AGCO Orders $70,000 Penalty on Booming Games Over Banned Auto-Play Feature

^{Ontario's gaming regulator fined Malta-based supplier Booming Games $70,000 after finding banned auto-play features live on its slots for months. (Image: Sean Pavone, Alamy)}

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has ordered $70,000 in monetary penalties against slot game supplier Booming Games (Malta) Limited.

The AGCO said prohibited auto-play functionality was available to players on multiple Booming Games slot titles for several months before it was disabled.

The finding lands as Ontario's regulated online casino market continues to operate under some of the strictest game-design rules in North America.

Why Ontario Bans Auto-Play

Auto-play lets a player spin an online slot machine repeatedly without manually starting each wager.

Ontario prohibits the feature because it removes the natural pause between spins that lets a player assess their play and decide whether to keep gambling.

The AGCO says that pause supports player awareness and control and lowers the risk of prolonged, uninterrupted play.

How the Breach Was Caught

The AGCO said its own proactive and targeted compliance efforts identified the issue, not a self-report from Booming Games or its operator partner.

Regulators notified the affected iGaming operator once the breach was confirmed, and the auto-play functionality was disabled.

As a registered gaming supplier, Booming Games is responsible for ensuring every game it supplies meets Ontario's standards before launch and throughout its lifecycle.

The Standards Booming Games Broke

The Registrar's order cites two separate contraventions of the Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming.

Under Standard 2.16, the supplier provided games that included auto-play features for slots, a feature Ontario's rules ban outright.

Under Standard 4.09, the AGCO found Booming Games failed to monitor and test its gaming system throughout its life, so the games were never demonstrated to be operating as approved.

"Ontario's game design standards are fundamental player-protection measures, not optional technical requirements," said Dr. Karin Schnarr, the AGCO's chief executive officer and registrar. 

She added that registered suppliers must have effective controls in place to prevent prohibited features from reaching Ontario players, and that the AGCO will take regulatory action when those safeguards are not respected. 

Part of a Wider Enforcement Push

The Booming Games penalty follows a $120,000 sanction the AGCO handed online casino operator Betty Gaming Ltd. after underage individuals were able to create and fund accounts.

Together, the two cases point to an AGCO that is actively testing both suppliers and operators against its own player-protection standards rather than waiting for complaints.

Booming Games has the right to request a hearing before the Licence Appeal Tribunal within 15 days of the order, an adjudicative body independent of the AGCO.

Whether it does will determine if the $70,000 figure stands or changes on appeal.