The Gambling Commission has approved new technical standards for land-based gaming machines in categories A, B and part of C. The requirements will roll out in stages between March 2027 and October 2028.
New machines must offer players a choice of personal limits on time and loss at the start of each session, or accept default settings. Play without limits is prohibited. Custom limits allow up to 60 minutes and £450 net loss; default limits cap sessions at 20 minutes and £150. When either limit is reached, the machine forces a break. The break lasts from 10 seconds for the first two default pauses to a minimum of 30 seconds in all other cases. Safer gambling messaging appears on screen during the pause.
Machines will display net position and session time by default. Players can hide the data after 10 seconds of viewing. Staff will receive real-time alerts when a player hits a limit or changes it. Audiovisual celebrations for wins equal to or below the stake are banned, as are turbo modes and other game accelerators.
The standards apply only to new machines tested after 30 June 2027. Existing machines are exempt from retrofitting after the industry warned that mandatory upgrades would force the write-off of 7,770 machines. If a multi-game platform adds even one new game, the entire platform must meet the new requirements.
Implementing limit functions will cost operators between £500,000 and £1 million. Session display features will run £554,000 to £1.154 million. Staff alert systems will require £20.76 million to £41.63 million annually. The machine sector generated £2.6 billion in GGY for the year ending March 2025, with category B machines accounting for 88.5% of the total.
From 29 July 2026, operators must remove machines that lack a technical licence or fail to meet standards immediately upon request from the Gambling Commission.
