Interconexión says server-hosted type B machines already run in Castilla y León

Rodrigo García Barquín, head of projects at Interconexión Castilla y León, told the XIX Congreso de Juego de Castilla y León that the type B machine model with server-hosted games is already in operation in the region. Speaking at the Soria event, he said the model is not a proposal but a system in use in Castilla y León today.

García described the system as having four parts: the physical terminal, or cabinet; a server holding the games; a gateway that receives information; and a web platform for management. The game is downloaded to the terminal, which stays connected to the server and sends it plays, machine events and incidents. The terminal carries a router connected by mobile network to the servers, and García said the system does not use the open internet but a private network with fully encrypted data. Firewalls and security systems on the servers keep the information confidential, and it can be consulted by operators and by public administrations, in anonymised form for the latter.

Games work in a marketplace model, García said, comparable to mobile games: the operator chooses a game and, when it orders installation, the game is downloaded to the premises. He said the game is hosted on a homologated server and is secure and complete software, and can be swapped easily. Compared with the traditional model, in which the machine stores its playing history offline and someone must visit the terminal to extract the data, the connected machine represents a change of paradigm, with information concentrated on a server from which everything is supervised.

According to García, treating the machines as a network rather than isolated units brings a wider catalogue at lower cost than replacing a whole cabinet, simpler data analysis with indicators filtered by establishment, terminal, neighbourhood or geographic area, and a global view of the machine park for both the administration and each operator. Real-time information allows errors such as a fault in a payout device to be detected and the technician or establishment to be alerted quickly, and shows which machines are active and how they are being played.

García highlighted the benefits for public supervision. The administration obtains full traceability of the information; he gave a tax example in which, if an operator declares a specific quarterly takings figure for a machine, the administration can establish that the €500 came from two named bars and on which days each amount was played. The system also records which game was played on each terminal, when it was changed, and that it is downloaded, homologated and certified, and it manages access for different user profiles such as administrators and data analysts. He stressed that it supports legal control but does not replace existing homologation and certification requirements.

As possible further development, García pointed to data analysis to predict or detect anomalies, for example replacing a payout device before it fails once a model is known to fail after 5,000 hours of use, moving from corrective to predictive decisions. He also mentioned artificial intelligence as support only, warning that it must be handled with care and that the platform will not be left to its use. He listed security against external attacks and data loss, reliability of the data, operational continuity through automatic failover to a replicated server or data centre, and management of data between agents as the challenges. He said the administration has full functions to act, including a button to shut down a machine, a delegation, an operator or the whole system if necessary.

On the panel question of evolution or reconversion, García agreed with CIRSA's Carlos Duelo that there has been an evolution, from reel to video, video to touch and touch to multigame, and said machines will keep changing because players demand it. He argued that when the change means the information generated by machines matters as well as the game, that is reconversion, moving from a system of machines in a bar to an information system. He said the model is already implemented and has transformed the type B machine. The server-operated type B machine model was updated in Castilla y León by an order of 11 March 2026, as the regional minister of the presidency, Luis Miguel González Gago, recalled at the opening.