The UK online gambling industry is a highly competitive one. For some of the online casinos, their businesses continue to prosper despite troubling economic times. Others struggle to achieve and maintain a good share of the market. Why is this so and what does the future hold for the industry?
One of the key areas of any online casino is the slots section. That is indicated by the gross gambling yield (GGY) of online slot games. Figures released by the UK Gambling Commission for the Q1 period ending 30 June 2025 reported slots GGY of £745 million. That was a 14% increase on the figure for the same period last year.
The total number of spins was up 8% to 24.4 billion. Along with the GGY figure, both are record totals. The total online GGY was £1.49 billion (up 2%) so around half of GGY comes from slot games.
It is important therefore for an online casino to offer its members a strong slots section. This doesn’t just mean including the top games from the best slots designers. A site will always face a battle to keep its members. Therefore, it is vital that they offer new games on a regular basis. Including slots that are totally exclusive to the site is also a great way of ensuring that customer numbers remain strong.
With there being so many new UK online casinos, it really is a difficult job to attract customers. Players, according to BritishGambler.co.uk’s survey these days are a lot more knowledgeable about gambling and they look for value when deciding which sites to register with.
That includes playing games that have a high RTP rate. If it’s going to be difficult to get a profit out of a game, then players will look elsewhere. Bonuses are an important technique that are used to attract and retain customers.
The presence of websites that compare all the bonuses offered by sites has made it easier for gamblers to decide which are the best to accept.
They are a controversial subject because some bonuses have strict terms and regulations attached to them. There can be restrictions based on how long a bonus must be used before expiring and the wagering requirements. If the latter are too high, it makes actually withdrawing any funds from a bonus very difficult.
This has been realised by regulatory bodies and action is being taken with a maximum 10x wagering requirement due to be introduced. However, this will only be enforced against the licensed and regulated sites. Those online casinos that operate on the unlicensed black market will be able to carry on offering large bonuses but ones with strict restrictions placed on them.
The live casino element of a site has seen considerable growth in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic played a huge role in this. When land-based casinos were temporarily closed during lockdowns, players headed online to their live casinos.
These are based in settings that are as close as you can get to the local casinos players were used to visiting. They include live croupiers who can be interacted with and top games such as baccarat, blackjack and roulette can be played but that’s not all.
Enjoying tremendous growth has been live game shows with big prizes to be won. There’s a live host guiding players through games such as Monopoly. Evolution Gaming has been at the forefront of this expansion. Players are now very unlikely to register with an online casino that does not offer a strong live casino content.
To enjoy great success in a highly competitive market, an online casino needs to analyze the behaviour of its players. Finding out which kind of games excite players the most and then satisfying their needs is of key importance to the success of an online casino. Games need to be fast because the attention span of players is not high these days. Using AI more is also the way forward.
Whether online casinos can remain profitable in the UK remains to be seen. Stricter regulation has already been introduced this year. There is now a maximum stake for online slots that although being popular are also seen as highly addictive.
Players aged between 18 and 24 can only stake a maximum £2 per spin. For players of an older age, it’s now £5 each game played. There are still calls for the slot games to have their speed reduced.
Those latest GGY figures remain impressive but the next set will be the first that includes three months where the new maximum stakes have been in place. It will be interesting to see how the new rules affect online slot GGY and what action UK online casinos will take to counter any drop in revenue.