Young people and video games, buying skins can promote gambling addiction

Skins, Xp boosts, loot boxes, power-ups... these are all terms that are part of the lexicon of today's young gamers, but increasingly they also rhyme with ludopathy. Because, apparently, just spending a little more than 100 euros over a six-month period on so-called digital goods - literally digital goods made available in video games - is enough to multiply the risk of slipping into pathological addiction tenfold. This is stated by a recent academic survey - born out of the collaboration between the Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases of Rome's 'Sapienza' University and the Skuola.net portal - which shifts the focus from simple 'time wasted' in front of the screen to the insidious economic dynamics of modern video games.

The research - published in the scientific Journal of Public Health - analysed the habits of 1,586 young people between the ages of 10 and 25, taking a sharp and sometimes disturbing snapshot of the relationship between Generation Z and digital entertainment.

The heart of the discovery lies in the use of wallets, or rather, micro-transactions by the very young. The video game industry has evolved, increasingly pushing the purchase of 'skins', upgrades or virtual goods to enrich the gaming experience. The business model has, in fact, definitely changed compared to the past: whereas before, the aim was to monetise everything or almost everything at the time of purchase, today games are distributed free of charge - or at a very low cost compared to the pharaonic investments required for development - but are designed to bind the user to the production company, stimulating a continuous outlay of money to be able to afford a more satisfying gaming experience, also in terms of appearance towards other players on the network.

What is frightening is the correlation that links this habit to considerable health risks, especially mental health risks. Suffice it to say that it is enough to spend (just) 100 euros, in a six-month period, on virtual goods to exponentially increase the likelihood of developing behaviour similar to Internet Gaming Disorder (one of the many forms of addiction to video games), with a risk almost ten times higher than for those who play without spending.

Equally controversial, however, is the increasingly popular practice of buying game accounts already 'levelled' by other users, in order to immediately compete at the top of the leaderboards: even in this case, the risk of falling into pathology is more than nine times higher than average. This, according to the study, happens because such mechanisms encourage casual gamers to become increasingly greedy, bringing video games closer to the dynamics of compulsive gambling.