Denmark launches campaign against gambling-style features in children's games

The Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, announced a new public awareness campaign on Monday to inform parents. Called "The Casino in the Child's Room," the initiative aims to move the debate about young people's digital habits beyond screen time and toward game content and mechanics.

Many popular games aimed at children include loot boxes, random reward systems and in-game purchases that resemble traditional gambling. The authority's chairman, Anders Dorph, said the discussion has usually focused on how much time children spend playing, while the psychological impact of reward systems is just as important.

The centerpiece of the campaign is a short film that turns a child's room into a casino. The authority is also promoting the information platform StyrPåSpillet.dk, which provides information on gambling elements in games, the risks of gambling addiction, and how to talk with children about their gaming habits.

The agency has also set up temporary storefronts styled as casinos in Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen. These displays are intended to get parents and passersby to consider whether the games their children play contain gambling-like features.

Denmark is not the first country to raise the risks of gambling-like features in games aimed at minors. Sweden's Gambling Authority found in a report last year a link between young adults who gambled through video games before they were of age and risky gambling behavior later on. According to the report, 87 percent of those who began buying loot boxes before the age of 15 showed risky gambling behavior in adulthood.

The campaign comes in the same month the Danish government resubmitted to parliament a bill, first presented in October 2025, concerning gambling advertising aimed at minors.