When readying a suite of casino content for entry into a new market, it is usually necessary for your product to meet various criteria around the monitoring of the return-to-player, or RTP.
Here’s everything you need to know to ensure your games are compliant.
Why is it important to monitor RTP?
The main point of this monitoring is to ensure random number generator (RNG) products are fair and achieve the correct return to player (RTP). The purpose of RTP monitoring is not focused upon the profitability of a game, but rather to ensure that the RNG is performing as it should.
How do you go about ensuring you are compliant on RTP monitoring?
If you provide gambling products you should have a process in place to measure the ongoing performance of games. These would usually be periodic reports or automated backend processes running over the stored transactional data.
How this is done is dependent on the licensee and the specific jurisdictional requirements. The B2B and B2C partner can have varying or the same responsibility when it comes to live RTP monitoring. It may not be possible to monitor transactional data in all cases, so this should be clearly outlined in a service level agreement.
Spotting issues and reporting them as quickly as possible is critical when it comes to reducing the potential for any serious issues with the game affecting players and damaging the reputation of the company. In a worst case scenario, a failure to suitably monitor RTP can cause licence issues with the regulator.
We recommend setting up a documented process that outlines the RTP monitoring methodology. The methodology should be clear but flexible enough to suit a diverse range of games if required.
What to consider when setting up your RTP monitoring process?
Bet level – The amount that the player selects to gamble can be important, especially when the outcome may be impacted. Typically, we recommend normalising stakes for consistency.
Volatility – As games are getting more complex and with larger prizes, the scarcity of these prizes increases. This is a major contributing factor to game volatility. Games with high volatility will often show as under or over performing if the monitoring methodology is not suitable.
Channel – In some cases, the device the game is played on can be important. It is advisable to set up your monitoring in a way whereby this data can be broken down.
Game type – Game types are important as they may require different monitoring. For instance, blackjack or games that are metamorphic may need to be treated differently.
Strategy/Skill – Games of strategy or skill may require a different method for assessment as they may be played differently to how they are simulated. Strategy implies a variation of how a game can be played. This can have major ramifications upon the RTP.
Granularity – This should be considered by licensees. The transactional data should be splittable by base game, bonus features, jackpots and other variants should be identified and recorded separately for analysis.
Where to find the correct RTP monitoring requirements for a particular market?
Complitech, the gaming industry’s only technical compliance database, provides all technical compliance requirements for almost 30 different markets.
Most of these markets have particular, stated RTP monitoring requirements, and these can be pulled in seconds via the database.
