The winners of Global Gambling Awards 2018 were announced with SG Gaming coming out as the winner in the Land-Based Industry Supplier category. Aristocrat received the Slot of the Year. The IGAs named Yggdrasil the Innovator of the Year, marking its wide success.
Early in June, Rhode Island legalized sports betting, letting a huge stream of money into the budget. The government will take the lion’s share of the gambling profits, a whopping 51%. While such a high tax leaves some black operators with motivation to try and continue their operation illegally, the legalization itself is a positive step. It will start a dialogue that may lead to lowering of the tax.
The Gambling Commission announced its concerns with the number of children in the UK that are considered uncontrolled gamblers. The number reached 25,000 in the most moderate of estimates. In November, this resulted in gambling regulators coming together to ban loot boxes.
Loot boxes are a way of gambling where you can buy a mystery box, typically with game items. After purchase, you open it up to receive a random item that can be very valuable or practically useless. The research says this type of gambling affects children the most, this is why it was banned in Belgium. It is possible that the ban will spread across all EU countries, putting thousands of people out of business.
The Gambling Commission also showed its authority in fining three companies for failing to comply with its anti-money laundering procedures. Daub Alderney, Casumo, and Videoslots are to pay 14 million pounds in total. This shows that the Commission monitors shady activity and is fast with taking actions against it.
In November, South Africa passed a new gambling regulation bill. Land-based casinos and sports betting are legal in SA, but online casinos are banned from operating on its soil. This new bill means a significant cutdown in the number of licenses and an increase in the number of regulations that land-based casinos will face in the future. Additionally, the control of the gambling industry is passed to a new legal entity. Local authorities will lose the stream of money they were receiving from limited-payout machines and small bookmaker licenses that they were responsible for providing. This power is now centralized in the main regulatory agency.
Online casino operators are going to have it much harder than before too. If previously the South African government was rather lenient towards this type of illegal gambling, there’s a wide crackdown now. 11 million South African Rands that were associated with illegal gambling were confiscated by the state from private bank accounts. This creates a precedent for further legal action against it.
Overall, this year was a productive one for the industry. Yggdrasil and some other new game developers are growing to take a bigger share of this concentrated market and produce more exciting titles for the players. Much of the regulations passed worldwide make for a safer gambling environment, especially for the children.
