More than a decade of collaboration, over 850 automated checks, and a testing environment spanning lottery games, physical terminals, and interconnected business systems. Since 2014, ProofIT has supported Szerencsejáték Plc. in developing test automation capabilities that have evolved from individual functional checks into an integral part of the company’s regression testing and release validation processes.
Modern lottery operations depend on a complex network of interconnected applications, sales channels, and backend systems. A transaction initiated at a physical terminal or through an online interface may involve multiple components before the complete business process is finished. Ensuring that these systems continue to work together reliably requires more than isolated functional testing.
ProofIT’s collaboration with Szerencsejáték Plc. began in 2014 with the automation of selected testing activities. Over the following years, the scope expanded as new requirements, technologies, and business processes were introduced.
Today, more than 850 automated checks support regression testing, covering number games, scratch cards, terminal software, and associated end-to-end business processes. The objective is not simply to increase the number of automated tests. It is to provide repeatable verification of critical functionality as the underlying systems evolve.
Testing a lottery application involves considerably more than verifying whether a ticket can be purchased. Depending on the game, a complete business process may include game configuration, ticket submission, price verification, transaction processing, result evaluation, prize calculation, and payout validation.
Each step must work correctly, but the interactions between systems are equally important. For example, a transaction initiated at a physical sales terminal must be processed correctly by the relevant backend services. Subsequent operations, such as result verification or prize payment, must remain consistent with the original transaction.
The automated testing environment supports a broad range of publicly available games and services, including Ötöslottó, Hatoslottó, Skandináv lottó, Kenó, EuroJackpot, Joker, Luxor, Puttó, Kincsem+, Totó/Góltotó, Napi Mázli, Tippmix, and virtual sports betting processes.
This diversity introduces substantial testing complexity. Different games have different business rules, transaction lifecycles, and operational requirements. A reliable automation strategy must account for these differences while maintaining consistent execution and reporting.
Physical lottery terminals introduce challenges that conventional web application testing does not typically encounter. In addition to the application itself, testing must account for terminal-specific operations and interactions with physical devices.
Automated terminal regression includes processes such as:
These processes often involve multiple hardware and software components, making their reliable automation more demanding. A further challenge is the introduction of new terminal generations.
ProofIT is currently investigating and extending automated testing capabilities for next-generation terminal environments. A longer-term objective is to establish a test laboratory in which parts of the terminal environment can be virtualized. Such an architecture could reduce dependence on the availability of physical devices and make regression testing capacity easier to scale.
One of the distinctive characteristics of lottery and betting systems is that test execution frequently depends on changing business conditions. Unlike conventional applications, where predefined static data may be sufficient, lottery systems often require specific states before a test can proceed.
Examples include:
Some business processes naturally extend over hours or days. Consequently, effective automation involves much more than executing a sequence of predefined actions. It requires appropriate test data, prerequisite workflows, scheduling, state management, and coordination between multiple systems. This capability is particularly important for end-to-end testing, where a single scenario may need to follow a transaction through several stages of its lifecycle.
The business value of automation becomes especially visible when complex regression processes must be repeated across multiple releases. Manually testing time-dependent lottery processes can require substantial effort, particularly when testers must wait for specific business events or system states. By combining controlled test data with carefully designed automated workflows, some of these processes can be executed considerably faster.
Based on ProofIT’s project experience, certain regression processes have achieved execution speeds approximately 10–15 times faster than corresponding real-time or manual approaches. However, execution speed is only part of the benefit. Automation also improves reproducibility.
Tests can be executed consistently, results can be traced, and large regression suites can be repeated without requiring the same level of manual effort for every cycle. This creates a more predictable testing process and allows engineering teams to focus on investigating failures rather than repeatedly performing routine checks.
The ultimate purpose of regression testing is not to produce a large number of successful test results. It is to provide meaningful evidence that a new software version is ready for release. Throughout the collaboration with Szerencsejáték Plc., automated regression testing has identified defects and deviations affecting web, terminal, and back-office components.
According to project experience, a typical release verification may reveal one or two substantive issues. Identifying even a small number of significant defects before deployment can provide considerable value in a business-critical environment.
A failure may affect more than an individual user. Depending on the system involved, it could disrupt an entire transaction process or sales channel. Reliable automated regression therefore contributes directly to release confidence by helping teams identify problems before they reach production.
A mature test automation strategy does not attempt to automate every possible activity. Some checks still require physical interaction, visual assessment, or professional judgment. Automating these activities may be technically difficult or economically unjustified. The goal is to identify processes that are repeatable, objectively verifiable, and valuable to execute frequently.
Automation can then handle high-volume regression activities while experienced testers concentrate on complex scenarios, investigation, analysis, and decisions that require human expertise. This balance is essential for maintaining an automation environment that remains useful and sustainable over time.
After more than a decade of development, the automated regression environment continues to evolve. Current priorities include supporting new terminal generations, automating additional complex terminal processes, expanding scratch card and sports betting workflows, and improving the integrated testing environment.
These developments reflect an important change in the role of test automation. What began as the automation of selected functional checks has become an ongoing Quality Engineering capability supporting release validation across interconnected business systems. The value lies not only in the automated checks themselves, but in the ability to execute them consistently as applications, devices, and business processes change.
The experience gained through the collaboration between ProofIT and Szerencsejáték Plc. demonstrates how test automation can evolve into a long-term engineering capability. More than 850 automated checks now support the verification of complex lottery and betting processes across multiple technologies and sales channels.
The result is a regression testing approach designed to improve repeatability, reduce manual effort, identify defects earlier, and provide stronger evidence for release decisions. More than 850 automated checks. Over a decade of collaboration. One objective: greater confidence before every release.
ProofIT has proven experience in the automated testing of complex, business-critical systems in the lottery industry. Through its ACE test automation platform and specialist engineering services, ProofIT supports automated regression and end-to-end testing across web, desktop, backend, and specialized terminal environments.
Looking to strengthen regression testing across interconnected systems? Contact ProofIT at business@proofit.tech or +44 73 6048 4722 to discuss your testing challenges or request an ACE demonstration.
