Loot Boxes, Esports Betting and Skin Betting: a Scoping Review Protocol to Map the Empirical

1 Scoping Review Protocol Title: Loot Boxes, eSports Betting and Skin Betting: A Scoping Review Protocol to Map the Empirical Research on Engagement in Gambling-Like Activities and Problem Gambling and Gaming Behaviours Authors: Hyoun S. (Andrew) Kim1, Diandra Leslie2, Sherry H. Stewart3, Daniel L. King4, Zsolt Demetrovics5,6, André Luiz Monezi Andrade7, Jung-Seok Choi8, Hermano Tavares9, David C. Hodgins2 Affiliations: 1. Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2. Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 3. Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology & Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 4. College of Education, Psychology, & Social Work, Flinders University, Australia 5. Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming, University of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, Gibraltar 6. Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary 7. Center for Life Science, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil 8. Department of Psychiatry, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea 9. Department of Psychiatry, Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Contact person: Diandra Leslie ([email protected]) Anticipated start date: April 2021 Anticipated completion date: September 2021 2 Rationale for the Scoping Review Within the past decade, gambling-like activities (GLAs) such as loot boxes, eSports betting, and skin betting have increasingly become part of the video gaming experience – a phenomenon known as convergence. Multiple studies have linked gambling-like activities to problematic gambling and gaming behaviours (Gainsbury et al., 2017; Li et al., 2019; Macey & Hamari, 2019), and concerns about potential harms have led some jurisdictions to begin regulating the availability of these activities. Study of the convergence of gambling and gaming represents an area of relatively new yet rapidly growing research. Given the prevalence of GLAs in video games, discussion of their regulation, and the dearth of empirical research on the convergence of gambling and gaming, there is a need to synthesize the existing literature to understand what is known about the relationship between GLA engagement and problematic gambling and gaming behaviours. Additionally, this scoping review is the first of a three- part cross-national study on GLAs with researchers and participants from Canada, Brazil, Hungary, South Korea, and Australia that will include surveys and interviews with individuals who engage in GLAs. The results of this scoping review may help to identify questions and measures to be included in this cross- national investigation. Scoping Review Methodology Stages one through five of Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) scoping review methodology framework, further developed by Levac et al. (2010) and Tricco et al. (2018), will be used to guide the process of this review. Arksey and O’Malley (2005) proposed a sixth, optional stage (consultation with consumers and stakeholders). Due to time and budgetary constraints, this stage will not be completed. What follows is an outline of the planned procedure for conducting the proposed scoping review. The review management software Covidence (Veritas Health Innovation, 2019) will be used to complete stages three and four. Stage One: Identifying the Research Question 3 The objectives of our scoping review are as follows: • synthesize the existing empirical studies that have assessed the link between engaging in GLAs and problematic gambling and gaming behaviours, • determine what is known regarding the link between GLA engagement and problematic gambling and gaming behaviours, and • identify emerging developments and gaps in the knowledge base that will require further research. Stage Two: Identifying Relevant Studies Search Strategy Seven databases will be systematically searched for relevant articles: • Ovid APA PsycINFO • Ovid MEDLINE • Ovid Embase • Ebsco CINAHL • Ebsco Academic Search Complete • ProQuest ABI Business Premium Collection • ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global In addition to the seven databases identified, the reference lists of studies deemed eligible for the review will be hand searched, and a search of Google Scholar will be conducted to identify sources that may not have been captured during the database search. The titles and abstracts of the first 100 results from Google Scholar will be screened. The Ovid search strategy is presented in Appendix A. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria The inclusion criteria agreed upon by the team members of this study are as follows: 4 • The articles must be written in English, Portuguese, Hungarian, or Korean. If any relevant non- English articles are found, they must contain an English-language abstract. • The research conducted must have been empirical. • The results of the study must contain a quantitative and/or qualitative measure of the impact of GLA engagement on gambling and/or gaming behaviours. Articles will be excluded if they concern any type of non-empirical research (e.g., reviews, meta- analyses); however, the reference sections of such articles will be searched for relevant sources. Additionally, restrictions will not be placed on the following: • the date of study publication, • the population studied (e.g., adults, adolescents, children; clinical or general population), • the method by which players acquired loot boxes or skins (e.g., purchased with real-world currency, cryptocurrency, in-game currency, or earned through regular gameplay), • the method by which bets were placed on eSports events (e.g., in-person or online, with real- world currency, cryptocurrency, or skins, in regulated or unregulated settings, or on professional or amateur competitions), • the types of video games played (e.g., genre), or • the platform on which the video games were played (i.e., desktop, console, mobile). Stage Three: Study Selection A two-step screening procedure consisting of a title and abstract screen and a full-text screen will be conducted to identify which among the retrieved articles will be included and excluded from the scoping review. This procedure will be completed by two independent reviewers. Cohen’s Kappa will be calculated in order to assess inter-rater reliability (IRR). The desired minimum IRR will be .70 (i.e., moderate agreement; McHugh, 2012). 5 Following the independent screening of the titles, abstracts, and full articles, the reviewers will meet to compare results, reach a consensus for any discrepancies in selected sources, and, if necessary, revise or re-establish the inclusion and exclusion criteria. If the two reviewers are unable to reach a consensus, a third reviewer will be tasked with doing so. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) flow diagram will be generated to illustrate the study selection process. Stage Four: Charting the Data Data from articles deemed eligible for the review will be extracted and charted using a standardized data charting form designed by the research team. This process will be completed independently by the same two reviewers who complete stage three. The reviewers will meet to discuss their results, and reach a consensus about any disagreements. If a consensus cannot be reached, the third reviewer who will be consulted to resolve disagreements in stage three will be responsible for doing so in stage four. Ten charting categories will be included. The data extraction framework is outlined in Appendix B. Stage Five: Collating, Summarizing, and Reporting the Data The Joanna Briggs Institute’s Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist (Tricco et al., 2018) will be used to guide the process of stage five. The completion of stage five will include three components: • A compilation of the results to provide a descriptive numerical summary of the findings. This will involve summarizing characteristics of the included studies, such as the total number of eligible studies, the types of GLAs assessed, and study sample characteristics. • A thematic analysis of the results to address the primary goals of the review, which are to determine the gambling and gaming-related outcomes associated with GLA engagement and identify gaps and emerging areas in the knowledge base that will require further research. 6 • A consideration of potential implications the findings will have for research and policy. Ethics and Dissemination Ethics approval is not required for this scoping review because primary data will not be collected and the information that will be synthesized can be obtained from an already existing, publicly available knowledge base. Following the registration of this protocol with Open Science Framework, if any modifications are needed, descriptions of any changes, including rationale and the date of the modifications, will be submitted. The findings of this research will be submitted for publication in a peer- reviewed journal and may be presented at relevant national or international conferences. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first scoping review that will synthesize the results of empirical research that has assessed the link between GLA engagement and problem gambling or gaming behaviours. Practically, the results of this scoping review will provide an improved understanding of who engages in GLAs, why they do

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