Towards the start of the year, it was announced the there would be a number of incoming changes to UK based casino operators in an effort to make some of the games on offer more fair, but to also change the way some games would be played with slots being the primary focus – the deadline for these changes is imminent too with the cut-off being October 31st, where most operators would have already implemented change, others will have to do so before the end of the weekend – but what are the changes to be kept in mind?
Slots will slow down, and have auto-play features removed or reduced – In an effort to provide more transparency with the amount of time played and the outcome of this time played, efforts have been made to ensure that players can’t lose track of how much they may be gambling with key features being changed – one of the big ones is the removal of auto-play features which will now be banned on UK slots, and this will also include options like turbo spins that give an illusion of control over the outcome. Slots will also look to slow down as those that spin faster than 2.5 seconds will be changed too and will all look to contribute towards more balanced play options.
Design changes will need to be made too – Not only will some of these features be removed, but design overhauls will be required too as one of the changes means that these titles will no longer be able to display an image or play a sound that gives the illusion of a win – if the stake is equal to or below the winnings, no imagery or sound will be allowed to be played, and only the cases where a win is greater than the stake can this happen.
Changes to reporting and withdrawals to be made too – Along with the changes to make the games more fair for players, casinos will also now have to offer the ability for players to track play time, wins and losses, and other statistics during a session too – whilst this is only aimed at slots for now, this will likely expand to other games too. Withdrawals will change too with the removal of reverse withdrawals – previously, players could stop the process of withdrawing winnings to re-gamble them, but this practice will now be banned.
The changes are currently only aimed at the UK market, and more specifically towards slots, but it may not be surprising if these changes expand outwards to different games and different regions too, if a favorite service has yet to implement this change, expect to see it within the coming days in order to meet the deadline.