French study links hybrid gaming with higher teenage gambling risk

A French study has found that 39% of adolescents aged 15-17 played hybrid digital games during the previous 12 months, identifying associations between spending on these products and gambling-related problems.

Published on 19 October, the ENJEU-Mineurs 2025 findings combine quantitative and qualitative research conducted by ARPEJ in partnership with France’s gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ).

Participation was higher among boys, at 42.4%, than girls, at 35.4%. Video games incorporating casino elements were the most common category, played by 26.3% of adolescents, followed by free gambling demos at 18.1% and social casino games at 16.6%.

Among hybrid-game participants, 15.6% reported related spending. Of social casino players who spent money regularly or occasionally, 19.4% reported monthly expenditure exceeding €50 ($56.2).

The research found that 58.8% of hybrid-game players also gambled. Within this overlapping group, 26% recorded a high gambling problem severity score, compared with 3.9% among adolescents who participated only in gambling.

Among those combining both activities, the proportion with high severity scores reached 40.7% for hybrid-game spenders, against 14.1% for non-spenders.

Qualitative findings highlighted engagement mechanisms including rare rewards, notifications, limited-time promotions and audiovisual effects.

Researchers also identified age-verification gaps and design features that could facilitate movement from free play to spending.

Although 75.7% of adolescents believed their parents knew about their expenditure, more than one in ten felt parents underestimated or did not recognise spending opportunities.

ARPEJ director general Emmanuel Benoit called for early risk awareness and greater parental involvement.

The ANJ said the findings would inform its consideration of increasingly blurred boundaries between video games and gambling.

Earlier findings from ARPEJ showed that 42.6% of French 15-17-year-olds had gambled during the preceding year, with parental involvement frequently facilitating access.