The Gaming Standards Association is effectively beginning the process of ‘retiring’ the Slot Accounting System (SAS) protocol used across the gaming industry since the 1980s in favour of the G2S (Game to System) protocol.
The Association made the announcement ahead of this year’s International Gaming Expo in London.
G2S is being promoted as an industry-wide protocol with an open source foundation, lowering cost barriers for operators and allowing gaming machines to communicate with back office management systems.
The GSA says from 1st January it ceased to add functionality or support to SAS Version 6.02, and is instead focusing its efforts on helping operators and manufacturers migrate to G2S.
The Association is embarking on a year-long education campaign to help casino operators answer this and other pressing questions. The campaign begins with GSA’s appearance at IGE at stand #3522.
GSA President Peter DeRaedt said, “The SAS protocol, developed in the early 1980s, has been great for the industry; however moving forward GSA and its membership have elected to no longer enhance the SAS protocol. The Game to System (G2S) standard, that replaces SAS, provides the growth and expandability that will be the driving force for innovation in the industry. This will be a year of transition for casino operators, and GSA is here to help every step of the way.”