One reason they might increase the volatility is to (hopefully) get extra deposits.The thing that no one's been able to adequately explain about Bonanza is if it's been changed, then what aspect of it has been changed, and how? And for what reason?
RTP is the same, 96%, so it's not that.
Feature frequency still appears to be the same old insane 1/460 number, so it's not that.
A couple of months ago someone posted their numbers from long extended periods of play without getting a bonus, and RTP came in at 76%, which is bang on what the base game RTP in Bonanza is known to be. (And if base game RTP is the same, then the RTP allocation for the bonus must be the same as well.)
At that point all we've got is volatility, and they could have messed with either or both of the base game and/or the bonus round, but then we come to the other question, why bother?
I've been reading this thread for years and it seems to me that Bonanza has always been a weird proposition, thanks to that bonkers 1/460 feature frequency and large allocation of RTP to the base game - it's always been capable of weird shit, and it's still doing it today.
I mean, I'm not saying they haven't messed with it, but as per the list above, there's not really much they could have actually messed with!
Low Volatile Bonanza
Deposit £20 and play at 20p, bust out after an hour, maybe a bonus or perhaps no bonus at all.
But you've had an hour's 'entertainment'
'Ah well, better luck tomorrow (or next week or whatever)'
Higher Volotile Bonanza
Deposit £20 and play at 20p, bust out after 15 minutes (which can happen quite regularly these days), No decent wins, no bonus
Only had 15 minutes play...
'Maybe I'll give it another £20'
'Maybe it's saving up for a big win' (yeah I know they don't work like that. But your average punter doesn't)
If you were a slot provider. How would you increase your income and/or decrease your costs