Play’n GO has taken a major step in its campaign against offshore gambling markets by ending the distribution of its games through major aggregator platforms.
According to an exclusive report by NEXT.io, the Malta-based slot supplier informed unhappy aggregation partners last week that its content would no longer be available through those channels as it seeks to tighten control over where its games can be accessed.
The move is part of a wider effort to prevent Play’n GO titles from appearing on unlicensed gambling websites and other markets the company no longer wishes to serve. Last May, it announced that its full portfolio of games “will never be supplied to so-called ‘sweepstakes casinos’,” and it continued this September by pulling out of the Asian market.
“We are interested in working with anyone that addresses locally licensed markets with the right compliance and licensing setup,” CCO Magnus Olsson said to NEXT.io “Our strategy has been the same for years. We constantly review our traffic and take action when needed, and this is no exception. It does not constitute a change of direction. On the contrary, we are continuing to execute on our long-term strategy.”
A bold but unsurprising move
While the decision is significant, it did not come completely out of the blue. Questions around Play’n GO’s exposure to offshore markets surfaced last year when Compliance+More reported that some of the supplier’s games were available through Curaçao-licensed operators.
Responding at the time, Play’n GO’s Head of Government Affairs, Shawn Fluharty, said the sites in question appeared to be customers of large resellers operating under international licences in pre-regulated markets. He also argued that the activity generated minimal revenue, stating that some titles produced “as little as one to two euros a day.”
Since then, the supplier has continued to position itself as a regulated-market business, expanding its presence in licensed markets.
Recent moves include entering Alberta’s recently launched regulated market, launching content with Casino Barcelona in Spain, and joining Germany’s online casino association, the DOCV, in September as it deepened engagement with regulators and policymakers.
The supplier has also repeatedly warned about unauthorised distribution of its content. On its licensing and certification page, the company states: “We have been made aware that there are game providers that offer copies of our games under the pretense of being aggregators or distributors of Play’n GO (and other) games.”
“Some of these even provide games that on the surface appear legit and identical to our games, but make no mistake: they are not provided by us, nor by companies with the rights to provide them.”
With sources telling NEXT.io that Play’n GO intends to work only with locally licensed operators going forward, the aggregator decision appears to be another step in a strategy that has been developing for some time. In addition to external and government affairs work, there are also talks that the company intends to expand its land-based slots business alongside its online operations.
