The Gaming Standards Association (GSA) has released an update to its landmark award-winning G2S (Game-to-System) Standard. According to the organization, the new v3.0 makes the gaming industry’s leading standard much easier to implement, easier to test, and easier to operate. Further, new extensions have been added to support gaming operators’ modern business needs.
“Our goal with G2S 3.0 was to improve the migration path from previous versions, support evolving market needs, and enhance the technical foundation of the protocol for the future,” said G2S Committee Chair Kevin Higgins. “We feel strongly that we have addressed those goals in this release.”
New in G2S 3.0 are important extensions that support a casino’s contemporary business needs, such as stand-alone progressive controllers, mystery jackpots and EGM-controlled progressive signs.
“Our operator members were an incredible source of both feedback and inspiration as we developed G2S 3.0, said Ethan Tower, GSA’s protocol director. “Adding these extensions answers a critical business need of operators everywhere and help to make implementing those processes even easier.”
In addition to the new extensions, several message handling and communications requirements were simplified, and unnecessary and redundant features have been removed, streamlining the standard and enhancing its ease of implementation.
Further, two new companion specifications were added, standardizing software download and installation processes and increasing ease of use:
• PKG (Package Manifest File Format) v1.0 standardizes the format in which software packages are delivered to download servers.
• PRF (Peripheral Manifest File Format) v1.0 standardizes the format in which peripheral firmware is delivered to EGM manufacturers for integration into downloadable software packages.
The new G2S 3.0 is one of 11 standards GSA recently released, all of which were designed specifically to further enhance the global gaming industry and unleash the creativity of its developers. Each of the standards is available for free to all GSA members on GSA’s website, gamingstandards.com.
