The industry can do a lot to encourage responsible gaming. We need to reach out to regulators, businesses, people in addiction research and treatment, and customers to achieve the sustainable development and implementation of responsible gaming.
Pieter Remmers, general secretary of the European Association for the Study of Gambling (EASG) and a veteran in the field of responsible gambling, stated this in an interview with BGNES.
With him we talk about the specifics of the gaming industry and the measures businesses and regulators can take to promote responsible gaming and tackle gambling addiction.
“The industry can do a lot to encourage responsible gaming. What I think is extremely important is to work together with all the different stakeholders that are involved in this activity," said Remmers.
"That means we have to reach out to regulators, but also to people in addiction research and treatment. We also have to consider the customers. They all need to work together to some extent to achieve sustainable development and good opportunities for responsible gaming," he added.
When asked by BGNES about what are the good examples and practices worldwide, Remmers answered: "One of the important moments is the introduction of artificial intelligence, which happened a few years ago, but it is not the only measure."
He specified that some companies have developed good software such as Mentor, Mindway AI and Play Scan. The job of such software is to recognize potentially problematic player behavior, but Remmers says it's also important what the person in charge would do in a face-to-face situation.
“You have to talk to your customers and learn more about them. One of the things I always find important is what we do with self-exclusion. This method of dealing with gambling addiction was originally conceived as a preventative measure so that the player could take a break, stay healthy and exercise self-control. But nowadays, self-exclusion is used in many cases as a solution to an already existing problem," added the EASG Secretary General.
Remmers noted that many tools exist to identify risky users and problem players.
“At the academic level, we have the DSM5 and all sorts of other tools. Most important are those who can detect potential problem behavior in advance. Everything related to responsible gambling must be personalized or individualized because every customer is different, whether we want it to be or not,” he emphasized.
His advice for doing good business in the gaming industry is to work together with all the different stakeholders, including regulators and even politicians who may be preparing new regulations at some point.
"At the same time, I would say: let's forget about the politicians, because usually they are not aware of what it is about. But it is still important to work together with all countries. I've been saying this for over 30 years, but now things are moving in the right direction," concluded Remmers. /BGNES
