Manual stopwatch testing costs Stakelogic £122,835

• Dutch game supplier Stakelogic BV has agreed a £122,835 regulatory settlement with the Gambling Commission over online slot spin speed breaches.
• 16 games in total were found to have operated below the mandatory 2.5-second minimum gap between spins, some from as far back as October 2021.
• The compliance failures were caused by Stakelogic’s use of a manual stopwatch to test spin cycle durations.

Dutch slot supplier Stakelogic BV will pay £122,835 to the Gambling Commission after 16 of its online slot games were found to have operated in breach of the required minimum spin speed in Great Britain.

The breach, which affected multiple titles across 4 years, was traced to the company’s reliance on a manual stopwatch to test compliance with the regulator’s technical standards.

How the breach unfolded

The investigation was triggered by a self-report from Stakelogic. The supplier informed the Commission that its game Tiger Temple 88 had been running at 1.97 seconds between spins, below the 2.5-second minimum set out in Remote Technical Standard (RTS) 14D. Tiger Temple 88 was non-compliant between 28 and 30 May 2025.

At the Commission’s request, Stakelogic re-tested its entire GB-facing portfolio. The exercise identified 15 additional titles in breach of the minimum cycle time. Those games had operated too fast across various periods between 31 October 2021 and 30 October 2025.

The margin of non-compliance varied. Games were running between 0.001 and 0.675 seconds short of the required threshold, with many operating at 0.042 seconds or less below the cycle requirements set out in RTS 14D.

Stakelogic’s testing methodology was identified as the root cause. The supplier had been measuring spin cycle durations with a manual stopwatch, a process the Commission found generated inaccurate readings.

Following the disclosure, Stakelogic self-suspended all affected titles and has since updated its testing procedures.

John Pierce, Director of Enforcement and Intelligence at the Gambling Commission, said:

“With all the technological resources available to an online gambling business, it is unacceptable that Stakelogic were relying on a manual stopwatch to measure the speed of their games.

“After reporting this error to the Commission, Stakelogic immediately self-suspended the use of the affected games until the error had been rectified. They have subsequently taken significant steps to assure the Commission that they now have robust policies and procedures in place to prevent future breaches from occurring.

“We would urge all operators to take careful note of this case and ensure they have effective testing practices in place to ensure they are meeting all the standards we require.”

The 2.5-second rule

The minimum spin gap requirement came into force on 31 October 2021 as part of a broader package of online slot safety measures.

Research had shown that fast game cycle speeds are associated with increased consumer harm risk. The 2.5-second floor mirrors the minimum cycle time applied to category B3 gaming machines in land-based venues.

The requirement is codified under RTS 14D within Licence Condition 2.3.1. The same 2021 measures also prohibited auto-play and speed-enhancing features such as turbo spin and slam stop.

Stakelogic’s £122,835 payment forms part of a regulatory settlement agreed with the Commission, a resolution that falls outside a formal financial penalty process. The mechanism has featured in recent UKGC enforcement actions, including a £2m settlement against Paddy Power Betfair and a £650,000 charge against Videoslots for safer gambling failures.

The Stakelogic case builds on a growing body of UKGC enforcement around responsible product design in the GB market.

With the Commission explicitly urging all licensees to review their testing practices, game developers must now ensure compliance procedures extend beyond individual title checks to cover entire active portfolios, regardless of when those games were first deployed.