Gambling Commission launches online slots consultation

The Gambling Commission (UKGC) has launched a month-long consultation into changes to online slots regulation, including removing the ability for licensed operators to reverse player withdrawal requests.

The consultation proposes several changes aimed at reducing gambling-related harm caused by online slots games via amendments to the remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS) currently in force.

Several controls on slots-based games had previously been proposed by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) in a draft code of conduct for slots design earlier this year. However, the UKGC claimed the BGC’s proposed changes are not sufficient by themselves to address the issue.

Among the changes proposed by the UKGC is a tighter definition of slots within the RTS to include “casino games of a reel-based type (includes games that have non-traditional reels)”.

Under this revised definition, all licensees will be responsible for informing the testing house whether the game is a slots title when submitted for testing. In addition, any attempts to design, or redesign, slot products to circumvent the definition may be considered a breach of RTS.

“This new definition is designed to capture all games that are offered to customers as slots, or that operators would recognise as slots. It is intentionally high-level to minimise the risk of games being redesigned to circumvent controls,” the UKGC said.

The RTS amendments would prohibit players from being offered the chance to cancel withdrawal requests made, with operators required to make the withdrawal process “as frictionless as possible”.

All gaming sessions would be required to display the net position, including the currency of the player’s account and time spent since the game session started in seconds, minutes and hours.

Additional amendments to existing RTS standards include the prevention of multiple slots games being played by a single account at the same time, with players being informed that only one game will be available.

The UKGC has called for a requirement of a minimum 2.5 seconds from the time a game is started until a player can commence the next game, with all further games being initiated by the player. All auto-play functions on slots games would be prohibited under the proposed changes.

In-game features including turbo, quick spin and slam stop would similarly be prohibited.

Finally, the consultation asks for views on whether slots games should be barred from ‘celebrating’ a return which is less than or equal to the total amount staked, through audio or visual effects or by referring to the return as a ‘win’.

The consultation closes on 3 September.