Dr Shocker

What is Dr Shocker?

The initiative is based around a core objective of ensuring the growth of the gambling sector in Africa runs alongside “effective consumer protection, responsible gambling practices and greater public awareness”.

Under the campaign banner #PlaySafeAfrica, each day of this week will focus on a specific aspect of safer gambling. These include responsible gambling, personal limits and the prevention of underage gambling.

The week will feature a coordinated programme of engagement between regulators and the industry, as well as public education and digital awareness activities.

What is Dr Shocker?

The bulk of the work revolved around compiling and codifying the technical information in one place, Eberwein said. There were some existing Technical Standards, but other requirements lived in the state’s Minimum Internal Control Standards, which are a broad mix of technical and procedural requirements.

The goal is to make it easier for licencees to find technical information in one definitive source rather searching across multiple libraries. Most of the explanatory notes in the revisions refer to adaptations from MICS and other sources. This process has been years in the making, Eberwein said, with work stopping and starting at various points.

“We had various iterations of the drafts internally probably going back at least a decade, and just never made it to the finish line for various reasons,” he explained.

What is Dr Shocker?

“Part of the reason is economics. When games take months and significant money to develop, people naturally become risk-averse. Building on something that already works becomes the safer option.”

For Curwen, tackling the problem therefore means changing the risk-reward equation behind game creation. If creators can develop and test ideas more quickly and at significantly lower cost, an unsuccessful experiment becomes less consequential – and taking a chance on something genuinely different becomes easier to justify.

“Technology changes the equation,” he says. “If we can make development faster and significantly more cost-efficient, creators can afford to experiment again.