The emergence of online casinos in the past few years has brought the activity to the attention of many individuals across the globe. Casino enthusiasts were thrilled at having another avenue to play their favourite casino games on, while newcomers to the environment were provided with a new and exciting entertainment option. The creation of a digital world of casinos has also opened the door for new variations in game play and more interactive features that prevent games like online slots from going stale.

Over the years, one feature in particular has made a significant contribution to the success of the online casino industry. Bonus buy slots have remained popular over the years and have propelled the popularity of online casinos around the world to record-breaking numbers, not only in the number of players active on platforms, but also the revenue produced by markets that have a legal and secure framework for online casino activity.

As one of the leading markets in the online gambling industry, the United Kingdom boasts revenue figures of €12.80 billion from figures published from 2024, and that is even without the feature that makes online slots the most played online casino game.

What are bonus buy slots?

The bonus buy feature does exactly what it says on the tin. The icon that can be found on game play screens on the majority of online slots titles allows players to essentially skip standard game play and progress directly to bonus rounds. This obviously comes at a cost and there is no greater guarantee of a win.

Some games might offer a range of bonuses to purchase at different costs, but whichever bonus is activated, the chance to play with high multipliers and win free spins is what attracts online slots players to this feature.

Are bonus buy games here to stay?

Despite the popularity of games where you can buy the bonus on slots, there has been some pushback to the inclusion of this type of bonus on online casino platforms. The United Kingdom, one of the leading markets in this industry as mentioned earlier, took the decision to ban bonus buy slots games in 2019. Six years later, only the Netherlands and Sweden have displayed similar attitudes to the UK, with the Netherlands banning online slots games and similar games of a “high risk” nature completely.

The topic around the inclusion of bonus buy games is currently under discussion in Sweden due to the potential danger bonus buy games possess and the additional finance players invest in activating this bonus feature. But while Sweden still debates bonus buy games, the rest of the online casino playing market still remain in favour of them. This stance could change though in the coming years as markets take on the greater responsibility of a growing online casino market.

The future of bonus buy games

The development of the online casino market is certain to come across more features that will cause debate. The UK especially are known for implementing stricter regulations and are currently assessing spending and deposit limits. For other markets, especially the emerging ones trying to establish themselves in the online casino jungle, they currently view bonus buy games as an important part of their offerings due to the popularity of them. For this reason, we can expect the majority of markets to retain bonus buy slots.