ONLINE SOUTH AFRICA SA – GTA Online’s new casino goes bust in South Africa 3 years ago Samuel Post Views: 1,145 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 ONLINE WORLD NEWS 4 sales-boosting modules from Slotegrator’s new platform 6 days ago Iwo Bulski KENYA ONLINE The influencers paid to push hashtags 6 days ago Iwo Bulski NIGERIA ONLINE BGaming develops compression algorithm to cut game loading time 2 weeks ago Iwo Bulski ONLINE SOUTH AFRICA Africa Records a High Number of Gamers 2 weeks ago Iwo Bulski ONLINE WORLD NEWS Keep VIP programs compliant with the right bonus module 2 weeks ago Iwo Bulski BURUNDI ONLINE Grupo Pefaco enlists Moobifun to take it digital in Africa 2 weeks ago Samuel ONLINE Volatility & Variance for Slot Games Explained 2 weeks ago Szarlot BETTING SOUTH AFRICA South African start-up wagers on peer-to-peer betting 2 weeks ago Szarlot ONLINE SOUTH AFRICA How gambling has evolved world-wide 2 weeks ago Iwo Bulski ONLINE WORLD NEWS TVBET unites forces with Technamin 3 weeks ago Iwo Bulski ONLINE WORLD NEWS How the iGaming industry is driving the global economy 3 weeks ago Iwo Bulski ONLINE SOUTH AFRICA Online slots go live in South Africa 3 weeks ago Iwo Bulski 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.