Gambling content in Facebook games: A common phenomenon?

• We compare Facebook games developer on their gambling offer.
• We quantify and describe gambling content in the most popular Facebook games.
• The majority of Facebook games include gambling content.
• Offering gambling as a Facebook games developer is not linked with the presence of gambling content in Facebook games.

Some Facebook games are offered by developers who also offer gambling games, possibly indicating that gambling content (GC) could be found in their Facebook games. This study measures the presence of GC in Facebook games and documents their presentation. It verifies whether GC is more present in games offered by developers offering gambling games as well. The 100 most popular Facebook games were played for 10 min and recorded for content analysis purposes. GC was detected and classified into standard gambling simulation, non-standard gambling simulation, and gambling references. The results indicate that 54% of Facebook games present GC. The GC most often used alluded to slot machines (22%). Facebook games which offer GC are not associated with gambling game developers. However, when gambling references are found, they were most often in games offered by gambling developers. GC as a medium for familiarization with gambling is discussed.