portray an unrealistic chance of winning; many adolescents have a limited availability to critically analyse the content and context of those games,” she said.
The online gambling syndicate is clearly an easy circle of dangling the carrot from company, to streamer, to viewer, all with the main driver being money and clearly there are some ethical questions that can be raised here.
If you or anyone you know needs help with gambling contact:
- Gambling Help Online – 1800 858 858
- Lifeline – 13 11 14
