Latest News
YGAM launch ‘Parent Hub’ as university research highlights loot box danger amongst children
National charity, YGAM has joined with research teams from Newcastle and Loughborough Universities to help parents and carers understand the danger of loot boxes, with one young respondent in the Economic and Social Research Council funded project confirming how he spent nearly £500 buying packs of random cards.
The expert insight and advice is being posted on YGAM’s new ‘Parent Hub’ website www.parents.ygam.org. The hub which has been developed thanks to funding received from Lottoland, GVC and Playtech, provides families with the resources, information and activities to help build digital resilience and safeguard children. ‘Parent Hub’ helps explain why children are drawn to purchase loot boxes, ranging from the surprise and suspense of opening a box and the desire to win something rare, to receiving specific items that deliver an in-game advantage or boost their social status.
The research covers the potential harm loot boxes can cause, such as young people’s exposure to and normalisation of gambling style systems, as well as the emotional and financial harm from repeat spending – with one young person telling researchers how he spent nearly £500 in a mobile card game by buying packs of random cards, playing for up to seven hours a day. The advice covers how parents can take important steps to safeguard children, including the use of parental controls and identifying potential signs of harm.
“For some children, the act of opening a loot box is as important as what it contains” explains Dr James Ash, Reader in Technology, Space and Society at Newcastle University, who is leading the research. “Feelings of surprise and suspense lead to the repeat purchase of loot boxes. But this is often short-lived.
“Children and young people have told us how they feel disappointment, frustration, anger, and regret at loot box purchases, yet they are still driven to purchase again. This is concerning, given the deliberate design of these mechanisms – the visual stimulus, the randomised contents, and the very unfavourable odds for unboxing rare items – which can lead to repeat loot box purchases.”
Amanda Atkinson, Head of Parental Engagement at YGAM said the research will help inform and develop the charity’s educational programmes so that all young and vulnerable people are safe from gaming and gambling related harms. She stated: “Certainly the enormous variety of games and in-app purchases that are available can make it confusing for parents to keep on top of safety controls. Through our educational resources, we are focused on providing crucial information to parents so they can identify changes in behaviours and understand the effects this may have on mental and financial wellbeing.”
In collaboration with GamCare, YGAM is delivering the UK’s ground-breaking National Gambling Education and Prevention Programme. Supported by members of the Betting and Gaming Council, the £10 million programme will reach over 3 million young people to raise awareness of the risks of potential gaming and gambling related harms.
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Football
Stake releases ‘It’s All At Stake’ football tournament hero video
Stake on Monday, 8 June 2026 released its 2026 global football tournament hero video, starring brand ambassadors Sergio Aguero, Patrice Evra, Iker Casillas and Eden Hazard. The ‘It’s All At Stake’ creative is running across YouTube, Instagram and X, with the major tournament a week away.
The video places the four ex-players in short scenes built around football culture. Casillas is shown grabbing the attention of a fellow nightclub guest, Aguero helps a player off the deck in a five-a-side game, Hazard plays a coach, and Evra appears in a tattoo parlour where he inks a customer with the slogan “I love this game”.
Stake said the campaign is part of its wider tournament activity, with ambassadors positioned at the centre of its marketing around the event. The company said the creative is designed to capture the “highs and lows experienced by fans throughout the competition” and includes “humour, nostalgia and the personalities” of the four players.
Stake Director, Jarrod Febbraio said: “The 2026 global football tournament is one of the few sporting events that genuinely captures the attention of fans across every corner of the globe. We wanted to create a campaign that reflects the excitement, anticipation and passion that supporters feel throughout the competition while also bringing together some of football’s most iconic personalities.
“Having Sergio Aguero, Iker Casillas, Eden Hazard and Patrice Evra involved gave us the opportunity to create something entertaining, relatable and unmistakably football. The result is a campaign that celebrates the moments, emotions and conversations that make moments like this such a unique cultural occasion.
“At Stake, we aim to put our millions of customers at the heart of sport’s biggest moments. Whether fans are watching from the stands, at home or with friends, this campaign reinforces what it’s like when it’s all at Stake.”
The company also reiterated its position on responsible gambling, stating it is “committed to ensuring that our customers are educated on our various responsible gambling tools available for use”.
The post Stake releases ‘It’s All At Stake’ football tournament hero video appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Latest News
Spinomenal releases Story of Alice 2 slot with four-stage Free Spins Journey
The 5×4 title adds respins, shifting reels and extra Wilds across successive bonus stages hosted by Wonderland characters.
Spinomenal has released Story of Alice 2, its latest slot title set in a Wonderland-themed garden. The game runs on a 5×4 layout and features characters including the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, the Queen of Hearts and Alice.
In the base game, Wilds substitute for all symbols except the Free Spins symbol, and five on a line pay x300 the bet. The game also includes win multipliers that can appear while the reels are spinning, multiplying wins by x2 or x3.
The main bonus is a four-stage “Free Spins Journey” triggered by three or more full-sized scattered Free Spins symbols. Each retrigger moves players to the next stage, with each stage tied to a different character.
The sequence starts with the White Rabbit’s Winning Symbols Respin, where new winning combinations trigger respins and only the last respin pays. It then moves to the Mad Hatter’s Extra Wilds, adding three to five Wild symbols per spin, followed by the Caterpillar’s Shifting Reels Respin where wins trigger a respin and reels shift down by one row. The final stage is the Queen of Hearts’ Stacked Wilds Respin, where a fully landed stacked Wild on reels one to four triggers a respin; the company says five Wild symbols on a winning line pay x300.
Spinomenal CO-CEO, Omer Henya commented: “We are excited to welcome players back to Wonderland with Story of Alice 2. The Free Spins Journey gives the game a real sense of adventure and progression, and combined with its fantastic visuals, we expect players will be eager to chase the next feature.”
The post Spinomenal releases Story of Alice 2 slot with four-stage Free Spins Journey appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Latest News
PopOK Gaming partners with Ronaldinho for new slot title Ronaldinho da Sorte
PopOK Gaming has partnered with footballer Ronaldinho Gaúcho to launch a new online slot, Ronaldinho da Sorte. The supplier said the title is now available for integration and is aimed at the .com market.
PopOK Gaming said the game runs on a 3×3 grid with five paylines and is built around low volatility. The company listed an RTP of 96.19%, a hit frequency of 23.94% and a maximum multiplier of 5,000x.
Speaking about the launch, Ronaldinho said: “It makes me so happy, you know? To see that my football style becomes a game, it makes me really happy. I hope the fans will like it and will have fun and good moments.”
On gameplay, PopOK Gaming said Wild symbols substitute for other symbols, while a randomly triggered bonus feature selects a symbol (excluding Wild) and respins with only the chosen symbol, Wilds or blanks. The supplier added that landed Wilds and chosen symbols lock in place and that a second-chance re-spin is awarded if no symbols land on the first re-spin. PopOK Gaming also flagged Money symbols, multipliers, a dedicated bonus game and a bonus wheel as additional features.
The post PopOK Gaming partners with Ronaldinho for new slot title Ronaldinho da Sorte appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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