Things I Learned About Abuse From an Online Gaming Company

In late 2021, an online casino company called Playtika bought a successful design game named Redecor. The new business didn’t care much about its players. It cared about profits, so it immediately began adapting the game to trigger maximum addiction and maximum buys. It captured my curiosity, so I’ve watched it closely ever since. I’ve noticed a few parallels with abusive relationships.

Playtika wanted to earn more for less, so its first step was to reduce players’ winnings drastically. Doing so in one fell swoop would have caused a massive exodus of users, though, so it brought the winning amounts down one minuscule number at a time over a period of two years. You all know about boiling frog syndrome, but the sheer effectiveness of their slow decline surprised me.

While Playtika was reducing winnings, it was increasing the frequency of wins so that users were playing three or four times a day instead of one. Thirsty gamers would log on, have a terrible time with the meagre rewards they were getting, and then return a few hours later as though they might get better rewards this time. They thought about Redecor all the time.

In short, Playtika gave players a sense of scarcity. It stopped them from thriving but made them believe thriving was possible. Abusers do that, too. They become your perfect Romeo or Juliet. They give you the romance of a lifetime, built entirely out of illusions. By the time they start limiting your rewards, you’re hooked. Love becomes scarce, but you swear it’s possible to thrive. You had his adoration once, after all.

But you can’t thrive. The very idea of it is a lie.

Two years after Playtika’s acquisition, groups of resentful players are still plugging away at the game. They still complain bitterly on social media every day. Somehow, though, they just keep chasing the illusion of thriving. As in an abusive relationship, the players know the game’s rigged. They say it all the time, but in their hearts, they believe thriving is possible if they just find the right way to play.

Have you ever tried to find the "right" way to earn someone’s respect? I have. It has a way of making you ruminate. Sometimes you almost get it right, but one day you’ll be perfect like you were in the love bombing phase, you swear it. You believed so powerfully in the origin myth that you keep trying to repeat it, no matter how futile you know your efforts are.

In 2023 Playtika did a panel on game strategy at a summit. They told the industry how much they valued their users. Your abuser will do the same because the next time he manipulates you, your friends and family will tell you how very much he values you. You can rope pretty much anyone into your abuse strategy, you know.

And if you’re the abused party (or the gamer) you'll pay more… and more… and more for the experience. You'll forget that you’re not really getting the fun you’re paying for. You’re only getting a promise that you will get that experience one day. Playtika has six or seven popup offers every time you open the game, so you’re always reminded of the things you might have if you could only give them what they want in exchange.

Sometimes users can afford to give what they want, so they buy, only to find their rewards last a few minutes at best, and that’s what you get with abusers, too. Still, you can get this right, I swear it. You can thrive in this relationship as long as you just keep spending, keep playing, keep thumping away at this futile, futile chase.