Glossary
The words behind the comparison
A few terms come up again and again once you start looking at who makes casino games. Here's what each one actually means, without the marketing gloss.
- Game studio (provider)
- The developer that actually makes the games. Names like Pragmatic Play, NetEnt, Evolution and Play'n GO build the slots and live tables that operators then license and list.
- Live casino
- Table games such as roulette and blackjack streamed in real time from a studio with a human dealer. In the UK most of this comes from Evolution or Playtech.
- Megaways
- A slot mechanic from Big Time Gaming that changes the number of symbol positions on each spin, so the ways to land a win shift round to round.
- RTP
- Return to player — the long-run percentage a game is built to pay back across millions of spins. It describes the maths of the game, not what any single session will do.
- Wagering requirement
- How many times a bonus amount has to be staked before it can be withdrawn. A 35x requirement on a £10 bonus means £350 in qualifying bets first.
- UKGC
- The UK Gambling Commission, the body that licenses operators serving Great Britain and sets the player-protection rules they follow.
- GamStop
- A free national self-exclusion scheme. Sign up once and every UK-licensed operator has to block your access for the period you choose.
- Progressive jackpot
- A prize that grows as people play across a network of games until someone hits it, then resets. Age of the Gods and MGM Grand Millions are examples on this list.
- Welcome offer
- A one-off promotion for new accounts, usually a deposit match or a set of bonus spins. Always tied to terms, including wagering and game restrictions.
- Volatility
- How a slot tends to pay. High-volatility games pay less often but bigger; low-volatility games trickle out smaller wins more regularly.
Want to see these in context? The scorecards put the studios and titles next to each operator.