Call for Abstracts: Gamblification in the Digital Economy

2025-09-25

Guest Editor: Anne Mette Thorhauge, University of Copenhagen

Gamblification refers to the integration of gambling-like elements, such as randomness, risk-reward mechanics, and variable reinforcement schedules, into non-gambling contexts. These elements are designed to drive user engagement, prolong interaction, and increase monetization. Often disguised as entertainment or utility features, gamblification blurs the line between play and profit, raising important ethical, psychological, and regulatory questions.

While gamblification first gained prominence in the digital gaming industry through mechanisms like loot boxes, gacha systems, and social casino games, it has rapidly expanded into other sectors. In e-commerce, surprise discounts and mystery boxes mimic gambling dynamics to boost sales. In education, reward-based learning apps use variable reinforcement to maintain user attention. In finance, retail trading platforms gamify investment behaviors, encouraging high-risk, high-frequency trading reminiscent of casino environments. Even health and wellness apps increasingly rely on streaks, spins, and randomized rewards to shape user behaviour. This widespread adoption of gamblification techniques signals a broader shift in the digital economy, where engagement is monetized through psychological manipulation. As such, it is crucial to understand how gamblification operates across different domains, what consequences it entails, and how it might be regulated or resisted.

This theme issue seeks to explore gamblification as a cross-sectoral phenomenon. We invite interdisciplinary contributions that critically examine its mechanisms, implications, and governance. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Conceptual work on gamblification across domains
  • Empirical studies of gamblification in education, health, finance, entertainment, and beyond
  • Political economy of platforms and digital infrastructures enabling gamblification
  • Regulatory and legal approaches to managing gamblification
  • Environmental and societal consequences of gamblification

Submissions

Interested contributors should submit abstracts with a limit of 1000 words (not including references) to uagaming@ualberta.ca. The deadline for abstracts is November 18th, 2025. We invite peer-reviewed original research papers (5000 – 8000 words), edited commentaries (1000 – 2000 words), book reviews (1000 – 1500 words), and non-peer-reviewed entries to the CGS blog. Critical Gambling Studies also seeks to broaden modes of gambling scholarship and as such is receptive to other types of publications.

Contributors will receive notice for their submissions by December 15th, 2025, with an expected deadline for completed manuscripts of April 2026. Accepted manuscripts are to be submitted through the OJS workflow. More details on the submission process for manuscripts can be found on the submissions page.

Any questions about the special issue or submission process can be directed to uagaming@ualberta.ca.