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GameSense

Responsible gambling brand created by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation in 2009 and licensed to other jurisdictions and operators (Massachusetts Gaming Commission from 2015, MGM Resorts' US casinos from 2017-18, other Canadian provinces and US states), combining on-site GameSense advisors and info centres with advertising that gives tips on setting budgets, taking breaks and how games work.

Years
2009
Country
CanadaUnited States
Topic
Gambling
Asks people to
StartStop
Strategy
Brand symbolSimple instructionTrusted messenger
Channel
InterpersonalPoint of saleSocial (paid)Website
Audience
Adults
Casino patrons and, later, online sports bettors.

Evidence

ObservationalMixed

Pre-registered repeated cross-sectional surveys of MGM loyalty members (N=3,748 before rollout, 4,795 and 3,927 one and two years after): GameSense awareness rose in year one and then plateaued; awareness was linked to slightly more use of responsible gambling strategies, but all effect sizes were weak (Louderback 2023). Comparing implementations, awareness was 36.5% at a property with a state-regulated branded centre vs 7.4% elsewhere, with no link between awareness and gambling beliefs or behaviour (Louderback 2022). Massachusetts reported over 4.1M views of targeted digital ads in FY23 (sponsor figure).

Sponsor (who paid)

  • British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) Industry, creator and licensor (crown gambling corporation)
  • Massachusetts Gaming Commission State local government, licensee and funder (Massachusetts)
  • MGM Resorts International Industry, licensee (US casinos)

Credits (who made it)

  • MORE Advertising Digital, 2017 source
  • Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance; UNLV International Gaming Institute Research evaluation, 2018-2022 source

Sources

  1. UPDATE: MassGaming launches digital campaign to promote GameSense program (Massachusetts Gaming Commission, 3 Mar 2017) sponsor · 2017
  2. Louderback ER et al. Examining responsible gambling program awareness and engagement trends and relationships with gambling beliefs and behaviors: a three-wave study of customers from a major gambling operator. J Gambl Stud 2023 evaluation · 2023 · DOI 10.1007/s10899-022-10109-7 · PMID 35301605
  3. Louderback ER et al. A comparison of two GameSense implementation approaches: how program awareness and engagement relate to gambling beliefs and behaviors. J Gambl Stud 2022 evaluation · 2022 · DOI 10.1007/s10899-021-10013-6 · PMID 33624195
  4. GameSense FY23 Review (Massachusetts Gaming Commission) sponsor · 2023

Research notes

Drafted by Claude (Claude Code) on 2026-10-28 for #130 from the sources listed; unreviewed, including the cardSummary. Industry-sponsored in origin: BCLC is a provincial crown corporation that runs gambling, and MGM is a casino operator; the MGM evaluations were run by researchers whose institutions received operator funding (disclosed in the papers). GameSense is more a responsible gambling programme than a single campaign; recorded here because it is marketed as a brand with ad campaigns. Massachusetts' 2017 digital campaign licensed two BCLC 15-second spots ('Pick-Up', 'Sweaty Dancer'); MORE Advertising ran it (role recorded as digital). Evidence level kept at observational: the study was pre-registered but has no comparison group. The FY23 views figure is from a search snippet of the FY23 review, not opened.

Record cases/gamesense.json, updated 2026-10-28· Link to this campaign