Evolution Settles With UK Gambling Commission for £4.75 Million, Ending 18-Month Review
Evolution, the parent company of NetEnt and Red Tiger, has settled with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for £4.75 million. The 18-month license review, which began over its games appearing on 6 sites run by 2 unlicensed operators, has ended.
Key takeaways
- On July 15, Evolution disclosed a £4.75 million settlement with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
- The problem was that 2 unlicensed operators offered Evolution games to UK players on 6 sites.
- The license review that began in December 2024 has ended after 18 months.
- The company cut ties with the operators and strengthened blocking measures, including ring-fencing.
A review that began in December 2024
On July 15, Evolution disclosed that it had reached a £4.75 million settlement with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). The license review that began in December 2024 ends with this. The review alone lasted 18 months.
The issue was that Evolution games were offered to UK players on sites without a UK license. According to the disclosure, two operators did this through six sites. The company explains that its supply contracts prohibited offering games in unlicensed markets, and that those operators actively got around the blocking measures in place at the time.
"There was no wider pattern"
Evolution said it cooperated with the Commission for 18 months. It also stressed that nothing during the review suggested that unlicensed access in the UK was more widespread. It cut ties with the two operators involved as soon as the problem was found.
The company said it has since strengthened its technical blocking measures. The most recent addition is “ring-fencing,” a reinforced measure that puts a fence between licensed and unlicensed markets. It added the caveat, however, that no system can fully stop third parties from trying to break through controls.
NetEnt’s flagship titles on our site, such as Starburst and Gonzo’s Quest, are also all supplied in the UK under this group license. Regulatory issues being tied together at the group level also means that one studio’s problem can spread into a problem for the whole group.
The CEO’s words
CEO Martin Carlesund said, “It is unacceptable that six unlicensed sites offered Evolution content in the regulated UK market,” adding, “We do not want traffic from unlicensed operators, and we will respond quickly whenever such a situation arises.” In the Q2 earnings announcement two days later, he brought up the matter again and said the team had weathered the long review well.
How far a provider’s responsibility extends
This case shows how far a B2B game supplier’s responsibility goes. Evolution does not serve players directly. It makes games and supplies them to licensed operators. Even so, if a supplied game ends up running somewhere it should not, the regulator that holds the license also holds the supplier accountable. The UK is one of the strictest markets in that respect.
In fact, the UKGC has kept tightening its oversight of B2B suppliers in recent years. Its view is that cracking down on operators alone makes it hard to stop games from flowing to unlicensed sites. For providers, this means that putting a prohibition clause in a contract is not enough, and they are expected to block it technically. Evolution’s emphasis on ring-fencing fits that trend.
£4.75 million is well over 8 billion won in Korean currency. But at the scale of Evolution, whose quarterly revenue tops €500 million, the significance lies more in keeping its license than in the financial hit. Had the review gone another way, its UK market operations could have been shaken.
The slot studios under Evolution, namely NetEnt, Red Tiger, Big Time Gaming, and Nolimit City, also fall under the same group licensing framework. With this settlement, the whole group can continue operating in the UK. Around the same time, Evolution also dealt with another issue, a takeover offer from its largest shareholder, which is covered in our article on the Candle Lake offer.
Source: Evolution official filing