Evolution Pays £4.75m Over Games on Unlicensed UK Sites

The Gambling Commission found Evolution's games on six unlicensed websites used by British players and says it considered suspending the licence.

Evolution Malta Holding Limited, one of the best-known suppliers of live dealer casino games, will pay £4.75 million after a Gambling Commission investigation, the regulator announced on 23 July.

The Commission found that Evolution’s games appeared on six unlicensed websites that could be reached by consumers in Great Britain, with large volumes of visits from UK consumers between December 2023 and November 2024. Two operators Evolution did business with were supplying its games to British players without a Commission licence.

What went wrong

The regulator said Evolution’s assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risk was outdated and did not properly consider the risk of its games reaching unlicensed operators. It found breaches in risk assessment, in the policies and controls meant to keep its games out of the unlicensed market, and in customer due diligence.

John Pierce, the Commission’s Director of Enforcement, said the failings were serious enough for the Commission to consider suspending the licence, but that Evolution responded swiftly and its later testing found no further concerns. He warned that the Commission will keep testing the market for licensed games appearing on illegal sites.

The lesson for players

A familiar game on a website does not make that website licensed. The only way to know is to check the operator on the Gambling Commission’s public register, and every casino we review has its licence number and register link printed on its review page.