The Gaming Standards Association (GSA) announced today that an open summit has been held to discuss the future of downloadable casino games. The Summit was held as an open platform for both members and non-members to discuss operational and regulatory challenges facing downloadable games, and was attended by representatives of 45 companies.
Upon the conclusion of the summit, it was announced that the GSA will begin working towards addressing downloadable games as part of their BOB Protocols. BOB stands for “Best of Breed”, and is a standard based on proven computer industry standard technologies, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP and XML which will allow the industry to migrate to downloadable games and other new technology platforms. The association expects to have a preliminary draft of the Downloadable Games BOB Standards available for presentation at this year’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E), to be held this September in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When combined with last week’s passing of the law to govern Wireless Casino Gambling in the State of Nevada, GSA’s new interest in downloadable games hints at a technological revolution in the way games of chance are played in Las Vegas casinos.
GSA President Peter DeRaedt said, “It is clear that downloadable games are the future of the gaming industry.”
DeRaedt went on to say that these technologies are not without specific challenges to regulators, operators and manufacturers; further strengthening the need for industry-wide standards to be addressed and accepted.
It would be reasonable to conclude that Nevada casinos are moving towards internet type technologies, but without regulating actual internet gaming itself. The same games and back-end technologies will ultimately become available within the United States, but will operate on “closed loop” platforms that can only be accessed via the casino’s physical location.
While this approach falls short of directly addressing internet gambling, as was the case with the UK Gambling Bill, it is a positive step forward and is expected to face little opposition from those who have taken positions against internet wagering in the past.
Additional information on the Gaming Standards Association and the Best of Breed standards can be found at the Gaming Standards Association
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