Ontario’s gaming regulator has ordered Booming Games (Malta) Limited to pay C$70,000 after finding that prohibited auto-play was available to Ontario players on several slot titles for months.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario said the feature let players keep a slot running automatically without manually starting each spin. Ontario bars auto-play because forcing a player to initiate each wager creates a pause that can help maintain awareness and control, reduce uninterrupted play, and lower the risk of gambling-related harm.
The regulator said Booming Games did not properly configure, test or monitor certain games before and after they launched in the province. It said that, as a registered supplier, the company was responsible for making sure its games complied with Ontario’s standards before release and throughout their lifecycle.
AGCO said the issue was identified through proactive and targeted compliance work. Once the impacted operator was notified, the auto-play function was disabled.
Ontario’s game-design rules are meant to embed player protections directly into online game design. They include an outright ban on auto-play, minimum time requirements between spins, and prohibitions on features that disguise losses as wins or suggest that skill or speed can change the outcome.
Dr. Karin Schnarr, the regulator’s chief executive and registrar, said the standards are fundamental player-protection measures built into the regulated igaming market, and that suppliers must have effective controls to keep prohibited features away from Ontario players.
The case also fits a pattern of recent enforcement in the province. InterGaming Online noted that the new penalty follows AGCO’s C$120,000 sanction on Betty for underage access failures.
Booming Games has 15 days to ask the Licence Appeal Tribunal for a hearing.
