University of Vienna

A Guide for Parents of Young Gamers

Produced by the GAMEHEARTS project at the University of Vienna in June 2026, this guide aims to help parents of young gamers weigh the benefits and risks of videogames while prioritising child safety, and it deliberately refrains from endorsing or opposing gaming.

• Most young Europeans play videogames: 69% of 6–10-year-olds, 85% of 11–14-year-olds, and 83% of 15–24-year-olds, according to Video Games Europe (2025) data cited in the guide.
• The guide treats gaming as neither wholly good nor bad, citing research linking play to cognitive, wellbeing, creativity, and collaboration benefits while flagging cyberbullying, hate speech, inappropriate content, and monetisation tactics such as loot boxes as risks.
• Core parental safeguards include checking PEGI ratings and content descriptors, co-playing with children, configuring parental controls, disabling in-app purchases, and protecting personal data through pseudonyms and caution about online contacts.