The iGaming industry has been living under the microscope of regulators for years, while Big Tech unimpededly implements the same game mechanics in applications. Mikhail Zborovsky, a beneficiary of Cosmobet in the past, considers this a dangerous hypocrisy of the modern digital economy, where form is more important than content. While gambling pays for every “sneeze” and adheres to the strict rules of Responsible Gaming, mobile games uncontrollably put young people on dopamine needles. The psychology of gambling does not change whether you spin a slot or open a “mysterious chest” in a mobile adventure for a rare sword. Financial services have gone even further, turning personal budget management into an endless quest with a wheel of fortune and receipts for spending.
How are we being manipulated?
Today, the line between marketing and manipulation has become so blurred that we no longer notice the classic triggers of excitement in everyday things. Mikhail Zborovsky: As an example, Cosmobet strictly regulates its brand promotion tools. What does it say about direct interaction with customers. In addition to the state, the platform itself monitors compliance with regulatory requirements.
Everything happens on the other side of the street. Companies continue to use aggressive marketing techniques packaged in friendly design. Here are the main mechanics that require the same attention from the authorities as playgrounds:
- Loot boxes and cases. A complete copy of slot mechanics with an unpredictable result.
- Strikes and daily bonuses. Tools of forced retention, forcing the user to enter the application out of fear of losing “progress”.
- Aggressive push notifications. Exploitation of fear of lost profit.
- Leaderboards and social pressure. Using the desire to dominate, pushing people to excessive spending for the sake of virtual status in the rating.
- Visual noise. Sound and visual effects imitating triumph when performing simple actions.
Mikhail Zborovsky: Cosmobet as a representative of the gambling industry pays a huge price for the very fact of its work. Other companies and industries can work according to similar mechanisms, deceiving people and the state. Using the above methods without control leads to the blurring of responsibility and the formation of dependent patterns in the most vulnerable audience. Otherwise, we simply transfer a social problem from one sector of the economy to another, pretending that everything is under control. Real care for citizens requires regulation of mechanics, not just named applications in stores.
The way to fair regulation
Mikhail Zborovsky sees a way out in the creation of end-to-end ethical standards for any digital product that uses elements of gamification. Regulation should be based not on the type of activity, but on the psychological triggers used to affect the brain. This is the only way to create a truly healthy digital environment where business does not become a parasite on the user’s cognitive distortions.
The ethical question should disappear completely, Mikhail Zborovsky, working at Cosmobet, solved this question a few years ago.
In the future, it is the experience of licensed and responsible gambling that will become a benchmark for the entire market of mobile applications. Honest business is not afraid of rules, it is afraid of hypocrisy and double standards that undermine trust in technology and the state. The future is based on transparency, where every developer is responsible for the mental health of their user.