Why Bacta Raised Concerns About Older Reel Machines in 2024
Updated: Sep 20
An older fruit machine cannot always take a software update in the way a modern video cabinet can. That was the practical concern behind Bacta’s objections to proposed technical changes in autumn 2024: what would happen to machines that operators could not adapt?
The trade association argued that new requirements could make some existing machines uneconomic to keep running. For an arcade with a collection of older reel games, the question was about the future of cabinets already on the floor, as well as the cost of replacing them.
This was a dispute about proposals. The original headline suggested that reel-based machines were facing certain extinction, which went further than the evidence supported. A consultation is a chance to argue over the rules before decisions are made.
The Gambling Commission’s formal gaming-machine consultation subsequently ran from 29 January to 3 June 2025. Its January 2026 announcement introduced a separate requirement, effective from 29 July 2026, for operators to remove machines when the Commission notifies them of specified licensing or technical-compliance failures. That announcement was not a blanket ban on mechanical reels.
For anyone following the future of classic machines, the useful distinction is between a proposal, an adopted rule and a notice affecting a particular machine. The age of a cabinet alone does not tell the whole story.
Bacta is basically run by the directors of Merkur of Admiral, they’re not going to be arsed at all if reel based machines are banned, there’s a handful of independent operators with voices there, but let’s face it this industry is run by Merkur and Admiral.
John Bollox not bollom
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