ONLINE SOUTH AFRICA SA – GTA Online’s new casino goes bust in South Africa 5 years ago Samuel Post Views: 1,483 Launching today, the game’s new update opens up the Diamond Casino & Resort complex in Los Santos, featuring “lavish amenities, exclusive shopping, first-class entertainment and state-of-the-art gaming facilities”. Unless you’re in South Africa or one of the multiple other countries that bans this sort of thing. According to users on Reddit and Twitter, the free DLC – which includes new in-game diversions like slot machines and card games – isn’t working as expected in some locations, probably due to local restrictions on online or even regular gambling. Although the Diamond Casino & Resort location is available to visit, this guy confirms, you can’t actually interact with anything in it. Instead, you can only gaze upon it, and wish for what you don’t and can’t have. Which is also a metaphor for the status quo in Mzanzi, I guess, so that’s… something. Online gambling has been technically illegal in this country since 2004 (the National Lottery is an exception because… because), but enforcement of this legislation is not exactly consistent. It’s illegal to operate an online gambling service in South Africa, and it’s illegal for a South African citizen to use online gambling services, but prosecution for these offences is almost entirely non-existent. Even though GTA Online also uses in-game currency for gambling purposes, I suppose Rockstar is playing it safe this time. Also, obligatory joke about getting out of bed being a gamble in South Africa. Local legal-expert-to-the-games-media Nick Hall explains on Twitter that because in-game currency Shark Cards can be purchased with real cash and used to buy casino chips, it meets the South African definition of “a gambling game”, and that’s a no-no. Some people have made inevitable comparisons with gambling activities in other games like Red Dead Redemption 2, but these don’t support purchases with real cash – not directly, anyway, but the game’s Gold Bar DLC purchases can be used to boost in-game currency, so it’s definitely a somewhat ambiguous distinction. Gold Bars, Shark Cards, more or less the same thing. In the meantime, you can sign a petition that won’t solve the problem unless Rockstar nukes GTA 5 Shark Card DLC purchases in South Africa and is that even what you actually want or use a VPN. Source: nag.co.za About Post Author Samuel I am a journalist specializing in gambling in Africa and around the world. I am particularly interested in stories about games and casinos. See author's posts SamuelI am a journalist specializing in gambling in Africa and around the world. I am particularly interested in stories about games and casinos. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Print Tags: Diamond Casino, game, GTA Online Continue Reading Previous South Africa – How much money Sun City, Montecasino and other casinos are cashing inNext South Africa – Online casino, crypto pain for NGB More Stories EXPERTS SOUTH AFRICA Remote Gambling Bill aims to regulate online gambling 21 hours ago Samuel ONLINE WORLD NEWS 130 Chinese extradited for online fraud, cybercrimes 22 hours ago Szarlot ONLINE SOUTH AFRICA Why video game prices have skyrocketed in South Africa 2 days ago Szarlot GAMES ONLINE 5 Lions Megaways: An Enchanting East Asian Adventure 3 days ago Tools MALAWI ONLINE A Succinct Guide to Online Gaming in Malawi 3 days ago Samuel EXPERTS SOUTH AFRICA South African Regulator Grants Approval to 59 Crypto Platforms for Resident Services 3 days ago Samuel ONLINE WORLD NEWS BetFounders has joined forces with iMoon provider 7 days ago Iwo Bulski ONLINE WORLD NEWS Pragmatic Play expands online slots deal with Fortuna Entertainment 7 days ago Iwo Bulski BETTING SOUTH AFRICA Golden Matrix completes acquisition of MeridanBet Group 7 days ago Iwo Bulski LOTTERIES SOUTH AFRICA SA has three new multi-millionaires 7 days ago Samuel BETTING SOUTH AFRICA South African Gambling Regulation: A Closer Look 1 week ago Samuel LOTTERIES SOUTH AFRICA Three new South African millionaires 1 week ago Szarlot Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.