Bacta calls for collective push against new gaming machine standards

Bacta has openly criticised the UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) Technical Standards, and will meet with members to discuss an appropriate course of action.

The trade body for British arcades and amusement centres,  will hold a webinar on Wednesday, 21 May, encouraging all partners “in the strongest possible terms” to take part in the event.

With key Bacta figures like Tony Boulton, Alan Claypole, John Bollom, Joseph Cullis and George McGregor expected to be in attendance, the webinar will explain in detail the UKGC’s consultation on Technical Standards and devise the best response to what Bacta’s Vice President Cullis has called “an existential threat to the industry”.

Initially scheduled to close on 20 May, the consultation has been extended until 3 June. It is part of the Gambling Review’s White Paper recommendations to revise the gaming machine technical standards (GMTS) in the UK.

The GMTS were initially published in 2007, made up of 12 individual standards that cover machines across A, B1, B2, B3, B3A, B4, C, and D categories.

As detailed by the consultation of January 2025, the UKGC now plans to consolidate these 12 standards into a single GMTS to modernise the framework and better align it with the Remote Technical Standards (RTS).

The Commission highlighted that GMTS for category B in particular appear outdated. The maximum charge for use of Category B2 machines was dropped from £100 to £2 in 2018, equating them to Category B3 gaming machines. 

However, the latter is still viewed as a higher risk product under the current GMTS framework, hence the Commission’s proposal for the new consolidated GMTS which would require every category B machine to incorporate new safeguards around game speed, session times, and safer gambling messaging displays.

Tim Miller, Gambling Commission Executive Director for Research and Policy, said: “We recognise that regulatory changes impacting the design of machines can come with considerable costs. 

“We are encouraging consumers, gambling businesses, and other interested groups to share evidence that will assist us in measuring both the likely regulatory impacts of the proposed changes and the likely costs of implementing them.”

Bacta sees ‘existential threat’

Bacta is now mobilising its members to take action against these potential “considerable costs”, with the webinar on Wednesday having the potential to sway the consultation in a different direction based on the collective response it produces.

This could add to mounting calls within the UK gaming industry for stakeholders to engage with the UKGC’s consultations as much as possible.

Cullis added: “The Gambling Commission proposal that would require every Category B gaming machine to adhere to new technical standards irrespective of the age of the machine or its ability to receive software updates is likely to result in many units being junked with operators facing a huge bill to acquire replacements. 

“The research that we have undertaken confirms that the huge spike in costs would put some operators out of business with disastrous consequences for employees as well as for local economies based at both the seaside and on the high street.

“The Commission’s proposed changes to Technical Standards represents an existential threat to the industry and I would strongly urge members to clear their diaries in order to participate in Wednesday’s webinar.”