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The Gambling Commission has released its assessment of the changes enforced against online slot games and their results so far.
The report found some evidence that, since the changes were introduced into online slot games, there was a reduced level of play intensity during sessions.
Also, the Commission confirmed that despite spin speeds decreasing, there was no significant increase in staking activity to offset this by customers.
Finally, according to a survey of 2,000 adults, there was no evidence that these changes resulted in significant negative impact on the players’ enjoyment.
This announcement comes only a few hours after the Gambling Commission published a report that longer slot sessions had increased by 10%.
Following this implementation, Tim Miller, Director for Policy and Research, said: “Our assessment of the changes to online slots games has shown indications of reduced play intensity with no significant negative impacts on play or behaviours.
“That’s positive, but we aren’t complacent and will continue to monitor this specific part of the sector for both any unintended circumstances, or non-compliance.”
The package of strict measures was announced on 2 February 2021, with a total of six changes and bans that would be enforced on 31 October 2021.
These included bans on features that speed up play or give the illusion of controlling the outcome, slot spins faster than 2.5 seconds, autoplay features and any illusion of a win when the return is lower than the original stake.
Additional changes include a tally of wins and losses displayed in the user interface and a permanent ban on reverse withdrawals, where gamblers could previously use the money they had requested to withdraw to gamble with.
