Safer gambling tools are moving from the help menu to the default experience, new RGC report highlights

TORONTO, ON, [September 16, 2026] – The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) has released Normalizing Harm Prevention, the second report in its Sector Signals series, examining how responsible gambling tools are being built into the core player experience rather than offered as an opt-in safety net.

The report draws on jurisdictional evidence from the United Kingdom, Norway, Massachusetts, and Victoria, Australia, identifying four pillars shaping an embedded player journey: tools delivered by default, mandatory rather than voluntary delivery, prompts matched to higher-risk moments, and escalation pathways that carry a player from an in-product nudge to human support.

Among the findings:

• Under Gambling Commission rules in force since October 2025, every licensed online operator in Great Britain must prompt customers to set a financial limit before their first deposit and re-prompt every six months, with stricter deposit-limit definitions and automated blocks at the cap taking effect June 30, 2026.
• In Massachusetts, the PlayMyWay budget tool has reached more than 46,000 active enrolments across three casinos. Evaluation found enrolled players lost less money per visit, visited more often, and reported less regret than non-enrolled peers.
• Since April 2024, every wagering provider in Victoria must issue a standardized monthly player activity statement in plain English, with colour use restricted so losses cannot be visually softened, and penalties of A$11,538 per non-compliant statement.
• Norway requires a personal loss limit before first play and reports net loss as spend minus winnings, alongside a product framework that prohibits autoplay, bonuses, VIP programs, and near-miss cues.

“When a safer play tool sits behind a help menu, the players who need it most are often the least likely to find it. What these markets show is that design decisions, such as where a tool lives, when it appears, and whether a player must go looking for it, are harm prevention decisions,” said Sarah McCarthy, CEO, Responsible Gambling Council.

The report also examines escalation pathways using Playtech’s BetBuddy platform, deployed across 15 major operators and roughly 30 million player accounts, as a reference model for how behavioural detection feeds through in-session nudges, personalized outreach, and warm handoffs to clinical support. RGC worked with Playtech to translate that detection-to-handoff logic into concrete player journey moments in online play.

Normalizing Harm Prevention is the second of six reports in the Sector Signals series, running through 2027. Each report draws on jurisdictional evidence from leading markets to unpack an emerging trend shaping the global gambling industry, and what it means for operators, regulators, and policymakers.

RGC’s Advisory Services team partners with operators, regulators, and stakeholders to embed effective safer gambling practices, drawing on RGC’s research, expertise, and decades of experience.

The full report is available at https://responsiblegambling.org/for-industry/rg-plus-advisory-and-consultation.

About the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC)

The Responsible Gambling Council is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to preventing gambling harm across Canada and globally. For more than 40 years, RGC has delivered evidence-based awareness programs, advanced responsible gambling best practices, and facilitated the internationally recognized RG Check accreditation program. RGC works with regulators, operators, researchers, treatment providers, community organizations, and people with lived experience to ensure gambling safeguards are in place and that all people have access to the information and support they need. Visit responsiblegambling.org.

Media Contact:

Patrick Moore
Senior Manager, Communications & PR
Responsible Gambling Council
patrickm@rgco.org
responsiblegambling.org

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