New Study Unveils Parents’ Biggest Concerns With Online Gaming

The notion of playing online games might be scary for anybody. There are many real reasons to avoid online gaming today, including the widespread trolling that still exists in game spaces despite the efforts of corporations like PlayStation to combat toxicity in the gaming community. If you have a kid who plays online games, you may worry about the long-term effects on your child.

In an effort to better understand what parents are concerned about while their children are gaming online, the Netherlands-based startup Surfshark has analyzed data from several polls and conducted its own investigations. Internet Matters conducted a poll and found that 1 in 2 parents are most worried about the protection of their children’s data. Pokemon Go, Candy Crush, and Call of Duty: Mobile are some of the most popular games for children ages 6 to 10 in the United Kingdom that collect user data, even if some say that the information obtained is secure. These games were considered to be among the most privacy-invading mobile games presently accessible in app stores.

Parents were also concerned about the usage of microtransactions in mobile games, with 1 in 4 fearing that their kid might accidentally spend big sums of money on a game. Players may purchase emotes, skins, and other in-game items through microtransactions in Minecraft: Pocket Edition, the most preferred mobile game among the Surfshark-surveyed age group. Angry Birds and Call of Duty: Mobile both include in-game purchases, and parents are particularly worried about the latter because of the limited-time sales offered in the app, which drive players to buy products out of fear of losing out on them.

What can parents do?

Parents are urged to create a trusting connection with their children so that they learn what games they’re enjoying to counteract these anxieties. It’s also possible to utilize cybersecurity solutions to keep data safe from unauthorized access. However, Surfshark’s research are not intended to provoke a negative response to mobile gaming, despite all of these problems. When it comes to smartphone gaming, it’s almost hard to keep a youngster from playing. There are methods to be informed and play more securely online, according to Surfshark’s study.