French Study: 39% Of Teens Play Games Blending Video Gaming And Gambling
Four in ten French teenagers aged 15 to 17 (39.0%) play games that blend video gaming with gambling mechanics.
That is the headline finding of the ENJEU-Mineurs 2025 study, published on October 19, 2026, by France's gambling regulator, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), with the research body ARPEJ.
The study also finds that teenagers who spend money on these games and also gamble show far higher gambling risk scores.
It is the first study of its kind in France, according to ANJ president Pascal Chèvremont.
What The Study Counted As A Hybrid Game
The researchers grouped six game types under the label "hybrid digital games": social casino games, free demo versions of gambling games, video games with gambling-style mechanics, video games with loot boxes, fantasy sports, and Web3 or play-to-earn games.
The survey covered 5,000 young people aged 15 to 17, and 1,958 of them played at least one of these games.
The most common forms were video games containing casino elements (26.3%), free demo games on casino platforms (18.1%) and social casino games (16.6%).
Boys were more likely to play than girls (42.4% against 35.4%). The regulator's published summary notes that social casino games are not gambling in law because players cannot win money or other prizes.
How Much Teenagers Spend
Among teenagers who play hybrid games, 15.6% reported spending money on them.
Spending remained a minority behaviour in most categories: fewer than one in ten spent on social casino games or on games with loot boxes.
Social casino players were among the biggest spenders, with 19.4% of spenders putting in more than €50 a month.
By contrast, 38.7% of those who buy loot boxes spent less than €10 a month.
The qualitative part of the research says design choices by game publishers and a lack of age checks help move players from free to paid play.
Higher Risk Scores For Teens Who Also Gamble
Nearly six in 10 hybrid game players (58.8%) also take part in gambling.
Using the Canadian Adolescent Gambling Inventory, 26.0% of these mixed players had a high severity score, compared with 3.9% of teenagers who only gamble.
Spending made the gap wider. Among mixed players who spend money in hybrid games, 40.7% had a high score, compared with 14.1% of those who play without spending.
Some 68.9% of teenage players also said they had seen adverts urging them to bet on gambling, mostly on social networks, TikTok and Instagram.
The researchers report that teenagers show biases familiar from gambling, including an illusion of control, a tendency to keep playing after disappointing results and a strong pull towards loot boxes.
Rare random rewards, immersive sound and visual effects, notifications, time-limited events and staged reward openings were listed as the tactics that keep them engaged.
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What ANJ And ARPEJ Say Happens Next
ARPEJ director general Emmanuel Benoit said these mechanisms can encourage risky habits and sometimes a move towards real-money gambling and the use of online casinos.
He argued that young people need early awareness of the risks and that parents should be at the centre of prevention.
In the study, 75.7% of teenagers said their parents know about their spending, though more than one in ten thought parents underestimate how easily money can be spent.
Chèvremont said the work documents the growing gamblification of games with strong appeal to minors, meaning gambling mechanics added to other activities.
He linked it to the debate on Web3 offers known as JONUM, which are being tested under France's SREN law. Parents and players looking for guidance can start with our responsible gambling hub.
The full 39-page report by Tovar, Saliot and Costes is available from ARPEJ.
