Gaming industry needs responsible advertising

With high growth prospects, responsible advertising of real-money gaming is now critical.

In common parlance, the so-called duck test goes something like this – if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Unfortunately, this fits the scenario today when it comes to advertisements that promote real-money games, which look similar to gambling.

Gaming may depend on chance or luck, but it is driven by skill. (Pixabay)

It may be easy to confuse legally permitted real-money gaming with gambling, which is banned in most parts of India. Gaming may depend on chance or luck, but it is driven by skill. Whether a player wins or loses is dependent on their knowledge of the game and experience. On the other hand, gambling is a mere function of luck, where money is wagered on an outcome where the player has little role. Hence, the near absence of skill in real-money gaming ads is damaging. Some gaming ads focus on the big pot, how easy it is to win it, and lure people into playing – making them virtually indistinguishable from gambling ads. It is no wonder, then, that many consumers get into a moral tizzy when they see ads that appear to be promoting wagering games.

Gaming is hardly an unfamiliar phenomenon in India, with references dating back to the Mahabharata and other epics. The meteoric rise of online gaming platforms is a testament to the pull that these games have. The Lumikai State of India Gaming Report estimated India’s gaming market size to be around $ 2.6 billion in FY22 and predicted that it’ll touch US$ 8.6 billion by FY27. The bulk of the current gaming market revenue (57%) comes from real-money gaming. For something that millions of Indians are doing privately, the invocation of morality in public is strange. It may have something to do with the public perception of blurred lines between online real-money gaming and gambling, which is associated with vulnerability, debt, poverty, estrangement, and criminality. Severing this apparent link is a challenge.

But it can be done. With high growth prospects, responsible advertising of real-money gaming is now critical. The real-money gaming industry needs to think about whether they want their advertising narratives to resemble gambling, which damage perceptions about the entire industry.

Gambling and gaming as industries are complex regulatory fields. In India, gambling is not a Union subject, and state legislatures regulate gambling and betting. While the Public Gambling Act prohibits games of chance in the public domain, its jurisdiction over online offerings is unclear. In 2020, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) introduced guidelines to make real-money gaming advertising safer and more responsible, to ensure users are aware of financial and other risks.

The ministry of information and broadcasting advised broadcasters and advertisers to comply with ASCI guidelines, as well as recently released advisories that prohibit advertisements of offshore-betting platforms. The government and industry are in the process of forming a new self-regulatory system to differentiate games of skill from games of chance.

This is the perfect opportunity for the real-money gaming industry to seek an alignment on a responsible way forward within its fold, and create its own unique advertising signature that can distance it from gambling. These are early days and rules will emerge and strengthen with time, but the importance of responsible advertising cannot be emphasised enough. While players need to be equipped with guidance and tools to enable a safe playing experience, the real-money gaming industry also needs to step up, and make a significant commitment to responsible advertising.

Manisha Kapoor is CEO, ASCI. The views expressed are personal.