Gaming is a profitable, fast-growing industry. The UK video game market reached a record £7.16 billion in 2021.¹ Worldwide revenue was estimated to be $198 billion USD in 2021.²

Gaming is also an almost universal pastime among young people in the UK. According to research we conducted with Young Scot and the ALLIANCE, 92% of 11-26 year olds in Scotland play video games.³ Gaming is more common in boys (97%), but also very common in girls (90%).⁴

With gambling participation increasingly shifting online, the distinction between gaming and gambling is becoming blurred by gambling-like features in video games.