On 2 October 2019, Neil McArthur delivered a speech to CEOs at a breakfast briefing in London in which he looked back at the year, talked about the challenges in the industry and three opportunities to reduce harm:

• opportunity 1: game and product design;
• opportunity 2: inducements to gambling; and
• opportunity 3: advertising technology.

In his speech, he referred to the work of the Gambling Commission’s Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (“ABSG”) and the Digital Advisory Panel (“DAP”), which were tasked with looking at reducing gambling harm online.  The Gambling Commission has recently received advice from the ABSG and DAP, which we have reported on separately.

The Gambling Commission announced the formation of three industry working groups:

1. Safer products: The industry code for responsible product and game design working group: This group is led by SG Gaming and Playtech, and will set out how to produce safer products in the future, techniques to use when designing apps, online games and gaming machine products, the risks associated with each product and mitigation, and a clear explanation of what is unacceptable.
2. Safer advertising online working group: This group is led by Sky Betting and Gaming, and will consider the opportunities to reduce the amount of advertising seen by children, young people and vulnerable adults, and GambleAware’s recent findings set out in its interim report on gambling adverts online, including social media.
3. Use of VIP incentives: The incentivisation of high value customers working group:  This group is led by GVC and will consider bonuses, hospitality and gifts (particularly for VIPs) are offered in a manner which is consistent with licensing objectives to make gambling fairer, safer and crime free, and identify how existing rules can be strengthened.

All three working groups will work closely with the Betting and Gaming Council.