The Newly-Formed Global Gaming Alliance Prioritizes Safety and Diversity

Some of the greatest names in gambling and gaming have come together to form the so-called Global Gaming Alliance. The new body’s job will be to address the challenges the industry faces. The alliance’s ranks include betting companies such as DraftKings and Entain, mobile gaming companies such as Habby and 89Trillion, as well as Meta, the parent company of the renowned social media outlet Facebook.

The new body’s whitepaper details that the gaming industry’s growth has been accompanied by responsible gaming solutions such as parental controls and self-regulation tools for money games. The well-being of the companies’ employees has also been a key factor. The paper continues by saying the industry has come to a point where it should consider its next steps and work together with other companies to achieve them.

Responsible Gaming is Everybody’s Business

One of the GGA’s top priorities is to protect players from fraud, addiction and gambling harm in the fast-growing gambling and gaming industries. Capitalizing on parental control systems and self-exclusion solutions is the way, according to the association. Sophie Platt, the head of safer gambling and external affairs for Entain, shared her thoughts:

“The safety of customers is core to sustainability, and by sharing best practice, we can raise standards to see this cultural change throughout the wider industry.”

Entain head of safer gambling and external affairs Sophie Platt

Han Qui, one of the founders of 89Trillion added that transparency is just as important and all companies should strive to adopt the best practices. He emphasized that customers who feel safe will return and bring back friends. This will help the industry evolve and improve.

The Alliance Will Promote Diversity

Diversity will be another major thing the GGA will work on. According to research by Newzoo, 41% of people tend to avoid games that fail to represent them in a meaningful way.

The association’s inclusion efforts will support causes such as Meta’s Black Gaming Creator Program and will encourage developers to represent more varied demographics in their games. This does not only include people of color but also older people, the LGBTQ+ and people with physical disabilities.

The GGA will double down on the representation of women. A recent study by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe demonstrated that 45% of European gamers are female. In comparison, a separate study by Buzz Bingo revealed that only 12% of the newly-released gaming titles feature a female protagonist.

Some analysts believe that this lack of representation is rooted in the lack of diversity in the development teams. The UK Games Industry Census from 2020 estimated that only 28% of the people in the gaming industry are women.

The GGA suggests that developers should hold more training programs to support diversity in the industry. It pointed to DraftKings’ mandatory responsible gambling training for new employees and Entain’s Well-Me wellbeing program.

The creation of the Global Gaming Alliance comes in the wake of gambling and gaming’s sharp growth.  The gaming industry has surpassed the music and movie industries and will continue to grow, yielding billions of dollars to the sector.