Licensed Casino Games and Their Advantages (plus Ratings)

Usually by “a licensed product” people mean that it was produced (or served to customers) by some entity (a company or an individual) which has got legal rights to do so. It may be done by the creator of the product directly or the rights can be delegated to other entrepreneurs for some fee (a royalty fee).

The meaning of “a licensed product” in the gambling industry includes everything above. Here we have software providers that create online casino games. Then they rent out their games to online casinos under some license agreement. Online casinos, on their part, serve casino games to players via their websites.

However, there is a very significant distinction when we are talking about the gambling industry. Here we also have to make sure that products are safe to use for customers. In our case, casino games must have the declared RTP (House Edge) level, and the winnings must be distributed on a random basis so that nobody can affect them.

Hence, in the online gambling industry a product can be deemed as licensed only if it meets all these criteria:

• Casino games must be served to customers only either by the owner of the intellectual rights or by other entities that have legally acquired the intellectual rights.

• Casino games must be tested by at least one independent testing laboratory to verify that winnings are distributed purely randomly (with RNG involved) and nobody can affect the outcomes of the games.

• Casino games must obtain a license of some international gambling commission. This is another level of protection, when a government confirms that all tests have been performed as they should.

Summing up, I would say that the majority of online casino players by “licensed casino games” mainly mean that they are safe to play, which perfectly reflects their nature.

Licensed vs Unlicensed vs Fake vs Scripted casino games: the difference

As you can see in the picture above, Unlicensed casino games also include Fake and Scripted casino games. All 3 of them can not be deemed as licensed games since they fail to meet the three criteria about which we were talking in the previous chapter.

Some Unlicensed casino games may be very close to be considered as Licensed. For example, the intellectual rights might be there, and the games might be tested by some testing company. But without a valid gambling license they are not 100% safe.

Speaking about Scripted games, they usually fit in terms of intellectual rights, but when it comes to fairness tests and an international gambling license, they can not pass this bar. Why? Because the outcomes of such games are not random, although it is an absolute requirement.

Fake casino games fail to meet all three criteria. The intellectual rights are stolen, and nobody would even consider to test such products, not to mention a license of some gambling commission.

Learn more about Fake and Scripted casino software here

How to detect fake online slots (the same principle can be applied to any online casino game)

Only Licensed casino games are 100% safe to play. They were created by top-notch companies, and some of them have been around for decades actually. Then third-party testing companies verify that payouts are random. After that Licensed games can easily obtain a gambling license of some reliable gambling jurisdiction, such as: UK, Isle of Man, Alderney, Malta.

A rating of producers of licensed casino games

Advantages of Licensed casino games

As I have mentioned before, safe (fair) casino games is actually a synonym of Licensed casino games. This is the whole point to go through these tedious steps, and be deemed as a Licensed game finally.

Let’s elaborate on what their safety includes:

• RTP (House Edge) is usually disclosed by games’ producers. Moreover, in Licensed casino games this crucial parameter of any casino games is also verified. It means that theoretical RTP equals to real life RTP after millions of spins (rounds of the game) have been played.

• On top of that, RTP is constantly tested, not only before the release of a game. With such an approach you can be sure that RTP is there at any moment in time.

• Online casinos can not affect outcomes of games so that casino players can get their fair chances to win. It is very important as online casinos are motivated financially that you would lose more frequently than you should.

• In Licensed casino games (here I am talking about slots), you can take part in a progressive jackpot that is going to be a life changing sum of money.

Any scenarios when Unlicensed casino games can be worth playing?

There may be situations when a “weak” gambling license can be a good thing for players (for example, a Curacao gambling license).

I can even imagine scenarios when online casinos without KYC are legit.

Speaking about Unlicensed casino games, I can not find any reason to play them. There are simply thousands of Licensed casino games on the market, so why we would make things more complicated than they need to be.

Conclusion

A rating of licensed online slots

A rating of licensed classic casino games

Hopefully I have managed to convey the idea that Licensed casino games are not some sort of mere formality, but actually a big deal. Only with licensed products you can be 100% safe and enjoy your gaming sessions in online casinos.