Game Approval Now Easier

It seems getting games approved in NV is now much easier than it used to be. Games that are variants of popular games are getting treated that way as opposed to requiring a field trial as in the past. Before recent changes, they only considered additions to a game (like a new side bet), or changing a paytable, as not needing a trial. However, it now appears that as long as a game is at least loosely based off a known entity it is getting a much lighter approval process.

I had inquired about a game I started developing a year ago and told it would require a field trial since its mechanics changed the rules/strategy to the base game of blackjack. I inquired a again recently and they said it would be considered a variant and not need a field trial. I thought maybe I got lucky and talked to someone different, but I remember reading somewhere that they were making an effort to fast-track the process sometime in the last year, and it seems to have come to fruition.

Some games are getting very liberally treated as variants, for instance the new "Double Hook Poker" L&W debuted at G2E got approved as a Ultimate Texas Hold'em variant, even though this new game lets you play two hands against a paytable, which seems more closely related to Mississippi Stud than UTH, but regardless it got a quick approval in NV.

https://www.gaming.nv.gov/divisions/gaming-lab/approved-games/

This is great :)

Obviously this will encourage innovation by making it easier to make new games, but I see a potential downside in that it might encourage inventors to only make Blackjack/HoldEm/Baccarat/PaiGowPoker variants instead of more original games to avoid needing a field trial.