This is a guest post by Shreyasi Tripathi, a technology policy professional and Atulya Gupta, Head of Public Policy and Advocacy at Kaio.
When the internet first entered our lives, it was a frontier of limitless potential and equally limitless uncertainty. Each new use case, from social media to e-commerce to digital payments, brought with it a wave of opportunity followed closely by challenges: fraud, misinformation, harassment and addiction. Yet over time, these issues were met with innovation, regulation, and growing digital literacy.
Gaming is the latest frontier in this evolution. As it becomes a dominant form of entertainment, especially in India, it too faces its set of growing pains ranging from financial harm to mental health concerns. Recent events saw a student being allegedly held captive in Kanpur over gaming debts and a Bhubaneswar youth being found dead, with problem gaming being suspected, underscoring the urgent need to spotlight responsible gaming practices.
While the online gaming industry in India stands out as the fastest-growing segment in new media, mishaps like these are on the rise. Even amidst facing the threat of illegal offshore betting platforms, gaming accounted for 30% of the total new media market revenue and reached $3.8 billion in valuation. In 2024, the gaming consumer base reached a staggering 442 million, with the average time spent on gaming increasing by 30% to 13 hours per week, catapulting India to become the second-largest gaming community in the world.
These numbers speak volumes about the growing interest in gaming in the Indian market. The benefits of gaming – entertainment, community, improved cognitive function, and spatial reasoning – are now well studied and recorded. However, excessive gaming has its own share of drawbacks. These range from risk of online scams, financial strain, dependence on the virtual world, as well as adverse impact on physical and mental health, including sedentary lifestyle, irregular sleep, anxiety and depression. The urgency with which we should empower users with the right information to protect their health grows by the day. This underscores the need for all stakeholders,industry, Government and players, to ensure online safety and responsible play.
With the aim of fostering responsible play, gaming companies offer players a system of checks and balances; self-exclusion and limit settings being the most widely accepted measures. These tools are only as effective as their use, placing a significant share of the responsibility on players to engage with them meaningfully. Self-exclusion acts as a reset button that not only slashes time and money spent by players on gaming but also relieves stress and boosts mental wellbeing. It’s a powerful pause that helps break the cycle of harmful habits and reclaim balance. On the other hand, limit-setting tools offer a more flexible approach. These result in healthier gaming patterns, stronger self-control, and a better understanding of one’s spending. According to research, even intense users have shown marked reductions in both participation and expenditure over time.
A recent study, analysing data of 8,300 users, evinces the efficacy of these measures.1 They found that when players voluntarily excluded themselves, or set limits on their game-play, they spent less money, played fewer games, but their winnings per game were higher than before. The findings highlight that the real impact hinges on players choosing to use these tools.
Compared to external regulations such as complete bans, or time-restrictions imposed by the government, which are difficult to enforce and have easy work-arounds, these tools, due to their reliance on self-resolve, can ensure that a player can reap the positive benefits of online gaming, without risking unhealthy consequences.
While self-exclusion and limit setting tools have proven to be efficient in tackling problem gaming behaviours, they have their own limitations. Short-term exclusions often fall short, and for some players, the return to gaming triggers a rebound—playing harder after the pause. Emotional fallout like isolation and deprivation can make things worse, especially in the absence of ongoing psychological support. Further, its lack of flexibility makes it harder to follow as a sustainable practice. Though more flexible, limit-setting tools come with their own share of cracks. Users can tweak or bypass them, especially when driven by compulsive habits or the urge to chase rewards. Overly strict systems may even backfire, pushing players toward alternative platforms or anonymous accounts. Further, the success of these tools is also dependent on the intrinsic behaviour of players and external factors such as social media exposure and peer pressure.
Thus, these tools need to be accompanied by targeted and adaptable measures, taking into consideration psychological and external factors affecting gaming behaviour, and also the creation of support systems for the sustenance of safe gaming habits. However, with the knowledge that these tools are effective in addressing problem gaming behaviours, regulators, gaming companies and civil society must take note and ensure that these options are available to all gamers. More importantly, generating awareness amongst users about the value these tools might add to their gaming experience will have a significant impact.
To sustain the momentum of India’s booming gaming industry, it is essential to balance growth with user well-being. As the sector evolves, so must the safeguards that accompany it. Responsible gaming tools like self-exclusion and limit-setting are not just optional add-ons, they are evidence-backed solutions that empower players to make informed choices. Ultimately, the onus of responsible play rests significantly with the players themselves, who must take active steps to use these tools wisely. Through collaboration among industry, government and users themselves, and greater awareness and accessibility of such features, India can foster a gaming ecosystem that not only rides high on technological innovation but also builds consumer trust and takes accountability. Only then can the promise of online gaming truly be fulfilled: for players, platforms, and the future of the nation.
Views expressed in the article are the personal opinion of the authors.
(via @katlyn.gym/TT)
