France survey finds 39% of 15-17 year olds play hybrid digital games

A survey of French adolescents found that 39% of 15-17 year olds said they had taken part in at least one hybrid digital game in the 12 months before the study, according to the ENJEU-Mineurs 2025 survey conducted by ARPEJ in collaboration with France's ANJ. The survey combined quantitative and qualitative data on the behaviour, motivations and perceptions of French adolescents towards games that sit between video games and gambling, and on the risks associated with them.

The study identified six categories of digital games: social casino games, free demo or trial games that reproduce gambling games, video games that integrate gambling-inspired mechanics, video games with loot boxes, fantasy sports and Web3/Play-to-Earn games. It grouped all of these under the term hybrid digital games (JNH). Participation was higher among boys at 42.4% than among girls at 35.4%. The most common forms were video games integrating typical casino elements at 26.3%, free trial games available on casino platforms at 18.1% and social casino games at 16.6%.

Among these young players, 15.6% said they had spent money on such games. Practices involving spending remained a minority in most categories: fewer than 10% of young people said they had spent money in social casino games or in video games including loot boxes. Among players who spent regularly or occasionally, social casino players were among the most likely to spend, with 19.4% of them spending more than €50 a month, while 38.7% of players who buy loot boxes spend less than €10 a month on that activity.

The qualitative part of the study found that the shift from free to paid play is encouraged by developers' strategies based on specific design elements and by the absence of age checks. On parental control, 75.7% of adolescents believed their parents were aware of spending on these games, while more than one in 10 believed their parents underestimated or were unaware of the possibility of spending money in these digital environments. The qualitative findings described developer strategies to maintain adolescent engagement, including random and rare rewards, immersive visual and sound effects, notifications, time-limited events and promotions, and staged representations of reward openings.

Almost six in 10 hybrid digital game players in the study (58.8%) also took part in gambling games (JAH). On the gambling risk assessment carried out using the ICJA, 26% of players of both types of game had a high severity score, against 3.9% of those who played gambling games only. Among players of both types who spend money on hybrid digital games, 40.7% had a high severity score, against 14.1% of those who play without spending. During hybrid digital game activity, 68.9% of adolescents said they had been exposed to advertising inviting them to bet on gambling games, mainly on social networks, particularly TikTok and Instagram.

The qualitative results suggested that some gaming experiences featuring typical casino elements can act as a gateway to real-money gambling. Adolescents showed several cognitive distortions similar to those observed in gambling, including the illusion of control, a tendency to persist after disappointing results, a strong attraction to loot boxes and difficulty stopping play. Players of both types of game reported more negative consequences than adolescents who played gambling games only, including sleep disorders, stress and difficulty regulating mood.

Emmanuel Benoit, director general of ARPEJ, said the growing hybridisation of games rests on economic models aimed at capturing young people's attention and encouraging spending. He said these mechanisms can encourage risk behaviour and cognitive distortions, up to incentivising the shift to gambling, and that early awareness-raising among young people and prevention work centred on parents are essential. Pascal Chèvremont, president of the ANJ, said the first study conducted in France highlights the permeability between gambling and other types of game that integrate mechanisms similar to those of gambling. He said it documents the growing gamblification of some digital games that are particularly widespread among minors and feeds reflection on more specific innovative offerings in the Web3 field, such as JONUM, in the context of the experimentation provided for by the SREN law.