Report

Assessment of online games design changes

Gambling Commission report focusing on research conducted into the impact of the online gambling games design changes.

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Published
8 June 2023

Last updated
8 June 2023 - Changes

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Contents

• Assessment of online games design changes

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• Executive summary
• Introduction
  • - Background and approach
  • - Theory of Change
• Methodology and limitations
  • - Methodology for key sources
  • - Limitations
• Outcomes
  • - Reduced play intensity
  • - Consumer awareness
  • - Reduced binge gambling
  • - Gambling within consumer means
  • - Complaints
  • - Safer gambling measures
  • - Increased trust in gambling providers
  • - Reduced 'problem gambling' rates
• Assumptions
  • - Staking behaviour
  • - Session length
  • - Use of multiple tabs
  • - Games design
  • - Displacement to other games
  • - Time and position
  • - Loss chasing
  • - Displacement to other markets
  • - Inconvenience for gamblers
• Conclusions and next steps
• Appendices

Session length

Summary

We can be confident that session length, especially the proportion of long sessions, has decreased.

As with staking, the changes could undermine the impact of the game design changes if those who reduced their spin speed subsequently changed their behaviour and increased their session length to the extent that they were no longer gambling within their intentions or means.

As highlighted in the outcomes section of this report, the proportion of sessions lasting over 60 minutes reduced from 7.8 percent in the six months prior to the changes to 6.9 percent in the six months post-changes. Amongst this sample of gambling businesses, this sample comprised over 430 million sessions.

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Use of multiple tabs

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Last updated: 8 June 2023

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