Winzo develops model to differentiate games of skill and chances with IITs

Skill-gaming platform Winzo has developed a statistical model for differentiating between the games of skill and chance in collaboration with IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, as well as Stanford University and California State University.

The initiative, the company said, had the potential to enhance overall transparency and fairness within the gaming industry.

“As a gaming platform that publishes games of over 100 game developers, it was important for us to have a predictable, transparent, and accountable methodology to determine through a scientific methodology if the game is a game of skill. We worked with top statisticians and engineering departments globally to build and validate a method that can be used by any entrepreneur in partnership with these institutions now,” said Paavan Nanda, cofounder of Winzo.


The study, the company added, started amid concerns about the independence of the proposed self-regulatory bodies (SRBs) in India's online gaming sector.

The SRBs having access to confidential proprietary information of new-age technology firms was “a potential threat” to early-stage innovation.

The statistical model, however, could be democratised and applied to any game without necessitating access to proprietary data or violating the intellectual property rights of gaming companies for skill assessments.

In August this year, the GST council ruled that all online games involving bets would be taxed 28% GST on the entire value of bets placed, regardless of whether they were games of skill or chance.