The concept of buying bonuses or features was first piloted in 2017 in the White Rabbit slot of Big Time Gaming (BTG). A slot machine that allows players to buy their way to the main bonus round, usually a free-spinning round, in a slot game. This is different from getting tickets by rotating slots and hitting sequential bonus symbols.

Basically, bonus buying is an expensive shortcut to the most profitable round in slot games. This is because many players believe that the cost will be balanced by the payout achieved in the round and that they will save money on multiple turns before starting the game naturally. But the bonus game is not guaranteed to win, and it’s not a big reward.

Why is feature purchase banned in the UK?
In 2019, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) banned feature purchases from UK slot games, although many games included features in the two years before they were banned from buying features in UK slots to increase equity and player participation.

So why did the British Golf Association ban it? Like most things the British Golf Association takes a hard line, it was a simple example of protecting players and part of its overall strategy for more responsible gambling.

The UKGC’s Remote Gambling and Technical Software Standard states that “Gambling products should not actively encourage customers to decide or continue gambling after they chase losses, increase their stakes, or express their desire to stop gambling.” 파칭코

Feature Buy violated technical standards by inducing players to increase their stakes by 100 times. Feature Buy is also particularly attractive for problem gamblers who can bet up to £3,000 using mechanics.

How does this affect UK slots?
Slot games with feature purchasing mechanics can still be played on a typical UK side slot site, but you will need to disable or remove the technician from the game to comply with UK regulations. This means that the player takes a longer path while testing the luck of collecting bonus symbols. For slot developers, this didn’t mean much at the time, but further changes to UK gambling laws are expected in 2021 (details below).

Latest slot rule
In 2021, UKGC issued new guidelines for slot developers that include rules that do not celebrate losses, minimum 2.5 second intervals between spins, and automatic replay elimination. This may prevent players from tracking their total spending. At the same time, the commission said the operator should indicate the player’s total loss or winning time during an online slot session.

In 2022, the UK government is updating the Gambling Act 2005 for the modern Internet industry. This will bring far-reaching changes across the industry, with new rules for potential affordability checks, budgets per player, and other slots.