Grace period for Macau EGM standards extended to 2026

Jan 09, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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The deadline to fully implement Macau’s Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) Technical Standards version 2.0 in the city’s market has been extended to the end of 2026, according to an instruction from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, a body also known as DICJ.

The new technical standards came into force on September 1, 2021. According to the original timetable, the Macau regulator had set December 2024 as the end of the grace period in which gaming equipment makers would be required to retrofit existing slot machines with the necessary upgrades.

GGRAsia had last week asked DICJ about the deadline for full implementation of the new EGM technical standards.

The term “electronic gaming machine”, or EGM, is used in Macau to denote casino slot machines. The 2.0 EGM standards require that all player screens on Macau casino slot machines must be fitted with an intermittently flashing clock showing the local time.

The 2.0 technical standards also specify that the player screen or other interface points must not have any hidden touch points or hidden buttons, that affect game play.

The deadline for all EGMs to be fully compliant with the new standards has been extended from December 31, 2024, to 12pm on December 31, 2026. The gaming regulator said the decision took into consideration requests by the city’s casino concessionaires.

“By 12pm on December 31, 2026, all gaming machines in Macau must be compliant with standards 2.0,” stated DICJ’s new instruction. The implementation of all other provisions in the 2021 instruction regarding standards 2.0 “remain unchanged”.

The Macau regulator has also eased the timeline for the roll-out of 2.0 compliant EGMs. By December 31 this year, 25 percent of the gaming machines in the Macau market will have to be compliant with the new standards, down from a previous requirement of 40 percent.

Under the latest timetable, the share of 2.0 compliant slots should be 50 percent by end-2024, and 75 percent by December 2025, stated the regulator.

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