Not long ago, news of the arrest of the well-known Douyu anchor "Xiaotuan Tuan" surged on hot search, and the gambling issue on Douyu platform once again became the focus of public attention. However, a reporter from Yangcheng Evening News found through research that since the arrest of Douyu CEO Chen Shaojie in November last year, a large number of Douyu's top anchors have been suspended from broadcasting. Nowadays, live lottery activities have disappeared from major live broadcast rooms, but the lottery gameplay of Douyu platform seems to have left opportunities for gambling to take advantage of. Some people spend almost all their money playing lottery and are heavily in debt.
User: Selling prizes after winning only results in a loss and no profit
There are hundreds of complaints about the Douyu lottery on the Black Cat Complaint Platform. Among them, a 30-year-old IT man named Xiaojie (pseudonym) told reporters that at the end of 2020, he became obsessed with playing lottery games on the Douyu platform and invested more than 10 million yuan in the lottery. He still owes more than 2 million yuan to this day.
The lottery game mentioned by Xiaojie is actually the "interactive gameplay" of Douyu Live Platform. Recently, the reporter logged into the Douyu live streaming platform and saw that in any live streaming room, there is a game entrance below the interface, including any door, illusion exploration, magic dream house, fish ball treasure hunt and other gameplay. Recharge a certain amount of "shark fin" (Douyu universal virtual currency) to participate in the lottery, and there is a chance to receive higher value virtual gifts.
"A click of more than ten yuan or twenty yuan will give you a success rate of more than one percent. If you are lucky, you can draw a gift of several hundred yuan for more than ten yuan, and a gift of more than one thousand yuan for 20 yuan." Xiao Jie said that the game he plays most is called "Sweet Confession", and 760 yuan (later adjusted to 750 yuan) can be used for ten consecutive times. The most expensive gift is called "Angel Love", which is worth 5200 yuan (later adjusted to 5000 yuan). He has also drawn many times.
Some anchors may share some "lottery secrets" in the live broadcast room, but in Xiao Jie's opinion, there is no technique to increase the probability of winning. "Everything is a stroke of luck." The gifts drawn will be placed in a "backpack" and can be given to any live broadcast room anchor, but cannot be directly exchanged for cash on the platform. "However, there are third-party merchants who specifically recycle these types of gifts, known as backpackers in the industry.". Xiaojie mainly collaborates with two backpackers on a daily basis, one is recommended by the anchor, and the other is added through Douyu's private message. But even if he sells the prize at a discount after winning, Xiaojie still only loses and doesn't make a profit.
The reporter noticed that the "Sweet Confession" game on Douyu's live streaming platform has been taken down, and Douyu's official customer service stated that the "Sweet Confession function has entered maintenance and upgrading.". However, Xiaojie told reporters that the gameplay of "Fantasy Exploration" is similar to "Sweet Confession", "it's just a change of packaging.".
Just a few days before the reporter's interview, Xiaojie was still playing "Fantasy Exploration". "This game is addictive to play, and it won't keep you losing. I just wanted to make a profit," said Xiao Jie. Ever since he found out that the gift could be sold, he kept "selling it, selling it, and making more and more money".
Backpacker: Real time redemption of virtual gifts and cash
According to Xiao Jie, there are many identities of backpackers. Some are merchants who specialize in recycling, some are broadcasters or broadcaster assistants, and some are live streaming guilds. The highest recycling price in the first two years can reach 20% off, but in recent months it has only been around 60% off, and usually the price will be slightly higher at the end of the month. "For example, an angel's love can be exchanged for around 3000 to 4000 yuan in cash. As long as I swipe the gift to the designated live broadcast room, the backpacker will transfer the payment in real time," said Xiao Jie.
Recently, a reporter contacted a live streaming guild operator who collaborated with Douyu on the grounds of applying for a job as a broadcaster. He said, "Currently, broadcasters cannot organize lottery activities, but there are still many similar functions.". When asked about how to handle the gifts drawn, he claimed that his boss is a backpacker who specializes in this type of recycling, but "the guild no longer accepts backpacks.".
The reporter contacted a backpacker again under the pretext of "selling backpacks". He told the reporter that the current recycling price is 6.4% off, starting at 100 yuan, and his friend circle has also posted multiple copies of "backpack price increase, recycling backpacks"; When searching for content related to "Douyu backpack recycling" on the Xianyu App, there are over 70 links displaying "high priced Douyu backpack recycling", with recycling prices all being 60-70% off the market price.
A Douyu anchor named Xiaomei (pseudonym) who had previously signed a contract with a live streaming guild said, "What our anchors and guilds want is traffic, while users pursue small and generous lottery draws. Backpackers then collect gifts from users at low prices and brush them in our live streaming room. This is already a complete industry chain."
According to Xiaomei, in order to increase the popularity of the live broadcast room, she has also collected gifts at low prices in QQ groups. In her opinion, this kind of gameplay is impossible for users to earn.
Lawyer: The key to whether you are involved in gambling is here
Recently, Xiaojie presented his bank statement to reporters, including a China Merchants Bank savings card that had been recharged on Douyu platform for a total amount of 6.99 million yuan from September 2020 to April 2024. In addition, there are loans for ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China savings cards, and credit cards. "Roughly estimated, I have recharged at least 10 million in recent years, with some of the money from gift sales being used up again. Currently, I have run out of money and owe over 2 million yuan in loans."
In fact, Xiaojie's experience is not an exception. He told reporters that many netizens have suffered more losses than him, even losing everything. Previously, there were also media reports that a man lost 1.2 million yuan in 28 days playing the Douyu lottery game and spent 600000 yuan on a loan overnight.
The reporter noticed on Douyu platform that there is a legal statement at the bottom of the gameplay instructions for various interactive games, which shows that all rewards obtained from the activity (whether physical or virtual) cannot be exchanged for cash, shark fins, or other valuable items on Douyu platform; Douyu platform prohibits and severely crack down on any form of private transactions.
Regarding this, Xiaojie told reporters that it is a well-known public secret that virtual gifts on Douyu platform can be exchanged for cash through backpackers, and "the platform has never banned it.".
Lawyer Liu Xinyuan from Shanghai Qinbing (Beijing) Law Firm stated in an interview with Yangcheng Evening News that the "Notice on Regulating the Order of Online Game Operation and Prohibiting the Use of Online Game Gambling" clearly stipulates that game platforms shall not provide services such as game point trading, exchange, or disguised exchange of cash and property through "virtual currency", nor shall they provide game point transfer services such as gifts and transfers between users. Strict management shall be implemented to prevent the provision of convenient conditions for online gambling activities. In his view, there is generally no gambling behavior in the game itself, and the key to gambling lies in whether the live streaming platform will reverse exchange virtual currency and legal tender.
The investigation found that backpackers are a crucial part of lottery, gift brushing, and monetization. So, how does Douyu regulate backpackers? According to Xiaojie, Douyu platform has many "super administrators", who have the power to supervise and seal the live broadcast rooms. But Xiaojie said, "Super management only focuses on the large scale of the live broadcast room and completely disregards lottery and gift brushing. Sometimes they even brush gifts for the anchor themselves."
The reporter found through research that the Douyu super tube is mainly divided into two categories. One type is responsible for content review. Through the backend, they can promptly identify problems in the live broadcast room and issue warnings, bans, and other measures. Another type is the operational super manager, who can communicate with the host in the live broadcast room and even brush gifts. This type of super management often requires negotiations with the anchor, such as planning the next collective activity, which is somewhat similar to the overall commander.
Regarding issues such as whether Douyu regulates backpackers and tacitly approves private transactions, reporters have called Douyu but have not received a response as of the time of publication.
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