Video games and gambling-related harms

Video games and gambling-related harms

This is a historical reference for a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) grant opportunity led by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The official UKRI page now marks the opportunity Closed. It does not announce a replacement round, so this page should not be read as an invitation to submit a new application.

The original call supported interdisciplinary research into the relationship between gambling and video games. Its subject included both regulated gambling adjacent to games, such as esports betting, and unregulated gambling-like activity inside games, such as loot boxes and social casino products. UKRI sought evidence that could improve prevention, treatment, policy, regulation, ethical game design, and communication about safer video games.

At a glance

The closing date remains in the metadata because it is the real deadline for the archived round. It has passed, and UKRI says that applications could not be made after that time. No new deadline should be inferred from this page.

What the grant was intended to support

UKRI described a research agenda rather than a single required method. The central question was how gambling and gambling-like features in video games relate to behaviour and harm, and what interventions might reduce those harms. The page stressed that current evidence suggests associations but that no causal link had been established. That distinction matters for anyone using this entry as a starting point for a later proposal: an application would need to test or clarify relationships rather than assume that one mechanism causes another.

The scope covered several overlapping formats and settings:

• esports betting and its prevalence, marketing, exposure and associated harms;
• skins betting, loot boxes, social casino games and other simulated gambling products;
• different video game formats, platforms and technologies, including how their design and monetisation may change risk;
• advertising, influencer promotion and the channels through which people encounter gambling-like interactions;
• regulatory frameworks and policy decisions in the UK and internationally;
• the commercial determinants of health, including market practices, design choices and governance arrangements;
• public attitudes to gamified gambling and gambling-like features;
• interventions through game design, regulation, treatment and prevention;
• the relationship between gaming disorder and gambling disorder, including possible comorbidity and overlapping treatment needs.

UKRI identified priority themes within that broader scope. These included clarifying the direction and practical size of associations, comparing products and contexts, measuring population prevalence, assessing age ratings and age assurance, examining esports betting among young people, studying influencer marketing, and understanding interactions between gaming and gambling disorders. The list was not exhaustive. Applicants were expected to choose a focused problem that could generate new knowledge and produce a credible route to real-world impact.

Eligibility and partnership rules

The call was open to the research and innovation communities of all UKRI research councils and Innovate UK. The project lead had to be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding, and the organisation had to meet UKRI’s standard eligibility rules. The opportunity was led by ESRC, which also made an international project co-lead route available under its policy. Other international collaborators, and UK partners who were not based at approved organisations, were to be included as project partners rather than treated as eligible project co-leads by default.

UK-based business, third-sector and government bodies could be included as project co-leads, but UKRI listed important exclusions. The excluded categories included organisations within the gambling industry; Gambling Commission licence holders subject to the levy; associated industries whose core business could be associated with harm to public health and societal wellbeing; and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Applicants were expected to check the detailed policy guidance and discuss uncertain cases with UKRI rather than assume a partner was acceptable.

Industry engagement was not automatically prohibited. UKRI said engagement had to be independent, evidence-based, research-led and aligned with the public-interest purpose of understanding gambling and gambling-related harms. It also said that any exception for a time-limited, purpose-specific interaction, such as access to proprietary data, required advance approval through UKRI’s due-diligence and governance mechanisms. The excluded organisation could not directly fund or co-author the work, and the team would need ethical review, transparent declarations and safeguards against undue influence.

The wider partnership expectation was practical. Teams could work with third-sector organisations, community groups, relevant public-sector bodies, people with lived experience, the public and video games stakeholders. UKRI wanted applicants to identify the audiences that mattered to their project and explain how those users would shape or receive outputs. Government stakeholders such as DCMS, the Gambling Commission, OHID and the NHS were potential users of the research, but applicants were not required to include them as project co-leads or partners.

Funding, duration and project design

The total fund was £5,000,000. A project could request up to £1,000,000 in full economic cost, with UKRI funding 80% of that cost. Projects could last up to 36 months and had to start by 1 January 2027. UKRI stated that there was no requirement for matched funding from the host institution beyond the standard 20% of full economic cost. Direct and in-kind contributions from third-party project partners were encouraged where they supported delivery.

The budget needed to make the proposed work credible. A team would need to connect staff, data access, participant involvement, equipment, travel, stakeholder engagement, governance and dissemination costs to the work plan. The official call emphasised that outputs should be meaningful, usable and accessible to the relevant research users and stakeholders. For sensitive research involving young people, people with lived experience or public-facing engagement, safeguarding and ethical review would need to be planned as part of the project rather than added after the research design was complete.

The opportunity also required alignment with the wider UKRI Research Programme on Gambling and coordination with the Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre. Funded projects would be expected to take part in programme engagement and annual meetings as appropriate, share learning across the portfolio, and contribute to actionable prevention, regulatory or policy outcomes. Teams considering a future funding route should therefore allow time and resources for coordination, synthesis and responsible data stewardship.

How applications were submitted

Applications were made through the UKRI Funding Service. The call could not be submitted through the Joint Electronic Submissions system. The project lead was responsible for completing the application, while team members and project partners were expected to contribute. Only the lead research organisation could submit the completed application to UKRI.

The published application route was:

1. Confirm that the applicant is the project lead.
2. Sign in to, or create, a UKRI Funding Service account and select the organisation.
3. Answer the questions directly in the Funding Service text boxes, saving work and returning as needed. Where the system requests an upload, follow its upload instructions.
4. Review the completed application in read-only view.
5. Send it to the research office for institutional checking.
6. Have the research office submit the checked application to UKRI.

The research office and finance team were responsible for checking hosting arrangements and financial eligibility, but the applicant retained responsibility for compliance with the opportunity requirements. UKRI also stated that an application could not be changed after submission. This made the internal review and read-only check important parts of the submission process.

The Funding Service asked for a plain-English summary, a vision, an approach, and an explanation of the applicant and team capability to deliver. The published limits were 550 words for the summary, 500 words for the vision, 2,500 words for the approach and 1,650 words for applicant and team capability. The assessment criteria covered importance, quality, timeliness, beneficiaries, method, feasibility, risk management, translation, team balance, leadership and delivery experience. Where a project generated data, the applicant also had to complete the separate data management question.

Ethics, data and research integrity

The subject matter made ethics central to the call. ESRC required research to comply with its Framework for Research Ethics and expected applicants to address ethical, safeguarding, health and safety and integrity issues. This included participant protection, public engagement, young people, people with lived experience, conflicts of interest and the risk that research findings could be misused or presented without appropriate context.

Every applicant to an opportunity funded under the UKRI Research Programme on Gambling had to complete a Declaration of Interests form. UKRI paid particular attention to the independence of the research, the source and independence of findings, and any relationship with gambling or video games businesses. A proposal involving industry data would need clear access terms, independence safeguards and transparent governance.

ESRC also required data generated, collected or acquired through funded research to be well managed. Where feasible, data access negotiated with the video games industry was expected to support deposit in secure Trusted Research Environments. A future team would therefore need a data management plan that addressed provenance, security, lawful access, retention, sharing and any restrictions on secondary use.

Archive note for readers

The official UKRI page currently labels this opportunity Closed and retains the 23 July 2026 closing date. It does not announce a subsequent cycle for the same opportunity. Readers should use this entry to understand the former scope, funding level, eligibility rules and submission route, then verify any future UKRI Research Programme on Gambling opportunity separately. The amount, rules and application questions on this archived call should not be assumed to carry over to a later funding round.