Testing strategy for compliance with remote gambling and software technical standards
Consultation start date: 03 December 2015
Consultation end date: 11 February 2016
Consultation
We consulted on the changes to the Testing strategy for compliance with remote technical standards (the testing strategy). The strategy sets out our requirements (as provided under Section 89 (5) (d) of the Act) for the timing and procedures for testing referred to in licence condition 2.3. It provides a way to assess compliance with the Remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS).
Response
Due to the responses, the revised testing strategy will be published separately at the end of May.
The complexity of the online gambling market and growth in our regulatory sphere have reinforced the need to ensure that the standards set out in the testing strategy remain clear, transparent and promote an efficient and effective approach to regulation.
It is important that operators have in place sufficient controls to protect consumers from faulty games and, where possible, offer clear and detailed explanations of game performance.
In summary, the revisions to the testing strategy include:
- a simplified approach to defining major and minor updates to games and software so that licensed operators, test houses and consumers understand which products require external testing prior to release
- greater scope for minor updates, which do not affect game fairness, to be tested in-house
- a more streamlined approach to testing of multiple updates in the event that, for example, games are affected by a change to the remote gambling system (RGS) or random number generator (RNG)
- further guidance in relation to the roll-out of existing games onto new channels. For example, where a game originally released as a flash game is redeveloped as HTML 5 or as a native mobile app
- further guidance on effective return to player (RTP) monitoring to ensure variations in payments to consumers can quickly be identified and resolved an independent annual audit requirement to provide assurance that operators are correctly identifying and managing game updates.
Files
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Last updated: 11 October 2021
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