Industry giant Entain is to extend the scope of its work with external partners to provide more education and support across additional areas of entertainment such as video games, in order to further strengthen its customer protection measures.
Delivered through its not-for-profit organisation Entain Foundation, Entain will work with its US partners to help players at potential risk of harm both in the UK and Europe.
Early initiatives within the scheme will include the launch of ‘Mind Your Game’ in the UK in partnership with Game Quitters, a support community for victims of gaming disorder, and Kindbridge, a teletherapy company focused on the treatment of gamblers and gamers suffering mental health issues.
Mind Your Game will provide players and their families with facts about the mental health challenges faced by gamers and advice on how to access support. The Entain Foundation also already sponsors a social media educational initiative to raise awareness of potential addiction among players in the UK.
Mind Your Game was developed with support from Kindbridge, a teletherapy company focused on the treatment of gamblers and gamers suffering mental health issues.
Meanwhile, the Entain Foundation will provide education and support for people at risk of online addiction and gaming disorder in the video gaming and interactive entertainment markets.
This will be delivered in partnership with EPIC Risk Management – a consultancy specialising in the prevention of gambling harm – and the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association, which represents professional esports players. Entain also works with EPIC on a number of other responsible gambling initiatives.
“Our business is all about understanding and meeting the needs of customers, which means offering the most entertaining experiences whilst doing everything we can to protect them,” Entain’s director of safer gambling and regulation Grainne Hurst said.
“At the core of our approach to sustainability is our belief that delivering the highest possible levels of player safety and protection is the best way to guarantee our long-term success.”
The interactive entertainment launch comes after Entain last year launched a Sustainability Charter that included responsible gaming and investing in people and communities among its four cornerstones. Entain pledged to invest £100m (€118m/$139m) in the Foundation by 2025 to support educational and support projects.
Entain develops its responsible gambling initiatives with support from a number of leading experts, including Dr Mark Griffiths, a professor of behavioural addiction and psychology, as well as academics from Harvard Medical Faculty School of Addiction.
This includes working on Entain’s Advanced Responsibility and Care (ARC) project, which launched in November last year when the business rebranded from GVC.
