CANADIAN REGULATION
No. 95, notifying licensees that they had until September 3, 2019, to remove GotSkill? from their establishments. 13 After two years, GotSkill? machines would finally be removed from licensed establishments. Except they weren’t! Information Bulletin No. 95 also informed licensees that “the developer of the GotSkill? game has made certain modifications to the game following the Court of Appeal’s decision. The Registrar has not yet come to a conclusion about the legality of the modified game. Liquor licence holders who choose to permit the operation of the modified game on their premises do so at the risk that the Registrar may determine that the modified game is unlawful gambling.” 14 GotSkill? machines continued to be available in licensed establishments. 15 Play for Fun, now known as Skill Based Games Inc. (or “SBG”), modified the game to address the concerns raised by the Court of Appeal. The game was changed in the following ways: (i) instead of only the next possible win being viewable, the next five potential wins were now viewable; (ii) the terms and conditions were updated to reference the ability of players to see the next five potential wins; and (iii) players could play the skill-bar task on zero-value tickets (this was done to allow the players to practice the skill task. No tangible value was returned to the player for successfully completing the skill task). 16 On April 19, 2023, the AGCO released an information bulletin (by this point the AGCO had stopped numbering its information bulletins) notifying licensees that, following the unanimous decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal and a recent assessment of GotSkill? by an independent testing laboratory, the AGCO is requiring licensees to ensure GotSkill? is not played at a licensee’s establishment. Licensees had until
May 15, 2023, to remove GotSkill? from their establishments. 17 After nearly six years, GotSkill? machines would finally be removed from licensed establishments. Except (once again) they weren’t! In an unnumbered information bulletin dated May 8, 2023, the AGCO informed licensees that SBG had filed an Application for Judicial Review with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and that the AGCO’s requirement that licensed establishments stop offering GotSkill? would be put on hold. 18 GotSkill? machines continued to be available in licensed establishments. On August 28, 2025, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that GotSkill? is a game of mixed chance and skill. The court was not moved by the three changes made to GotSkill? described above. Of the three changes, the only change with substance, according to the court, was increasing the number of potential next wins from one to five. The court observed that “a systematic resort to chance can exist if a player must play a round, regardless of the prize, to discover the prize in a future round. 19 The AGCO has not released any information bulletins related to the decision. SBG applied to the Ontario Court of Appeal for a stay of the declaratory judgment by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that GotSkill? is a game of mixed chance and skill, including with respect to the April 23, 2023, information bulletin requiring liquor licenses in Ontario to ensure that GotSkill? is not operated in commercial establishments. On October 8, 2025, the court dismissed the appeal but ordered an expedited hearing of the appeal from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The current date set for the appeal is January 9, 2026. 20
13 AGCO , Information Bulletin 95: Removal of Got Skill Game in Licensed Establishments required by September 3, 2019 , https://www.agco.ca/en/news/information-bulletin-95-removal-got-skill-game-licensed-establishments-required-september-3, retrieved Novem- ber 17, 2025. 14 Ibid 15 Play for Fun appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. On March 5, 2020, the Supreme Court dismissed that appeal. 16 SBG-Skill v. Registrar, Alcohol and Gaming, 2025 ONSC 4938, at para 11. 17 AGCO, AGCO requires liquor licensed establishments in Ontario to stop offering GotSkill gambling machines on their premises , https://www.agco.ca/en/news/agco-requires-liquor-licensed-establishments-ontario-stop-offering-gotskill-gambling-machines, retrieved Novem- ber 17, 2025. 18 AGCO, Update on GotSkill Machines in Liquor Licensed Establishments, https://www.agco.ca/en/news/update-gotskill-machines-liquor-licensed-establishments, retrieved November 17, 2025. 19 Supra note 15 at para 21. 20 SBG-Skill Based Games Inc. v. Ontario (Alcohol and Gaming Commission), 2025 ONCA 692.
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IMGL MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2025
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