Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what data and research he has on the player base of people playing (a) loot boxes, (b) social casinos, (c) twitch gaming and (d) e-sports betting.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We continue to work with the video games industry, other government departments, and relevant regulatory bodies to ensure games are enjoyed safely. We launched a call for evidence in September to understand players’ experiences with loot boxes and to examine evidence of potential harms. This received over 30,000 responses and we have been working to evaluate fully the evidence gathered. The response will be published in the coming months and will set out preferred actions and potential solutions to any issues identified from the evidence.
The government regularly engages with the Gambling Commission and other bodies to discuss emerging trends, including esports betting. Esports betting is regulated with the same protections as any other sports, and operators must abide by the same regulation and license conditions.
Data from the Gambling Commission’s quarterly surveys shows that in the year to December 2020 9% of adults reported they had ever bet on esports with money or items. Further details can be found at: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/taking-a-more-in-depth-look-at-online-gambling#ref-4 The government does not collect statistics on the player base of people opening loot boxes, playing social casino games or accessing twitch gaming streams.
Written Evidence Jun. 22 2021
Inquiry: Influencer cultureFound: developers, publishers and service companies, working across online, mobile, console, PC, esports, virtual
Oral Evidence Jun. 02 2021
Inquiry: National Plan for Sport and RecreationFound: Playfinder, University of Salford, and The Great Run Company Playfinder, Dr Alex Fenton (Lecturer in
Oral Evidence May. 26 2021
Inquiry: National Plan for Sport and RecreationFound: The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), UK Coaching, and
Mentions:
1: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer) Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Curzon Home Cinema and BFI Player? - Speech Link
2: Baroness Kidron (CB - Life peer) Is the Minister aware that Apple and Google app stores routinely advertise apps and games as suitable - Speech Link
3: Baroness Barran (CON - Life peer) the Video Standards Council. - Speech Link
4: Lord Moynihan (CON - Excepted Hereditary) My Lords, I declare my interest as vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Esports. - Speech Link
Written Evidence Mar. 02 2021
Inquiry: Future UK-EU relations: trade in servicesFound: developers, publishers and service companies, working across online, mobile, console, PC, esports, virtual
Written Evidence Jan. 12 2021
Inquiry: Sport in our communitiesFound: https://www.ldnutd.gg/ldnutd-blog/esports-and-covid-191.8.Because of this, we believe esports could
Written Evidence Jan. 07 2021
Inquiry: Living online: the long-term impact on wellbeingFound: developers, publishers and service companies, working across online, mobile, console, PC, esports, virtual
Written Evidence Jan. 07 2021
Inquiry: Living online: the long-term impact on wellbeingFound: Similarly, a study published in the scientific journal Nature in 1998 showed that playing video games
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing (a) a DBS checking process and (b) safeguarding guidance for e-sports coaching.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government recognises the value of esports which has the potential to develop as an area of real national strength in the UK, building on our world-class video games, entertainment and sports sectors.
To deliver on this, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport recently hosted the first government roundtable with the esports industry, discussing a range of issues including the importance of safeguarding to ensure young people can engage with esports safely.
Safeguarding will be a key area of consideration as the government builds on the roundtable, developing plans over the next few months to support the growth of a safe and inclusive esports sector in the UK.