Over the past twenty years, online gaming has evolved from a form of home-based entertainment for computer nerds into a booming mass industry.
As often happens with new technologies, some of them emerge with a heavy burden of potential societal problems. For online gaming, a major one is the so-called videogame addiction, defined as the excessive use of the Internet to play games. Players who become addicted begin prioritizing gaming over other interests and activities, which may lead to significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, and other areas of their lives.
Moreover, videogame addiction is shaping up as a serious public health issue. Many studies have shown that it leads to brain changes that are similar to those occurring for other types of addiction, such as substance addiction and gambling. There is also an association between videogame addiction and depression. It’s for this reason that the World Health Organization has classified videogaming addiction as a disorder. (For more on videogame addiction, see here and here.)
Worse, videogaming is becoming increasingly popular among children and adolescents, who, due to their psychological and social immaturity, are especially vulnerable to the often predatory practices (including “hooks”) employed by the game developers and distributors.
All that means that the vast and growing gaming sector presents new risks to society that require adequate response in the form of insurance products. This includes coverage for game developers, esports professionals, and gamers themselves, all requiring customized coverage, given the unique risks faced by each group. Of special concern is the potential negative effect of videogaming on mental health, especially among children and adolescents. Another area requiring increased attention is cybersecurity, with data breaches being a constant threat calling for robust cyber liability coverage.
A challenge the insurance industry is facing is to develop a level of expertise to be able to identify, understand, and address the liability complexities of the gaming world to allow for the underwriting and pricing of these risks. The gaming industry is rapidly evolving, with new technologies, “hooks”, business models, and innovative products emerging every single day, forcing insurers to adapt “on the run.”
Topping all these challenges, the legal landscape surrounding esports and online gaming remains uncertain with many grey areas in place. Insurers therefore need to navigate these uncertainties, too, when designing coverage.
Aon, the Sponsor of this Challenge, is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Aon’s 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.
By posting this Challenge, Aon wants to generate a comprehensive snapshot of the status of the gaming industry, insurance products used to mitigate its risks, and the shortcomings of the existing coverage. Looking into the future, we also want to understand how the industry is evolving and what can be expected by the year 2030. How should the insurance industry evolve to adjust to this changing landscape? What kind of insurance products need to be developed to adequately address the need of the gaming industry six years from now?
We’re asking for a comprehensive review of the gaming industry and its insurance coverage, today and in the year 2030. Every successful submission to this Challenge will include four parts:
Part 1. The status of the gaming industry today
Part 2. The existing insurance coverage of the gaming industry
Part 3. The projected status of the gaming industry in the year 2030
Part 4. Based on the information presented in Parts 1-3, describe What will the insurance market for the gaming industry look like in 2030
Every successful submission to this Challenge will be formatted as a 25-30-page report with a one-page Executive Summary. We expect these reports to be heavily data-driven, with the numbers and statements supported by examples, showcases, illustrations, etc. — all properly referenced.
After the Challenge submission deadline, Aon will complete the review process and make a decision with regards to the winning solution(s) according to the schedule outlined in the Challenge Timeline.
Submissions will be judged based on their completeness and the strength of the supporting information. Submissions that provide full coverage of all four Parts of the Challenge will be given special attention. However, submissions that provide exceptional input to only two or three Parts will be considered for a runner-up award.
We envision that up to four (4) awards will be given to the proposals that best meet the Challenge Requirements. The following amounts will be awarded to each winner:
We encourage the Challenge participants to use LLM algorithms for data collection and its preliminary analysis. However, we expect the participants to make sure that everything proposed by an LLM algorithm is properly vetted, verified, is placed in proper context by the participant. Submissions produced solely by generative AI will be discarded.