GTA Online's New Casino Lets Players Spend Real Money On Virtual Gambling [Updated]

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Update: It turns out that earlier reports that you could use in-game currency "shark cards" to purchase chips is not actually the case. You can only use cash earned via gameplay. That's definitely better.

There's been an ongoing debate about gambling in video games for the past few years, ever since loot boxes became widespread not just in mobile games, but in console and PC titles like Overwatch, Call of Duty and FIFA.

Now, Rockstar Games have added the Diamond Casino & Resort to GTA Online. It's a pretty cool-sounding new location, replete with a rooftop infinity pool, lots of new missions and a virtual casino where you can spend in-game chips on slot machines, Roulette, Black Jack or Three Hand Poker.

This is where things get . . . dicey. You can spend real money in GTA Online to purchase the game's in-game currency, which you can then spend on cosmetics, vehicles and so forth. You can also now spend this currency on the Casino's chips, which are essentially a second in-game currency that can be used for various Casino-related activities and cosmetics, and to purchase chips with.

So you can spend real money to buy in-game chips and then gamble them away. In the process, you can win chips and spend those chips on more gambling or more in-game content. What you can't do is take those chips and cash them in for real money.

That's probably a good thing—after all, if you could gamble real money for virtual chips and then cash that out for real money it would quite literally be gambling. There's no doubt that this would be a more addictive, potentially life-ruining experience for many players.

But even having the option to gamble real money in a virtual in-game casino, even when it never results in actually earning real winnings, poses its own ethical issues. Yes, the game is 18+, but I'm not sure that makes it any better. Honestly, a game with only virtual chips (that you can only earn via gameplay and can't purchase with real money) would still be something of a "gateway drug" for addicts or potential addicts. Allowing players to purchase chips is worse. While it might not be as bad as real gambling, it still strikes me as a bad idea with potentially bad consequences.

I don't believe that games like GTA cause real-world violence or transform players into misogynists. I don't think the act of shooting virtual guns at enemies made up of pixels and animations leads people to cause harm in the real world or that taking virtual drugs in a game leads to real drug abuse. These are all essentially fake experiences that don't mirror real-world ones in any meaningful way (a controller is not like a gun; an in-game "high" is not like doing drugs, etc.).

However, the same rules don't apply to other behaviors. Gambling online is already very much a reality and can lead to all the same problems people face gambling in brick-and-mortar casinos. Introducing more young people to gambling with real money can only cause more problems. The act of betting and winning is the same in a game as it is in real life.

Creating a virtual casino like this for GTA Online Rockstar's right, of course. Nothing about it is illegal. But it's still troubling in the same way loot boxes are troubling. Neither virtual slot machines or loot boxes are exactly the same thing as gambling, but they absolutely tap into the same parts of the brain that gambling taps into. Betting on random odds to win random stuff, whether that's virtual chips or new cosmetics, is still betting.

It's not really a black-and-white issue, of course. and I can see arguments on both sides of this that make sense. Even real gambling isn't a clear cut issue, which is why even in the US different states have wildly different gambling laws.

After all, people should be allowed to spend their money however they like so long as it isn't causing harm to others. On the other hand, gambling can lead to all sorts of problems, ruining lives and families as the casino gets richer. The house always wins, after all.

Let me know your thoughts on or .