New gaming machine rules set to be introduced

New standards to make gaming machines fairer and safer for consumers are to be introduced.

Changes include:

• new category B gaming machines must provide consumers with improved access to gambling management tools and sessional information detailing how long they have been playing for and how much they have won or lost
• sessional information will be available to licensees to support them in meeting regulatory obligations such as interacting with consumers who are displaying signs of gambling harm
• improvements in responsible game design by ensuring awards below the stake size are not celebrated and prohibiting features that permit a customer to reduce the time until a result is known.

The new changes follow a consultation to implement proposals from the 2023 Gambling Act Review White Paper High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age.

During the consultation process the Commission considered the evidence provided and made changes to the original proposals to take account of practical and technical considerations and reduce the risk of unintended consequences.

Existing gaming machines will be exempt from the new requirements due to the complex technical changes and costs to business that would not necessarily deliver proportionate consumer benefits. In addition, steps have been taken to reduce the risk of consumer and staff ‘alert fatigue’ and to protect consumer privacy.

There will be a staged implementation with the bulk of the changes coming into effect in June 2027.

Helen Rhodes, Director of Major Policy Projects and Evaluation, said:

“These measures will help both to empower consumers to understand and manage their gambling and ensure operators play their part.

“Consultation feedback from a range of stakeholders helped to inform our thinking and where there was legitimate and evidenced concern, we made changes. We are confident that the consultation has led to a package of changes where the benefits to consumers are proportionate to the costs of implementation and that the staged timeline for implementation is reasonable and achievable.”