Online Slot Auto Spins Removed – Where Have They Gone?

If you’re a regular player at online casinos and in particular, on online slots, you may have noticed that auto spins have suddenly disappeared over the past couple of weeks. This update has caused a stir amongst players throughout the UK with many being not best pleased.

The removal of auto-play, which allows players to set the number of spins they would like to make and then sit back and watch the spins play out without having to manually click the mouse or tap the screen, applies to all online casinos that accept players from the UK.

This change was announced back in February 2021 and was put in place by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) following feedback from a consultation based around ‘making online games safer by design’. Despite being announced over eight months ago, the removal of auto-spins, along with other changes to online slots and online casinos in general, has come as a big surprise to many regular players who were unaware of the changes due to be enforced at the end of October.

Strict New Measures

The removal of the auto-spin feature was just one of four strict new measures that online casinos were told they must abide by with others including:

• Frequency of slot spins must be 2.5 seconds or greater
• Autoplay functionality to be removed
• Quickspin functionality to be removed
• Gameplay sounds or imagery which give the illusion of a win when the return is in fact equal to, or below, a stake

Deadline Date

All of these new measures were to be implemented by 31st October 2021.

As well as limiting the features mentioned above, the Gambling Commission also requires operators to:

• Clearly display to the player their total losses or wins and time played during any online slots session
• Remove all options relating to players being able to reverse withdrawals

Gambling Commission chief executive, Neil McArthur, said: “To make online games safer we are introducing a ban on features that speed up play, or give the illusion of control over the outcome. We are also introducing a ban on auto-play, losses disguised as wins, and slot spin speeds faster than 2.5 seconds. The evidence shows that these features increase the risk of harm to customers.“

Although feedback from players regarding the removal of auto-spins is of a somewhat mixed opinion, these new measures are another attempt by the UKGC to make online gambling safer and to reduce the risk of players gambling too much and losing more than they can afford to.