French regulator ANJ highlights hybrid video game links to youth gambling
A joint study by the ANJ and ARPEJ reveals that hybrid digital games frequently act as a direct pathway to real-money gambling for French teenagers.
- A survey of 5,000 French adolescents aged 15 to 17 found 39% had played hybrid digital games within three months, with 15.6% conducting financial transactions.
- Two-thirds of surveyed minors participated in hybrid casino games before transitioning to real-money gambling.
- Adolescents engaging with both hybrid games and traditional gambling registered a 26% Canadian Adolescent Gambling Inventory severity score, compared to 3.9% for traditional gambling alone.
The French gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has published a joint study alongside the Association for Research and Prevention of Excessive Gambling (ARPEJ) warning of the risks posed by hybrid digital games. The research suggests that video game mechanics and hybrid gaming experiences act as a pathway towards real-money gambling among French adolescents.
The investigation was based on a survey of 5,000 teenagers aged between 15 and 17 examining their involvement with hybrid digital games, officially designated as jeux numériques hybrides (JNH). According to the published findings, 39% of the surveyed group reported playing hybrid digital games within the preceding three-month period. Engagement varied across demographics, with 42.4% of boys and 35.4% of girls indicating active participation. In addition, 15.6% of all surveyed teenagers stated that they had carried out at least one financial transaction connected to hybrid titles.
Gateway mechanics and marketing exposure
The report underlined a clear sequence between hybrid digital formats and regulated gambling activities. Two-thirds of the surveyed minors stated that they had participated in hybrid digital games, with hybrid casino products specifically identified, prior to engaging in real-money gambling.
The study also documented widespread exposure to promotional messaging. Nearly 69% of minors who played hybrid games reported being exposed to advertising that encouraged real-money betting. These marketing communications were predominantly encountered across social media platforms, with Instagram and TikTok singled out as the primary distribution channels.
Heightened severity and retail participation
Problem gambling risks were evaluated using the Canadian Adolescent Gambling Inventory (CAGI), which revealed substantial discrepancies in severity based on the range of products consumed. Adolescents who engaged in both traditional gambling activities and hybrid digital games generated a severity score of 26%. By comparison, minors who participated solely in traditional gambling games registered a severity score of 3.9%.
The survey outcomes follow earlier data published by ARPEJ in February, which indicated that nearly 43% of respondents had taken part in a real-money game of chance during the prior 12 months. These activities primarily consisted of scratchcards or draw games purchased at physical retail outlets. The February figure demonstrated an eight-point increase in retail participation when measured against data collected in 2021.
Cross-border oversight and European regulatory landscape
Amid growing scrutiny over youth behavioural trends, the ANJ has joined forces with fellow national gambling authorities in Denmark and Sweden. Together, the three European regulators have instituted a targeted research project designed to explore the links connecting video gaming products to gambling behaviours among minors. The ongoing review comes ahead of major industry product launches, including Grand Theft Auto VI, which is scheduled to launch on 19 November 2026 as the follow-up to 2013's Grand Theft Auto V.
Across the wider European Union, regulatory authorities continue to navigate the absence of a centralised policy, as the bloc has not established a common legal framework to rule whether loot boxes and related hybrid features must be regulated as gambling. This lack of uniform statutory guidance has generated contrasting legal outcomes; in the Netherlands, regulatory enforcement penalties of up to €10m that had been imposed against video game publisher Electronic Arts regarding FIFA loot boxes were overturned in The Hague in 2022.
