Industry News

Developing slots with player safety in mind

Published

3 years ago

October 18, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Light & Wonder’s VP Game Development Rob Procter describes how the slot development process is influenced by progress in safer gambling policy and best practice

Keeping players safe is of paramount importance for every stakeholder in the gaming business.

It is a factor that is at the forefront of regulatory and advertising codes in markets around the world, with European Safer Gambling Week serving to bring the issues at play under an especially sharp focus. At Light & Wonder, it is our firm belief that the creation of safe, sustainable playing environments is a necessity if our industry is to continue to flourish worldwide.

We see online gaming as a firm part of the overall entertainment ecosystem. Within this environment, players must be made to feel comfortable enough to play responsibly, having enjoyed an experience that they feel has given them value for their money.

Player safety is about far more than simply being compliant and doing the bare minimum to stick to a set of regulations. It is our belief at Light & Wonder that player safety should be hard-wired into our overall entire content strategy. Within our creative teams, we are always cognisant of the new features and mechanics that we are putting into games and the ways in which they will interact with the player to enhance entertainment levels while also keeping them safe from potential harms.

Landscape

In recent years, the landscape has changed markedly in terms of widespread awareness of the need to protect players. If you look at the example of the UK, buying directly into a bonus feature was prohibited by the Gambling Commission of Great Britain a few years ago, which necessitated a change in approach for game suppliers. We have been focusing strongly on providing compelling experiences within slots to all levels of players across all regulated markets, without them having to stake to high levels, or play for longer in order to access certain features. We don’t want players to feel that a certain level of investment in a slot is a necessity and that numerous spins must be undertaken before a certain level of potential is reached within a game. It is about approaching game design with an ethical, fair mindset, and this comes to the fore when deciding on the distribution of RTP and the way a slot’s mechanics interact with the base game.

Our desire is that we provide players at all stake levels with a positive experience and to show that any top-ranking bonus is attainable by any type of player. Attractive features can no longer only be on offer to the player who is prepared to spend more time and money on their stake – on any given game.

Across all channels

Restrictions in land-based gaming are different in nature compared to the online world, while also varying across different markets. Throughout the process of designing an omni-channel game, we ensure that our content behaves in the same way as our native digital titles with regard to enhancing the game experience, without putting the player in harm’s way.

At Light & Wonder, my colleagues in the land-based creative teams have the same perception of safer gambling as we do in iGaming. We are able to take mutually beneficial learnings as business units, looking at how the land-based teams have incorporated RTP splits and features and mechanics changes, and utilizing those within the online sphere.

Pitfalls

Naturally, operators have a strong imperative to uphold their social responsibility commitments, and to remain as compliant as possible to the regulators. As we see it, though, suppliers certainly have their own part to play in providing operators with content that has player safety already built-in, through entertaining features that can be accessed at all staking levels. Furthermore, we make sure we’re always present in industry working groups, pushing forward the development of best practice in responsible game design – this work is incredibly important to us, and something we’d encourage broader engagement with from others.

In most mature markets, regulation appears to have one direction of travel, towards greater restrictions. Yet in creating new solutions that can cater for evolving guidelines, there lies an opportunity for clever content creators to produce games with original and compelling math models and mechanics. Players can play safely and be entertained but it is up to all stakeholders in our industry to ensure to play their part to ensure that this is the case.

AGCCS

AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service Returns Over $2.8M to Players in Q3 2025

Published

1 day ago

November 3, 2025

Niji Narayan

askgamblers-casino-complaint-service-returns-over-$2.8m-to-players-in-q3-2025

Reading Time: < 1 minute

AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service (AGCCS) has a successful Q3 in 2025, helping players recover over $2.8 million and exceeding last year’s numbers.

The Q3 2025 numbers are out, showcasing the results achieved by the AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service. The report highlights the most important accomplishments between 1 July and 30 September.

In the previous quarter, the AGCCS team helped 2807 users get their funds from online casinos and sportsbooks, returning $2,813,351 in total. The team received exactly 3881 complaints that affected 960 operators and affiliates.

Things aren’t always running smoothly. Even if a complaint gets rejected, the users walk out satisfied with the service they’ve received. One of AskGamblers’ players ended up receiving the money from the casino, even though their complaint was rejected initially:

“I just wanted to let you know that the funds have been successfully returned to my account. Thank you a thousand times – I’m certain that without your help, this wouldn’t have been resolved so quickly.”

The AGCCS is actively working on sports betting complaints, too, returning $53,633 in Q3 to bettors all over the world. During this period, they’ve managed to break a record in the number of resolved complaints (1013).

Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, said: “Props to our AGCCS for doing an awesome job, staying at the forefront and being there for players. It’s a joy to see our users happy, wishing to send tips and buy us lunch. Even though we have to reject that (unfortunately), this just shows the commitment of our team to our players, which will continue in the future.”

The post AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service Returns Over $2.8M to Players in Q3 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Google

YouTube’s strengthened approach to online gambling and graphic violence in gaming

Published

4 days ago

October 31, 2025

Niji Narayan

youtube’s-strengthened-approach-to-online-gambling-and-graphic-violence-in-gaming

Reading Time: 2 minutes

YouTube has announced that it will strengthen enforcement of its community guidelines on violent gaming and online gambling content, starting on 17 November.

“Starting on November 17th, 2025, we’ll be strengthening enforcement of our Community Guidelines around online gambling and graphic violence in gaming.

“Our policies are designed to evolve alongside the digital world. We’re making these updates to keep pace with new trends, like gambling with digital goods, and to more closely align our guidelines for mature content with industry standards.

Here’s a Summary of What’s Changing:

Online Gambling Content

“Our current policy prohibits content that directs viewers to online gambling sites or applications that are not certified by Google. We’re expanding our enforcement to now cover online gambling with additional items that have monetary value, including digital goods (e.g. video game skins, cosmetics and NFTs).”

Social Casino Content

“We’re updating our approach to casino-style games where nothing of real-world monetary value is wagered or cashed out. Content that depicts, promotes, or facilitates social casino sites will now be age-restricted.”

Graphic Gaming Content

“In addition to our existing guidelines around graphic gaming content, we will age-restrict an additional small subset of video game content featuring realistic human characters that focuses on scenes of torture or scenes of mass violence against non-combatants. We’ll consider several factors when reviewing this type of content such as:

• Duration – If the graphic scene is sustained (rather than fleeting). For compilation videos, we’ll now consider the cumulative duration of all of the graphic clips combined.

• Prominence – If the violent imagery is zoomed-in or the main focus of the scene

• Realistic human characters – If the violence is happening to a character that looks like a real human.”

“We expect most channels will experience little to no impact but we know this is a lot of information, and we want to ensure you have time to adapt.

Existing videos. Content uploaded before November 17, 2025, that violates these guidelines may be removed or age-restricted, but will not result in a strike. Remember, age-restricted videos can stay on your channel for 18+ audiences.”

“Making edits: For creators who have content that’s in-scope of these updates, you may be able to edit your video description or use our video editor trim or blur tools to make any necessary changes before November 17, 2025.

Notifications: If we age-restrict or remove your content, we’ll notify you by email. If you disagree with the decision, you can always choose to appeal.”

The post YouTube’s strengthened approach to online gambling and graphic violence in gaming appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Eamonn O’Loughlin

Superbet Appoints Sacha Dragic as Sole CEO

Published

4 days ago

October 31, 2025

Niji Narayan

superbet-appoints-sacha-dragic-as-sole-ceo

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Starting January 1, 2026, Sacha Dragic will become sole CEO of Superbet, while Jimmy Maymann will return to the Board of Directors. As part of the new leadership structure and also effective as of January 1, 2026, Albert S., current Group COO, will take on the role of Deputy CEO, aligning strategy and driving execution across the organisation.

At the same time, Eamonn O’Loughlin, current CCO International, will take on the role of Chief Operating Officer, expanding his responsibilities to lead customer Operations and Partnerships across the Group, while retaining commercial leadership for markets outside CEE.

Sacha Dragic, Founder and incoming CEO of Superbet Group, said: “I want to recognize Jimmy Maymann, whose leadership and partnership have shaped much of our progress to date. Over the past couple of years, we have achieved remarkable results, advancing our product and technology capabilities, strengthening our position in key markets, and building a culture of financial discipline and accountability. This planned evolution of our leadership team marks a natural step in our growth journey. It reflects the maturity of our organization and our ambition to push forward, positioning Superbet for the next phase of sustainable global expansion.”

Jimmy Maymann, incoming Member of the Board, Superbet Group, said: “When Sacha first asked me to join the Board three years ago, our ambition was made clear: to transform Superbet into a global challenger built on world-class product and technology platform. It was necessary to accelerate that change from within, and I took the lead on that chapter of transformation.

“Together, we have achieved a lot: launching Brazil, growing our actives, revenue and EBITDA while strengthening our product and tech stack, and now, with the migration of Romania to our own platform, we are nearing completion of our first phase of transformation. As we prepare for the next phase, simplifying how we operate will help us move even faster, with a single-threaded leader, our founder, Sacha Dragic.

“It’s been a privilege to work with Sacha and the whole Superbet team and I’ll continue to do so as an advisor and as part of the Group’s Board. This is a great company with a huge potential ahead and I’ll stay engaged and help see it materialize.”

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