Australian Government to rate games with simulated gambling R18+
The Australian Government is set to introduce new laws that will apply an R18+ rating to simulated casino and video games to limit the access of underage individuals.
Experts discovered that children who engage in these casino-style games risk becoming problem gamblers compared to those who do not play.
The new rules will also apply to paid loot boxes, ensuring that all the games display at least a “mature” M-rating. Loot boxes allow players to buy packages with random in-game items and many of the most popular titles will fall under these laws.
If the new rules are passed, most of the popular casino-style games worldwide could be significantly impacted. The proposals will, however, need the approval of the different territories and states to move forwards.
The measure will further address the issue by prohibiting underage people from buying or accessing these simulated gambling games.
“We want to be very clear and very binary in this regard, and we like the certainty that is provided by a proposal that says if there is simulated gambling in a game, then it is subject to a particular rating,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said.
“That is the clearest indication that we can give not only to consumers but also to the industry.”
While most of these casino games recreate the experience of playing poker machines, they do not pay out real money. This means that they are not regarded or regulated like other gambling services.
Central Queensland University gambling researcher and associate professor Alex Russell revealed that, like other addictive forms of gambling, such as poker machines, simulated gambling games can be addictive. People tend to zone out while playing, spending significantly more than planned.
Social casino games go back to some of the oldest-skewing game genres, with the average age of a player being over 45. This, however, does not mean that individuals between 12 and 25 are not participating in the games.
The industry refuted this claim, releasing 2018 research that revealed that around 0.25% of the players were not up to age 18, while 0.008% were underage and spent actual money in social casinos.
University of Sydney’s Professor Sally Gainsbury, on the other hand, argued that it was a fact that young people regularly changed their ages on platforms to gain access to certain services.
“We know that young people often change their age on social media platforms to gain access,” she said.
“Because there’s no actual age verification, young people are much more likely to list their ages higher than they actually are.”
Concerning what actions the federal government should take, Stu Cameron, Wesley Mission’s chief executive, stated that casino-style games were harmful and should be banned.
The Australian government released a 2020 review by the previous Coalition government on the country’s classification system. There, it was recommended that a minimum rating of MA15+ be given to games based mainly on simulated gambling. According to Ms. Rowland, the decisions will be based on more “current research.”
“The Australian regulatory framework is quite clear… if it does not pay out money, it is considered a game, which is regulated under the national classification scheme. We intend to work within that existing regulatory framework to strengthen it,” she said.
In response to the request for comment, Aristocrat, one of the industry’s biggest gaming machine manufacturers and digital gaming companies, diverted the question to the International Social Games Association. The ISGA stated that it fully supported including age ratings for casino-style games.
An online gambling parliamentary enquiry is set to be released in a few months. It will shed light on how the country regulates simulated gambling games in addition to other issues.
Australia is one of the few Western countries that has fallen behind in iGaming regulation, with no online casinos and having kicked out leading poker sites like Pokerstars and 888Poker in 2017, while places with tough laws like the USA have began regulating and taxing the industry.
While the Australian Government is gung-ho about tackling social games, there is a growing movement to tackle the 100s of millions of dollars being sent to offshore online casinos, but monopolies on casino gaming in our capital cities is undoubtedly slowing the process.
