NSPCC online Gaming
Why Games are played
When gaming children can play together on the same team, or play against each other.
games based on location, such as Pokémon Go and Wizards Unite, encourage players to go outside and explore.
watching videos and livestreams of other people playing, or share tips with other players to develop their own gaming skills.
games are designed to be entertaining and can be fun and engaging for young people.
watching their favourite gamers on YouTube or livestreaming on Twitch. They may also want to livestream themselves playing games.
Trolling, Griefing and scams
Griefers are gamers who deliberately try to ruin the game for other players.
Players may also try to trick or scam young people into giving up 'skins' or other in-game items by offering them money or by hacking their account.
Skins are a cosmetic feature that let players personalise their character and in-game items.
In game purchases
Some games cost money to download
or ask players to buy credits or items so they can keep playing.
Many free games are designed to make the player want to continue but need payments to make this possible, which can be very frustrating.
Talking to unknown people
Many free games are designed to make the player want to continue but need payments to make this possible, which can be very frustrating.
young people can easily play with people they don’t know and haven’t met.
They can communicate using voice, video or text chat.
Many popular games have official channels with thousands of members.
There’s a risk of young people being groomed on these platforms.