GamCare said the first edition analyses 2,536 anonymised National Gambling Helpline webchats from summer 2026.
GamCare has announced the launch of Signals, a new quarterly insight series that it said will examine emerging trends in gambling harm.
In a statement, GamCare said the series was launched to support people working in, or interested in, the gambling harms sector with “real time trends and analysis” based on what it is “seeing on the ground”, to help inform decision making and policy.
GamCare said the first edition, titled The Gamification of Everything, draws on an analysis of “2,536 anonymised webchat transcripts” from several days of National Gambling Helpline activity during summer 2026. It said the analysis identifies “the growing use of gambling-like design features” in everyday products and services.
GamCare defined gamification as “the use of game-like features to encourage people to engage with a product or service”. It listed examples including variable or unpredictable rewards, near misses, streaks, leaderboards, limited-time offers and artificial scarcity. GamCare said these techniques can appear in settings including video games, shopping apps, auction sites and trading platforms.
GamCare said these products are “not necessarily gambling”, remain legally distinct and are not covered by the same regulatory frameworks. However, it said experiences shared with the National Gambling Helpline suggest some design features may encourage “repeated spending, risk-taking or loss of control”. GamCare added that the analysis is not a measure of how common these experiences are, but provides “an early signal” of how pathways into gambling-related harm may be changing.
What it means for players
GamCare said some people contacting the National Gambling Helpline reported harms linked to non-gambling products, including spending more than intended on loot boxes and losing “£500 in 30 minutes” on surprise sets bought via a shopping and auction app.
Source: GamCare, 12 November 2026.