The Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) recently released draft rules on online gaming with several amendments to stabilize and regulate the current state of online gaming India.
Among these, one of the rule dealing with due diligence to be observed by online gaming intermediary states as follow: “The online gaming intermediary shall prominently publish on its website, mobile based application or both, a random number generation certificate and a no bot certificate from a reputed certifying body for each online game offered by it, along with relevant details of the same.”
Under the proposed rule, every registered online gaming intermediary is required to provide an Random Number Generation (RNG) Certificate on their website publicly visible as a proof of their certification.
What is Random Number Generation?
A Random Number Generation or RNG is an algorithm that is used to ensure there are no identical outcomes or a predictable pattern in online games.
In the real money gaming sector, RNG is used to ensure that every game a person plays has different outcomes. This is especially important to protect the player from predatory practices and also to ensure that no one can predict a universal winning pattern and win indefinitely.
There are two type of RNG –
1. True Random Number Generation (TRNG) – For TRNG, the computer must use some external physical variable that is unpredictable, such as radioactive decay of isotopes or airwave static, rather than by an algorithm.
2. Pseudo Random Number Generator (PRNG) – In PRNG, a seed value is used, upon which various mathematical operations are made to arrive at a seemingly random number on a scale which can be anything. This is the most common method used by gaming companies.
What is an RNG Certificate and how to get one?
Pursuant to the proposed rules, companies in real money companies are required to have an RNG certificate from a reputed certifying body.
The RNG certification acts as a proof that the machine, app or website adhere to the RNG standards and are safe to be conducted business with. It also ensures the players that the gaming platform generates random unpredictable outcomes which cannot be used by anyone for unfair advantage.
These standards for example make sure that the cards and game outputs in a poker and rummy game declared are a consequence of pure randomness and are statistically unpredictable.
The certificate acts as a way of transparent communication between the company and players as a proof of legitimacy and creates confidence among players.
In case of online skill games like Rummy and Poker, the testing agencies usually test Card Shuffling, Card Sequences with Repeatability and Card Distribution to ensure that no draw or card lineup can be predicted and is always random during game sessions.
With all the tests passed, the certifying body will provide a RNG certificate to the gaming platform. The cost of certification varies according to the app or website with the number of games, number of functionalities and tests, and more increasing the cost.