Casino Is variance fact or opinion?

Is variance fact (programmed into games) or opinion (we decide for ourselves what variance we believe a game to be).
Is this an industry thing or a gambler's term?

I remember recently declaring my belief that, for example, DoA is low variance. Because of the many many small wins you get and very rare big wins. But another member told be that "most people would say it's a high variance bastard of a slot".
Am I wrong, or is it debatable? DoA is just one example, and remembering the above statement prompted me to write this thread.

I'm just curious where the term variance actually came from. I know (or assume, rather) the developers create a game's RTP, but is variance just a by-product of the paytable, or is variance taken into account in development?

Source

 

Variance is a fact.