The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has issued a monetary penalty of CA$70,000 (approximately US$50,947) to game supplier Booming Games (Malta) Limited for offering slot games with a prohibited auto-play feature to players in Ontario’s regulated market.
According to the regulatory announcement, the breach was discovered through targeted proactive compliance audits. The investigation established that several slot titles provided by Booming Games included an active auto-play function that remained accessible to Ontario players across multiple licensed online casinos for several months. Upon official notification by the regulator, the supplier was ordered to immediately disable the non-compliant mechanism across all affected gaming platforms.
Under the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming, auto-play functionality is strictly prohibited in Ontario. The regulator emphasized that continuous automated spins without direct player interaction increase the risk of gambling-related harm by depriving players of essential pauses to evaluate their spending, time, and gameplay behaviour. The AGCO found the developer in violation of Requirement 2 of Standard 2.16 (supplying slot games with auto-play) and Requirement 3 of Standard 4.09 (failing to carry out regular system monitoring and testing).
Dr Karin Schnarr, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar of the AGCO, reiterated that player protection standards in Ontario are mandatory technical requirements rather than optional recommendations. The supplier has the statutory right to appeal the penalty to the independent Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) within 15 days. For B2B suppliers and turnkey casino operators targeting the Canadian market, this enforcement action reinforces the absolute necessity of rigorous jurisdictional testing and ongoing compliance audits before deploying games.
Source: iGaming Business
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