Coin Master is Gambling (German TV)

[Xater]

Maybe people have seen ads for the F2P game Coin Master. The German late night show "Neo Magazin Royal" produced a segment about it. Covers stuff like:

- Current law doesn't cover "simulated gambling" (no real winnings and so on)
- Can lead minors to real gambling
- How simulated gambling is not part of ratings because it is not considered harmful
- People behind the company that created it are also behind gambling sites like bwin and 888.com
- Potentially these kind of games could be banned by the BPJM (like too violent games), but so far no one has created a request. If that ever happens it could have big consequences for the whole industry in Germany.

This is the first time I have seen our grievances with F2P mechanics hitting mainstream here. A lot of the problems this game has can easily be applied to other games.

Here is the video which is sadly just in German:



This is the same guy who got sued by Turkish president Erdogan btw. Some people might remember that.

UPDATE:

The BPJM got multiple requests to check the game out after the segment was aired. If it goes through, the game would no longer be able to be marketed at anyone below 18, which would probably mean it would have to disappear from app stores.

Article: https://t3n.de/news/boehmermann-sendung-gegen-coin-1208524/

 

[BlueOdin]

Saw that video yesterday. When I saw the clips for Coin Master they showed it felt like one of these fake games with a fake name and fake spots from a sitcom or something. But in this instance it is real. And it needs to be regulated.

 

[Muffin]

Just watched this half an hour ago. Mobile microtransactions arent very new, so I'm surprised we havent seen this earlier, but I was not aware that an app like this is getting such heavy marketing by the usual suspects. And is so heavily invested into by people in the gambling area.

 

[Xater]

Just watched this half an hour ago. Mobile microtransactions arent very new, so I'm surprised we havent seen this earlier, but I was not aware that an app like this is getting such heavy marketing by the usual suspects. And is so heavily invested into by people in the gambling area.

Click to shrink...

Yep, that is some scary shit. It also shows that they consider it an entryway into gambling, then why should we consider mechanics like this acceptable in any video game?

 

[Nome]

ITT Era discovers the social casino genre

 

[WellbornWarrior]

I never even heard of it before this vid, which is part of why these games are so dangerous. They can target kids so directly with this stuff that they fly under the radar of the public.

 

[Nome]

I never even heard of it before this vid, which is part of why these games are so dangerous. They can target kids so directly with this stuff that they fly under the radar of the public.

Click to shrink...

You've never heard of this because social casino games are targeted at middle aged women. Kids are definitely not the demographic here.

This genre also isn't really a secret or under the radar. They're all over mobile app stores.

 

[WellbornWarrior]

You've never heard of this because social casino games are targeted at middle aged women. Kids are definitely not the demographic here.

This genre also isn't really a secret or under the radar. They're all over mobile app stores.

Click to shrink...

The influencers they chose to promote this are definitely not targeting middle aged women.

 

[Xater]

The influencers they chose to promote this are definitely not targeting middle aged women.

Click to shrink...

Well except for Dieter Bohlen maybe. Otherwise the target demo is definitly teenagers and younger.

 

[Xater]

UPDATE:

The BPJM got multiple requests to check the game out after the segment was aired. If it goes through, the game would no longer be able to be marketed at anyone below 18, which would probably mean it would have to disappear from app stores.

Article: https://t3n.de/news/boehmermann-sendung-gegen-coin-1208524/

 

[WellbornWarrior]

UPDATE:

The BPJM got multiple requests to check the game out after the segment was aired. If it goes through, the game would no longer be able to be marketed at anyone below 18, which would probably mean it would have to disappear from app stores.

Article: https://t3n.de/news/boehmermann-sendung-gegen-coin-1208524/

Click to shrink...

Awesome, if it goes through there are only 999.999 of these kind of games left...

 

[KDR_11k]

Awesome, if it goes through there are only 999.999 of these kind of games left...

Click to shrink...

This seems to be about setting a precedent more than just banning the specific game, if the BPjM demonstrates that it will index games like this then the USK cannot clear them for ages below 18 anymore.