The Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) has launched a public awareness campaign to inform parents about gambling-like features in video games played by children.
Unveiled on Monday, the “Casino in the Children’s Room” campaign aims to shift the discussion around children’s digital habits beyond screen time to the content and mechanics of the games they play.
The regulator warned parents that many popular games aimed at children contain features resembling traditional gambling, including loot boxes, randomised rewards, and in-game purchases.
Anders Dorph, Director of the Danish Gambling Authority, said parents should pay attention to the mechanisms children encounter in games, as well as the time they spend playing them.
“The debate about children and digital media is often about screen time. But it is also important to take an interest in the content of the games and the mechanisms that children encounter when they game,” he said.
The campaign includes a short film that transforms a child’s bedroom into a casino to illustrate how gambling imagery and reward systems can be incorporated into games targeting young audiences.
The regulator is also promoting StyrPåSpillet.dk, a knowledge platform providing information about gaming, gambling features in video games, the risks of gambling addiction and advice on discussing gaming habits with children.
The regulator has also installed three temporary casino-style shopfront displays, labelled “Casino Kids”, at Bruuns Galleri in Aarhus, Vestergade in Odense, and Købmagergade in Copenhagen. The displays aim to encourage parents and passers-by to consider whether children’s games contain gambling-like features.
Denmark’s campaign follows research highlighting a link between gambling-like features in video games and risky gambling behaviour.
In 2021, the Danish regulator and national welfare research centre VIVE published a study based on interviews with 107 children and young people aged 10 to 19, as well as five young adults who had experienced serious gaming or gambling problems. It found that gambling-related features in video games and skin betting were comparable to online gambling. The study also called on parents to take an active role in their children’s online activities.
Meanwhile, a report published last year by Sweden’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, found an association between young adults who participated in gambling through video games while underage and risky gambling behaviours. It also found that 87% of those who purchased loot boxes before the age of 15 displayed risky gambling behaviours as adults.
The campaign comes in the same month that the Danish government announced it would resubmit a bill first introduced in October 2025 targeting gambling advertisements.
The proposed measures include restrictions on featuring anyone under the age of 25 in gambling advertisements and a comprehensive ban on gambling ads during live sports broadcasts. The proposed reforms drew criticism from the industry.