Written evidence submitted by Martin Catterall

1. Is Gaming Harmful to society?

Of course I doubt anyone can give you much more than just an opinion for this question so here goes. In my opinion gaming can be about as harmful as any Expression. Games is however a much more involved form of media. Instead of a program like Emmerdale or coronation street getting you hooked and making you come back every week for something you might not be able to say you actually like Gaming can make you come back every few hours. It can be addictive and harmful. It can also produce the most intensely interesting and touching pieces of art if you encourage it.

2. How does the design of a game keep you playing for longer.

For this point I am going to refer you to a video by a you tube personality by the name of "Extra credits" the video isn't excessively long and these people are genuinely passionate about the industry. In fact if I had the option I would ask that you as part of your Committee submit any relevant videos from Extra credits, any of their videos that talk about the gaming industry in general I think would be helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c

Put simply most with intent or simply following a trend use a psychological phenomenon called the "Skinner box". In effect a person given a reward for doing an action will still happily repeat that action given lower and lower rewards. In my opinion there is some element to the speed of the rewards and the initial hook being enjoyable that is necessary to secure people's continued interest. It's a deeply morally gray practice when applied with monetary cost looming over your capacity to continue later in the game and is mostly present in so called "freemium" or "free to play" games with a strong skew towards mobile only games. They also employ the use of "loot boxes" which currently is under review by several countries towards their legality. Lootboxes are a similar to opening a pack of trading cards, you get a few different items, some are rarer than others. See the problem becomes when we approach legislating on these two topics; It's my opinion that there is nothing wrong with either of these practices, Skinner boxes are a useful tool to smooth out game experience and prevent fatigue, and also are used responsibly by people playing "idle games" games who's sole purpose is to give us that little dingle of satisfaction that skinner boxes present without much effort. And loot boxes can artificially increase the ammount of content to allow people to feel they got their money's worth in entertaining content and grant different play experiences depending on what those loot boxes produce.

3. What help is needed for people who are concerned about the amount they are gaming?

Gaming addiction, just like every addiction has it's silent saviors in relationships. Addictions spring up most frequently in people who feel or have been estranged from society. Thats the reason why the alt-right's lingo is all in reference to nerd culture. Set up circles of people where people can just talk about stuff. Get out of the game for a while and just be a person rather than a pair of thumbs on a controller.

4. What responsibilities do games designers have to their players?

-    To make a game of a quality worth paying for.

-    To make a game which is upfront and honest about it's content, does not try to trick or scheme people into paying or playing more than they were intending to.

-    To maintain a game's community where applicable and take appropriate measures to lessen the inevitable impact of "toxicity" on a game's player base. These three to the best of my Opinion cover the bases that can be reasonably expected, again in my opinion, of those in the gaming industry.

5. Are young people disproportionately affected by the addictive qualities of games and apps?

Yes without a question. Any evidence I have to give is purely anecdotal however so I won't supply any here but it is also of my opinion that young people are also the most important ones to expose to the wonderful side of video games, they are the ones who's imaginations we will capture and those who will create wonderful memories that last the rest of their lives. It is the same as Children being addicted to television. You must be careful about what you expose them to and how much but it would be a sin to deny them it all together.

6. What makes the UK a world leader in gaming and VR/AR and how can the industry be supported?

Difficult one, I am not by any stretch an economist but generally as a country I would say we have a slight natural tendency towards artful expression, a desire to innovate, some big important tech firms and we have Valve. Supporting the industry is hard and way beyond my understanding to aid your committee.

7. What is important to the gaming industry? You didn't ask it but I want to answer it anyway.

-    Legislation on the abuse of the psychological effects of the skinner box and use of Loot boxes. Explicitly I think it is a mistake to ban them, However some medium must be made. The use of Loot boxes and Skinner boxes is both having a detrimental effect on gamers buying games and on the industry as a whole. Proper evidence must be collected on their pervasiveness and their harm. Can't do it based on my word or on the general assumptions. Far too complicated a topic for that.

-    increase the general level of game literacy for people. Get people behind video games and give people exposure so they know what they are talking about. Especially those people who are making laws on this sort of stuff.

-    Understand the potential psychological effects of gamification.

8. Apologies on the lack of citations. I hope my opinions and understanding of the situation with the current games industry helps. In general I think the gaming industry would sort it's self out given enough time but there is likely productive action that the UK government can take to aid the industry in it's growth and management. I have intentionally not spoken much about Gamification. It is my understanding that we don't understand much about it. We have seen some statistically significant effects of taking ideas that have been developed by games to the physical world, any understanding beyond that is purely observational. Like I stated before Further exploration of the concept is required before anything about it is decided. I don't see the link bewteen immersive video games and data security, generalized immersive technologies I know sufficently little about I don't feel comfortable commenting upon them in that manner.

January 2019