The UK Gambling Commission is hoping to reduce the speed and intensity of slots and other online casino games with game design changes set to be implemented by January 2025.
Coinciding with a sea of significant regulatory changes such as the introduction of affordability checks, certain changes to game design are set to impact suppliers and platforms operating in the UK market.
With the intention of ‘boosting safety and choice for consumers’, the new measures follow a myriad of white paper consultations and will be implemented at four stages: August 2024, November 2024, January 2025 and February 2025.
Within the game design overhaul, which will be introduced next January, the UKGC underlines it is seeking to make online casino gaming “fairer” while “increasing consumer understanding”.
The extension of rules will reduce the speed and intensity of slots and other games, ending operator-led functionalities which facilitate playing multiple simultaneous products at once, such as roulette and blackjack tables. Slam stops will also be curtailed as a result of the guidelines.
Rules that currently apply to online slots will also be applied to other games, eradicating audio or visual celebrations of returns less than or equal to the player’s stake. These additional changes will come into force on 17 January 2025.
Andrew Rhodes, UKGC CEO, commented: “As a gambling regulator it’s vital that the introduction of new rules is based on evidence and takes into account the views of consumers and other interested parties.
“We have listened to the views expressed in our engagement and in the consultation responses, and we have made changes while still ensuring that we deliver meaningful protections.”
The UKGC has also laid out plans to introduce ‘light touch’ affordability checks that will be triggered after a spend of £500 a month once the measures are introduced on August 30, 2024, before reducing to £150 a month from 28 February 2025.
Additionally, the Commission will carry out a pilot to test the details of frictionless assessments in practice off the back of consultation feedback, working with credit reference agencies and gambling businesses to examine consumer impact.
The initial pilot period for these new measures will involve the biggest operators, in order to enable the UKGC to gain the deepest possible understanding over their impact.
Rhodes added: “We are also pleased to be taking forward a pilot of financial risk assessments and data collection, which together will ensure that we can make informed decisions about how these assessments can be implemented in a way that supports both consumer freedom and protections.
“We have to get the balance right between protecting people from the potentially life-ruining effects of gambling-related harm and respecting the freedom of adults to engage in an activity that the vast majority do so without experiencing harm.”
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