Is gaming having an impact on other regulation?
As a whole, gaming is thriving across the board as the growing number of markets and changing audience and demographics are making the change faster than ever before – some of the biggest titles in the world particularly in esports are event starting to outpace traditional titles as numbers for the biggest events of the year are being surpassed. These changing markets lead to different regulation needs as online gaming covers a very different base, but is it having an impact on regulation?
In some instances, it certainly is, the rise in popularity in many markets such as betting have raised questions around whether or not the existing ruleset in place for traditional sporting could be considered the same and as certain countries and even certain states in the US start to adjust their own ruling like those found here at Ohio online gambling, it’s clear to see there is incentive for change. But even small adjustments like this have been relatively slow going, the market is still young and there are many reluctant to accept the change so early on.
It may also become more important due to the growing prevalence of certain mechanics within the games aside from just direct gambling too, popular microtransaction options like loot boxes have become increasingly common but as calls are made toward whether or not these can be classed in the same category, more clarification is certainly needed to determine where the change is necessary to be made.
The answers may not be made immediately clear, and there’s plenty of investigation going on to where other regulation needs to shift for the most impact or for the biggest change, but it is certainly having an impact – it’s also important to consider the recent pandemic as something that could be a catalyst for change, particularly in the growing online space as pressure may be put in some areas for recovery. The closures of land-based options for example will lead the surge for online gaming spaces instead, and the question many ask is whether or not the games in the online space fall under the same rulings as the offline space.
It will certainly be an interesting period of time as decisions are made moving forward, gaming as a whole is changing different regulation online but to what degree isn’t entirely clear just yet, and which regulation in particular will see the most change is something that still remains up in the air too – many feels there should be a lot of separation between online and offline, but that likely won’t be the case.
