To bring awareness to a problem that was killing the people of India, Quint Digital Limited decided the best way to tell this story was to let victims tell it in their own words. For its video report about online gaming addiction, The Quint let a man tell his story of becoming so addicted to an online fantasy cricket gaming app that he squandered all his family’s money. 

“I Got Addicted to an Online Fantasy App and It Ruined My Life” explained that when his family’s money was gone, he began taking out loans to feed his addiction. It got so out of hand that Vishnu, whose name was changed to conceal his identity, even contemplated suicide. 

“I thought I could earn good money because I had good knowledge of cricket,” Vishnu said. “I had followed the sport for a long time.”

Insight to addiction

Telling Vishnu’s story gave The Quint a powerful and personal place to start; it immediately reeled in the viewers by appealing to their emotions. 

“There were fights at home, and I went into depression for some time,” Vishnu said. “I kept overthinking about matches. It became my obsession. All day I used to calculate percentages of players, even while in office.”

Not only did The Quint hope this approach would bring awareness to viewers so they could understand just how addicting the online gaming apps are, but they also used the video report as a way to urge the developers of these games to rethink their aggressive advertising strategies like using top celebrities to endorse the apps.

The report also strategically used an interview with an expert who treats patients with online gaming addiction. Dr. Lakshmi Vijayakumar is a psychiatrist and a member of a committee that recommended a ban on real-money online games in Tamil Nadu. She said the 24/7 online nature of the games offers absolutely no protection from a player losing a lot of money. They get so sucked in, they often don’t see a way out.

“In Tamil Nadu, in the last two years, more than 40 people have died by suicide because of playing online rummy,” Dr. Vjayakumar said. “And many of them have left notes saying ‘I have played, I have lost so much and I can’t face society.’”

The Quint pulled no punches in telling just how far Vishnu went with this addiction; he tells the audience he has put more than one crore rupees into the app – equivalent to more than 100,000 Euro. He’s recovered somewhere between 40% to 60% of the money through winnings, which means he has lost 40 to 50 lakh rupees, or about 55,000 Euros. Vishnu’s entire salary and all the profits from his wife’s business go into repaying loans. He’s also taken on several part-time jobs.

“I repaid the loans of one bank after another,” Vishnu said. “At one point, I thought of dying by suicide to get rid of everything. But then I thought suicide is not a solution.”

Desperate but not alone

Vishnu’s story is all too familiar to people like Dr. Vjayakumar.

“See, ours is still a developing country,” she said. “There are more people in the lower rungs of the ladder who want to make quick money and they get tempted, they get lured.” 

In the report, Dr. Vjayakumar urges people to view online gaming as a public health issue. The addiction is treated by looking into whether there are underlying psychological problems like anxiety and depression and treating those issues. She also recommends that patients swap their smartphones with cell phones with no Internet access to remove the temptation. She counsels families and encourages endorphin boosts through daily physical activity.

The Quint’s video report garnered 26,000 views on Instagram and an additional 4,000 through Facebook and YouTube. More than 1,000 people read this story on its Web site.

The Quint reported that addiction to online fantasy sports apps and real-money games remains largely undocumented in India despite the country being the fastest-growing fantasy sports market in the world. This video was meant as a start in changing that.

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