Risico's, Voordelen en Regulering van Games: Nederland

This Trimbos-instituut report, commissioned by the WODC for the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security and published in 2021, examines the risks and benefits of video games in the Netherlands. It identifies the thirty most popular games and their monetization features, reviews scientific literature (about 46,000 articles screened), analyses nine games in detail, and reports interviews with three researchers or care professionals, seven industry representatives and ten government policy representatives. International experts from the UK, South Korea and UNICEF were also consulted. The authors note that consistent total market data for the Netherlands do not exist. Among the thirty games, every one offers in-game purchases, and many are free-to-play. The authors state that most experts consider policy or (self-)regulation necessary for several themes, including mental and social health risks, marketing, problematic gaming, gambling and game design. Experts report that little is known about the effectiveness of current measures, and that self-regulation has not been formally evaluated by the government.