Regulate trading card and video games as gambling
Regulate trading card and video games as gambling
The Issue
For the past 20 years, I've been deeply involved in the trading card games (TCG) and gaming industry, watching first-hand as it spiralled into a web of unethical practices. It's heart-breaking to see children - our future - targeted by companies using cunning marketing strategies to exploit their natural curiosities and desires.
Popular games like Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, CS:GO, Genshin Impact, and many others prey on child psychology to make enormous profits. They create a tantalising allure around 'chase' cards and in-game items, with odds often less than 1%. This isn’t just harmless collecting; it’s gambling, pure and simple. We cannot ignore the fact that this "chase" mentality is being aggressively marketed to kids, who lack the maturity to realise they're being drawn into a gambling ecosystem.
These practices harken back to issues addressed by the 2005 Gambling Act, which aimed to prevent children from gambling. Yet here we are, witnessing an alarming resurgence of such tactics under the guise of entertainment. The pervasive reach of social media only amplifies this exploitative behaviour, bombarding children with content glorifying the few who strike it rich while conveniently omitting those who don't. These platforms and games undermine parental controls, leaving parents struggling to protect their children from an addiction that shouldn't exist.
It's time to hold the industry accountable and demand that all trading card games and video games with these gambling-like mechanics be classified and regulated under the same laws as traditional gambling. This vital change will ensure children are shielded from needing to spend precious resources chasing illusions of wealth, teaching them to value life beyond material and digital collectibles.
We urge lawmakers and regulators to step up and end child gambling, in all its forms, for good. If you believe our children deserve better, if you want to protect them from these predatory schemes, please sign this petition. Together, we can create a safer, more ethical industry.
References and studies below:
Loot boxes/gatcha content
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206767
Trading card games
19
The Issue
For the past 20 years, I've been deeply involved in the trading card games (TCG) and gaming industry, watching first-hand as it spiralled into a web of unethical practices. It's heart-breaking to see children - our future - targeted by companies using cunning marketing strategies to exploit their natural curiosities and desires.
Popular games like Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, CS:GO, Genshin Impact, and many others prey on child psychology to make enormous profits. They create a tantalising allure around 'chase' cards and in-game items, with odds often less than 1%. This isn’t just harmless collecting; it’s gambling, pure and simple. We cannot ignore the fact that this "chase" mentality is being aggressively marketed to kids, who lack the maturity to realise they're being drawn into a gambling ecosystem.
These practices harken back to issues addressed by the 2005 Gambling Act, which aimed to prevent children from gambling. Yet here we are, witnessing an alarming resurgence of such tactics under the guise of entertainment. The pervasive reach of social media only amplifies this exploitative behaviour, bombarding children with content glorifying the few who strike it rich while conveniently omitting those who don't. These platforms and games undermine parental controls, leaving parents struggling to protect their children from an addiction that shouldn't exist.
It's time to hold the industry accountable and demand that all trading card games and video games with these gambling-like mechanics be classified and regulated under the same laws as traditional gambling. This vital change will ensure children are shielded from needing to spend precious resources chasing illusions of wealth, teaching them to value life beyond material and digital collectibles.
We urge lawmakers and regulators to step up and end child gambling, in all its forms, for good. If you believe our children deserve better, if you want to protect them from these predatory schemes, please sign this petition. Together, we can create a safer, more ethical industry.
References and studies below:
Loot boxes/gatcha content
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206767
Trading card games
19
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on 9 December 2025