Australian senator wants shooter video games to be defined as gambling

[The Buzz]

Nick Xenophon, the independent senator for South Australia, announced on Sunday a bid to have multiplayer first-person shooter games defined as gambling in an update to the current Interactive Gambling Act of 2001.

In what could prove a world first, an Australian politician is seeking to have games such as the hugely popular Counter-Strike series defined in law as gambling.

“This is the Wild West of online gambling that is actually targeting kids,” Xenophon told Fairfax Media.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has become one of the world’s most successful first-person shooter games since introducing its “arm deal” update in August 2013, which allowed virtual weapons known as “skins” obtained in the game to be turned into real-world money.

Here's a link to the article from yesterday's The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australi...ed-as-gambling

[ocreditor]

I'm not sure you can define the game it self as gambling but if you gamble on the results... maybe it's similar to sports betting or esports betting.

[betweenrows]

This guy is in the news here every second day with a new issue. He's independent and ignored by the 2 major parties.

[Jan]

My youngest son age 13 was playing a version of roulette inside counter strike the other day.
Apparently the bets and prizes are 'virtual weapons' - 'virtual weapons' paid for with real money.
To me it's clear that this is in fact gambling.