HERMES

Not so long ago, gambling was almost exclusive to casinos, a few bars or basements for a friendly round of poker. Through the emergence of an online world and new forms of technology, the nature of gambling has transformed over time and its availability has infinitely increased. The merging of respective principles of video games and gambling has yielded a new generation of hybrid games – “gamified gambling” or “gamblified video games” – distributed online and blurring the lines between what constitutes gaming versus gambling.

The HERMES research team proposes a program that aims to examine emerging hybrid forms of gambling and their impact on the everyday lives of individuals and communities. Since 2012, our team has brought together university researchers and clinicians specialized in the field of addiction studies, with the aim of developing scientific projects while integrating the specific needs of clinical settings.

Through its research activities, the HERMES team seeks to:

• Generate a body of scientific knowledge on the reality of digital gambling that is useful to both researchers and clinicians.
• Describe and explain the nature, structure, and function of online gambling, including traditional forms of gambling, video games, and hybrid games.
• Analyze the changing social, economic, and regulatory contexts in which these games emerge.
• Develop prevention and treatment tools and intervention strategies for and with clinicians.

This axis aims to analyse the structures of games, particularly the mechanisms of hybridisation in digital gambling through the dynamic and interactive processes of gamblification and gamification that characterise them. It will also examine gamblers' experiences, their gambling trajectories, and the transitions between game types. Finally, this axis aims to better understand gaming as a temporal space, and of socialisation and self-expression.

This axis aims to analyze the social, economic, and regulatory environment in which digital gambling takes place. Current projects explore the issue of the commodification of digital gambling, including the study of regulation, promotion, and advertising.

This axis aims to support clinical environments through a co-construction approach with its partners and collaborators to develop cutting-edge, evidence-based prevention and intervention practices.