Muligheter og utfordringer for møteplasser for dataspill – En studie av møteplasser for dataspill som arena for inkludering og forebygging mot problematisk dataspilling

This report is based on the Action Plan against Gaming Problems 2022-2025 and the Government's Video Game Strategy 2020-2022. The Action Plan aims to promote targeted efforts in preventing gaming problems, while the Video Game Strategy views video games as a cultural expression, an art form, industry, and leisure activity, and encourages the establishment of meeting places and communities centred around video games to include young people with an interest in gaming.

In a preventive and inclusive perspective, it is essential to focus on how different actors contribute to the development of healthy gaming habits and a positive gaming culture among young people. Meeting places for video gaming are increasing, often introduced as inclusive arenas for youth with an interest in gaming and who miss access to recreational opportunities. These meeting places can, therefore, be crucial for preventing gaming-related problems and fostering the inclusion of young individuals.

This study aims to explore how meeting places for video gaming can serve as preventive measures against gaming-related issues and help counteract social exclusion. We have used research methods such as rapid ethnography of these meeting places, including interviews with 11 young people who visit these venues, interviews with 10 organizers of these meeting places, and workshops involving relevant stakeholders from the public and voluntary sectors. We have visited six meeting places in Vestland county.

The study finds limited evidence to suggest that these meeting places directly address social exclusion and gaming-related problems. One of the challenges appears to lie in the heterogeneous landscape of a multitude of meeting places, where each actor had different goals, further challenged by a lack of dialogue and little learning across the meeting places. When discussing the challenges and opportunities of meeting places for video gaming, the report emphasizes the importance of securing long-term funding to sustain and enhance expertise in the field. The involved stakeholders collectively possess sufficient competence to create good, inclusive, and preventive meeting places for video gaming, but they require political, practical, and financial support to realize the necessary collaboration to achieve such goals.