What are the New Rules for Online Slots?

Posted by Harry Kane on Thursday, March 18, 2021

It has been known for a while now that the UK government is keen on imposing new legislation on the iGaming marketplace, in a bid to overhaul licensing requirements and negate the worst excesses of the industry.

This is currently being driven by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for gambling-related harm, which has forwarded a number of proposals including a full licensing review of all existing operators and a £2 slots betting cap (similar to the FOBT cap rolled out in 2019).

It has yet to be seen whether such radical measures are rolled out, of course, but there’s no doubt that less seismic changes are already being imposed on virtual slots. We’ve outlined these below, while asking what they’re likely to mean for the slot gaming niche as a whole.

What Do the Regulators Have in Store for Online Slots?

One of the first enforced changes will see basic slot gameplay slowed down considerably, with the principle aim of ensuring that players are better placed to make informed decisions when managing their bankrolls in real-time.

More specifically, operators and developers will be required to create a gap of at least 2.5 seconds in-between spins, while removing ‘auto-play’ options that allow players to set their chosen game to spin automatically multiple times.

Some games currently allow players to automate hundreds of spins through this feature, so while this measure may seem relatively minor, it’s likely to have a significant impact on the fast-paced slots vertical.

The decision to introduce a 2.5-second gap in-between spins is also telling, particularly as casino platforms currently encourage fast gameplay and prompt players to deploy the auto-play feature if they’re a little trigger happy with the ‘spin’ button.

This will definitely become a thing of the past as the new rules are rolled out, causing players to spend less during their gambling sessions and potentially negate the development of problem behaviour over time.

In another move, online slots will be prohibited from utilising features that can disorientate players and cause them to lose track of how much they’re spending.

In practical terms, this means the removal of positive sounds, noises or upbeat music in instances where players have lost money, which usually happens under the guise of an exciting, high-stakes wager or the popular ‘gamble’ feature.

This is part of a well-known phenomenon in the iGaming market and slots niche, which is commonly referred to as “losses disguised as wins”.

In this instance, upbeat audio or music subliminally tricks players into thinking that they’ve enjoyed a positive outcome or experience as a result of their wager, when in fact they’ve actually lost money. This has always been a concern amongst regulators, of course, primarily because it can overwhelm compulsive gamblers and entice them to wager more than they can afford over time.

On a final note, companies will also be asked to abolish features that afford players the illusion of control, largely because all slot outcomes are determined by random number generator (RNG) software.

This includes entities such as the popular ‘skill feature’, which is widely considered to be misleading and arguably misrepresents slots which are fundamentally games of chance.

What Will This Mean for the Marketplace?

These measures have been proposed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), while they’ll be rolled out officially on October 31st of this year.

While they’ll undoubtedly curb the £2.2 billion a year revenue that’s generated by online slots, however, many have argued that these relatively minor rule changes have been introduced to ward off the more radical legislation proposed by the APPG group.

Regardless, there’s no doubt that the new rules will introduce more effective safeguards for problem gamblers, while reducing the risk of long-term harm to those who have yet to recognise any issues caused by their behaviour.

This motivation is also evident in a host of other measures being rolled out by the UKGC, with operators no longer able to offer reverse withdrawals to players. Historically, this feature allowed players to change their mind and cancel withdrawals that they’d previously requested, potentially fuelling problem behaviour and compromising the judgement of compulsive gamblers.

Operators will also be required to display each player total losses or wins in real-time, while also highlighting the total time played during all online slots session as a way of driving more effective activity management.

With these points in mind, it’s clear that the UKGC is focused on protecting vulnerable players from gambling-related harm, as it continues to realise its core strategic objectives through 2021. It’s also easy to understand why slots have been targeted by legislators and regulators alike, as this now accounts for more than two-thirds of the online GGY and continues to grow at a faster rate than any other casino vertical.

Similarly, players also spend more on slots each month than any other vertical. More specifically, the average monthly spend for each slots player is £67, compared with £45 for real event betting and just £36 for alternative casino products like table games.

These figures make for stark reading, with the total slots spend considerably higher than any other vertical and therefore more likely to entice problem gamblers who have minimal control over their behaviour or activity.

The question that remains, of course, is how will these measures impact on operators? Well, the industry’s response has been muted so far, although we should note that the new curbs failed to have an adverse impact on gambling stocks and shares in the UK.

Over time, however, the measures could well result in a reduced slots turnover for operators, as players will be actively encouraged to spend less and will have considerably more visibility over their activity levels in real-time.

This may not impact profitability directly, however, as the total value of pay-outs should also fall in line with reduced spending and enable operators to maintain similar margins for the time being.

Overall, it’s thought that operators will have welcomed the rule changes, with a growing number increasingly committed to the principles of responsible gambling and keen on expanding the Betting and Gaming Council’s (BGC’s) code of conduct that was first rolled out in September 2020.

Of course, this attitude may change in the APPG is successful is driving more radical industry reforms, with the potential for a £2 slots betting cap particularly seismic from the perspective of operators.

Make no mistake; this would trigger a significant sea change in the UK iGaming market, but for now the most recent rules changes are unlikely to send operators running for cover.