Exploring microtransaction use and gambling risk: a cross-sectional study

Aim: To determine whether playing video games with microtransactions is a predictor of higher scores on the SouthOaks Gambling Screen: Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA) questionnaire, and whether playing specific video gamesincreases the tendency to gamble or if another factor is involved.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, participants completed an online SOGS-RA questionnaire and answered questionsabout their gaming habits, such as how much money they had spent, how many games they had played, and howmuch time they had spent playing. We analysed the data using Spearman’s correlation coefficient and linear regression.Results: Two hundred and eight people completed the questionnaire, with three responses deemed invalid and excluded.Of the remaining participants, 180 reported playing video games with microtransactions. There was no significantassociation between playing specific video games and higher SOGS-RA scores (ρ = −0.01, P > 0.05). The most frequentlymentioned video games with microtransactions were not correlated with higher gambling tendencies. Although someparticipants who reported spending more money on microtransactions also had higher SOGS-RA scores, there was noindication of a strong predictive relationship between video games and gambling behavior (ρ = 0.17, P < 0.01).Conclusion: Gambling using video games was not linked to any specific video game, but rather to another factor thathas yet to be identified.