Evolution vs. Playtech: battle of the iCasino giants
Breaking: £10m fine for Unibet, Evolution vs. Playtech defamation case set for 2026, Clickout Media-Gambling Insider, Kambi-Betnation, FIFA NFTs &Co
Hello, on Gaming&Co today:
Breaking news: UK Gambling Commission fines Unibet operator £10m
Playtech ordered Evolution report in 2021, groups set for legal battle
Clickout Media acquires Gambling Insider to pursue SEO-media authority strategy
Kambi adds Betnation to Dutch client list, Swiss regulator says FIFA NFTs are “illegal” gambling
News shorts: PAGCOR, Nevada’s prediction warning, PAGCOR, Relax Gaming
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Breaking news: UK Gambling Commission fines Unibet operator £10m
FDJ’s UK flagship brand hit for £10m for repeated AML and CSR failings
10 on the money: Platinum Gaming – the operator of FDJ United’s flagship Unibet UK website unibet.co.uk has been fined £10m by the UK Gambling Commission for failings related to its anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility operations.
The fine is the second time Platinum Gaming has faced enforcement action: in 2023 it received a £2.9m financial penalty for the similar failings.
The latest sanction was for CSR failures that included employing a CRM system that “failed to identify a player as at risk of harm despite the player losing £5,000 within 24 hours of registration” and not interacting with a consumer who lost more than £31,000 in nine months and “demonstrated markers of harm associated with high velocity gambling”.
On the AML front, UKGC said Platinum Gaming’s policies lacked clarity and failed to exclude customers “whose account(s) had been closed due to money laundering or terrorist funding concerns prior to 2023. This enabled some customers whose accounts had been blocked to open new accounts and gamble”.
The group will also receive a warning and have to undergo a third-party audit to ensure it is effectively implementing its AML and safer gambling policies, said UKGC.
John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, said: “While industry wide progress has been made in reducing unchecked high spending, the failings at Platinum Gaming are particularly disappointing. The case revealed serious shortcomings in customer interaction systems, including failures to identify and act on clear markers of harm.”
Playtech ordered 2021 Black Cube report on Evolution
iGaming giant paid nearly £2m to investigation firm to discredit live casino leader
Commission job: Evolution has revealed that B2B casino software rival Playtech commissioned and paid the surveillance company Black Cube £1.8m to publish the November 2021 report alleging that the live casino market leader operated in some of the world’s most controversial and prohibited jurisdictions, causing Evolution’s market value to drop by billions of euros. Evolution denied the allegations and said the report was “inaccurate, false, defamatory and methodologically flawed” and undertook a legal process that has taken four years to reveal who had commissioned Black Cube to produce the report.
“Extraordinary lengths”: In a statement published yesterday, Evolution said it was “deeply disturbing to learn that one of our competitors has gone to such extraordinary lengths to damage our business and reputation by hiring Black Cube and paying them over £1.8m to fabricate a report they knew would have extremely harmful repercussions”.
The Swedish group added that it will be seeking substantial damages from Playtech, with defamation litigation expected to run throughout 2026.
Distraction tactic: In response, Playtech said it was “wholly untrue” that it “engaged in a smear campaign” against Evolution and the accusation was “designed to distract from serious questions about Evolution’s business practices”.
Playtech added that it welcomed going to court to examine the report and its findings and that it investigated “credible and repeated concerns raised by operators, suppliers and regulators about Evolution’s activities in prohibited and sanctioned markets, and its supply to unlicensed operators in regulated markets”.
The news caused Playtech’s share price to drop nearly 50% yesterday.
Legal drama to continue
Evolution added that executives involved in commissioning the report included Playtech CEO Mor Weizer and other senior leaders. During the company’s Q2 earnings call, one analyst asked Weizer if Playtech was involved with the report. He replied: “Obviously, we can’t – it’s nothing – not a question for us. It’s a question for people involved in this matter.”
The live casino group told Next.io that “Black Cube continues to evade the court’s discovery orders by withholding relevant information” and the group is seeking to uncover the names of more individuals who worked on the report, information on payments and the list of media companies which were sent a copy.
When the report was published four years ago it was passed on to regulators in New Jersey, a leading US iGaming state, by Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP, a law firm representing Black Cube, and sent to media outlets. The subsequent coverage caused Evolution’s share price to tank and its market value dropped by €3bn. However, US regulators dismissed it and said it lacked “evidentiary support”.
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Clickout Media acquires Gambling Insider for £12-£14m
Clickout continues aggressive SEO and M&A strategy of acquiring authoritative media domains to expand its affiliate and iGaming network
Inside line: Gambling Insider, a B2B media publisher for the betting and gaming sector, has taken on a new brand identity and become Global Gaming Insider as it moves to new ownership. Gaming&Co understands from multiple sources that the rebrand, which was announced on 16 October, is part of a transaction that will see the publishing, affiliate and iGaming group Clickout Media acquire Gambling Insider for an amount of between £12m and £14m.
Opt-outs: Until now Gambling Insider has been the principal asset of Players Publishing, which will continue to produce Global Gaming Insider, while Clickout Media takes over the Gambling Insider output. As detailed to Gaming&Co, the deal specifically concerns the ownership of Gambling Insider and does not include any other assets owned by Players Publishing.
Gambling Insider launched in 2010, it has grown its audience and reach consistently over the past 15 years and has become a recognised B2B publisher covering the iGaming sector.
Clicked in: Clickout Media, which until recently also operated under the name Finixio, was founded in 2018 by online marketing experts Adam Grunwerg and Samuel Miranda. It has emerged as one of the industry’s fastest-growing media and affiliate networks, operating across the connected sectors of iGaming, eSports and crypto.
However, its operations have also been mired in controversy as it has pivoted towards acquiring legacy media brands. It produces news-led content to strengthen its SEO authority and adapt to Google’s latest algorithmic changes, which prioritise expertise and trustworthy information sources.
Shadow moves: According to the SEO expert Timothy Malmros Genach, Finixio/Clickout operates a network of ‘parasite SEO’ sites (the Chat GPT summary of the investigation is available here) that leverage well-known media brands such as Forbes, Techopedia and B2B gaming media outlets to rise to the top of search results. They then drive traffic to largely-unregulated casino and crypto platforms on both B2B and B2C basis.
In response Clickout Media is seeking an injunction on Malmros Genach to force him to remove all published content about the company and prohibit future publications.
The Gambling Insider buyout isn’t Clickout’s first foray into B2B gaming media. In summer 2024 it acquired SBC Media’s websites Casinobeats and Esports Insider for an undisclosed fee. Its acquisition of Gambling Insider means it will continue its strategic focus combining publishing and performance marketing, which is expected to accelerate Clickout Media’s expansion across high-growth digital entertainment verticals. Neither company responded to Gaming&Co enquiries.
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Kambi adds Betnation to Dutch sports client roster
Betting solution provider’s dot nl client list helped with new contract win
Yes we Kam: Kambi will provide its sports betting solution to the Dutch operator Betnation as part of a multi-year partnership between the two companies that will see Betnation go live with the Swedish group’s betting platform in the next few weeks. The agreement took shape in the past two months after Betnation and ComeOn’s Dutch websites went offline in early September due to their sportsbook provider Metric Gaming running into financial difficulties.
Kambi’s new turnkey partner, which operates its PAM via a partnership with Bragg Gaming, joins a Dutch client list that includes the brands 711, Unibet - until the FDJ-owned brand migrates to the Kindred Sportsbook Platform; BetCity, Bingoal and Jacks.nl.
Track record: The deal happened at a time when Metric’s business difficulties meant its clients were seeking out new betting providers, but Kambi’s client roster and ability to work in a tight regulated market is likely to have been a contributing factor in winning the contract.
Search for new partners: The first signs of Metric’s troubles saw the UK-focused brand Betzone sign with GIG in late August. Betnation and ComeOn went offline a few days later and put in motion the selection process by which Betnation selected Kambi as its new betting provider.
Kambi CEO Werner Becher said his company’s “turnkey sportsbook solution offers the flexibility, scalability and performance needed to compete in highly competitive markets like the Netherlands”. Robert Schouten, CEO of Betnation, added: “Kambi’s technology and expertise will enable us to provide our customers with a premium betting experience that matches the high standards they already expect from our online casino product.”
Swiss regulator says FIFA’s NFTs are “illegal” gambling
GESPA files criminal complaint against world football body
FIFA’s NFT fudge: The Swiss Gambling Supervisory Authority (GESPA) has filed a criminal complaint against world football’s governing body FIFA accusing it of offering “illegal” sports betting products to Swiss consumers in the form of NFTs. The Authority said the blockchain-based NFT platform collect.fifa.com offers “gambling services that are not licensed in Switzerland and are therefore illegal”.
FIFA’s NFT website offers customers the chance to take part in competitions such as drops and challenges in exchange for a monetary stake in return for potential financial gains, with players able to win a prize depending on random draws or lotteries and sports betting outcomes. GESPA said “the final criminal assessment is the responsibility of the law enforcement authorities”.
Sorare is the most well-known operator of NFTs used in fantasy betting contexts. While the group can operate legally in France, in the UK the Gambling Commission opened legal proceedings against Sorare for offering unlicensed and illegal sports betting products. The trial is set to start in June 2026.
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News shorts
The Philippines’ gambling regulator PAGCOR has released the Regulatory Framework for the Accreditation of Gaming Affiliates and Support Service Providers, outlining detailed guidelines for suppliers to receive accreditation and setting out how PAGCOR will regulate affiliates and systems, content or ancillary services providers to licensed operators in the country.
The legal battle between Aristocrat and Light & Wonder over the rights and math models to the Dragon Train game continued as a Nevada District Court granted Aristocrat’s request for discovery motion. As a result, L&W will have to disclose all the models of its hold and spin games released since 2021.
Nevada is the latest US jurisdiction to warn licensed operators in the state that offering contracts on sports, elections or pop culture events constitutes “wagering activity” under state law, regardless of whether the contracts are listed on an exchange under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or not. Ohio and Michigan have issued similar warnings recently.
FDJ United’s online casino games provider Relax Gaming has launched a new feature that enables players to increase their chances of triggering bonus content while playing its online slots. The Bonus Reels option costs 10x the base bet while maintaining the same RTP ratio.
Calendar
Results: 23 Oct: Evolution, 24 Oct: Betsson
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