Industry News
Covid-19 – A message from UKGC chair, Neil McArthur to online gambling operators
Since I wrote to you last week, the response to Covid-19 has affected everyone in Great Britain.
Over the last week, I have spoken to representatives across the industry and understand the significant impact that these uncertain and unsettling events are having on your businesses, your customers and your employees. We have been drawing up an initial assessment on the impact recent events will have on the gambling industry and assessing how we should approach our own work over the coming months.
Protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed by gambling has always been a major priority and we are very mindful – as you should be – of the fact that the risks of harm arising from online gambling have increased as a result of recent events. As you know, the social distancing measures that have been imposed this week now mean that anyone other than key workers will be at home for most of the day. We are already seeing reports of an increase in online slots, poker, casino gaming and virtual sports.
In light of these developments, whilst I recognise the enormous challenges businesses are facing, I want to make the Commission’s expectations absolutely clear:
- Consumer protection must be paramount
- We expect you to act responsibly, especially around individual customer affordability checks and increased social responsibility interactions.
- We expect you to be very mindful that customers may be vulnerable and experiencing financial uncertainty, whilst others may be experiencing other effects of being isolated including, for example, feelings of anxiety, loneliness or boredom.
- We expect you to know your customers and step in if they are showing signs that they are experiencing or at risk of harm.
- Marketing must be conducted responsibly
- We expect you to on-board new customers in a socially responsible way.
- You must not exploit the current situation for marketing purposes and should be very cautious when seeking to cross-sell online gaming products to customers who signed up with you in order to bet.
- We expect you to ensure that your affiliates are conducting themselves appropriately.
- Compliance with licence conditions and codes of practice
- We expect you to act in a way that minimises the risks to the licensing objectives.
- Treat consumers fairly and communicate with them in a clear way that allows them to make a properly informed judgment about whether to gamble.
- Work with the Commission in an open and co-operative way and act in accordance with both the letter or the spirit of the regulatory framework we have set.
If we see irresponsible behaviour we will step in immediately. So, whilst I know that the current climate is unprecedented, gambling operators must play their part in making sure that people are kept safe.
If you want to share your own analysis of impacts to the industry, or share other information that may be relevant to our work on this issue, you can talk to Ben Haden, Programme Director for Industry Insight, who is collating all of the information about how Covid-19 is affecting the industry.
If you have information or concerns about the behaviour of an operator then our Confidential Intelligence Hotline is continuing to take calls or you can email the team. Finally, you can continue to contact your Account Manager in the normal way to notify of any key events or questions you have during this time. If you have other questions or queries, please let us know and we will do our best to get you an answer.
Yours sincerely,
Neil McArthur
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AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service (AGCCS) has a successful Q3 in 2025, helping players recover over $2.8 million and exceeding last year’s numbers.
The Q3 2025 numbers are out, showcasing the results achieved by the AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service. The report highlights the most important accomplishments between 1 July and 30 September.
In the previous quarter, the AGCCS team helped 2807 users get their funds from online casinos and sportsbooks, returning $2,813,351 in total. The team received exactly 3881 complaints that affected 960 operators and affiliates.
Things aren’t always running smoothly. Even if a complaint gets rejected, the users walk out satisfied with the service they’ve received. One of AskGamblers’ players ended up receiving the money from the casino, even though their complaint was rejected initially:
“I just wanted to let you know that the funds have been successfully returned to my account. Thank you a thousand times – I’m certain that without your help, this wouldn’t have been resolved so quickly.”
The AGCCS is actively working on sports betting complaints, too, returning $53,633 in Q3 to bettors all over the world. During this period, they’ve managed to break a record in the number of resolved complaints (1013).
Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, said: “Props to our AGCCS for doing an awesome job, staying at the forefront and being there for players. It’s a joy to see our users happy, wishing to send tips and buy us lunch. Even though we have to reject that (unfortunately), this just shows the commitment of our team to our players, which will continue in the future.”
The post AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service Returns Over $2.8M to Players in Q3 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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YouTube has announced that it will strengthen enforcement of its community guidelines on violent gaming and online gambling content, starting on 17 November.
“Starting on November 17th, 2025, we’ll be strengthening enforcement of our Community Guidelines around online gambling and graphic violence in gaming.
“Our policies are designed to evolve alongside the digital world. We’re making these updates to keep pace with new trends, like gambling with digital goods, and to more closely align our guidelines for mature content with industry standards.
Here’s a Summary of What’s Changing:
Online Gambling Content
“Our current policy prohibits content that directs viewers to online gambling sites or applications that are not certified by Google. We’re expanding our enforcement to now cover online gambling with additional items that have monetary value, including digital goods (e.g. video game skins, cosmetics and NFTs).”
Social Casino Content
“We’re updating our approach to casino-style games where nothing of real-world monetary value is wagered or cashed out. Content that depicts, promotes, or facilitates social casino sites will now be age-restricted.”
Graphic Gaming Content
“In addition to our existing guidelines around graphic gaming content, we will age-restrict an additional small subset of video game content featuring realistic human characters that focuses on scenes of torture or scenes of mass violence against non-combatants. We’ll consider several factors when reviewing this type of content such as:
• Duration – If the graphic scene is sustained (rather than fleeting). For compilation videos, we’ll now consider the cumulative duration of all of the graphic clips combined.
• Prominence – If the violent imagery is zoomed-in or the main focus of the scene
• Realistic human characters – If the violence is happening to a character that looks like a real human.”
“We expect most channels will experience little to no impact but we know this is a lot of information, and we want to ensure you have time to adapt.
Existing videos. Content uploaded before November 17, 2025, that violates these guidelines may be removed or age-restricted, but will not result in a strike. Remember, age-restricted videos can stay on your channel for 18+ audiences.”
“Making edits: For creators who have content that’s in-scope of these updates, you may be able to edit your video description or use our video editor trim or blur tools to make any necessary changes before November 17, 2025.
Notifications: If we age-restrict or remove your content, we’ll notify you by email. If you disagree with the decision, you can always choose to appeal.”
The post YouTube’s strengthened approach to online gambling and graphic violence in gaming appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Starting January 1, 2026, Sacha Dragic will become sole CEO of Superbet, while Jimmy Maymann will return to the Board of Directors. As part of the new leadership structure and also effective as of January 1, 2026, Albert S., current Group COO, will take on the role of Deputy CEO, aligning strategy and driving execution across the organisation.
At the same time, Eamonn O’Loughlin, current CCO International, will take on the role of Chief Operating Officer, expanding his responsibilities to lead customer Operations and Partnerships across the Group, while retaining commercial leadership for markets outside CEE.
Sacha Dragic, Founder and incoming CEO of Superbet Group, said: “I want to recognize Jimmy Maymann, whose leadership and partnership have shaped much of our progress to date. Over the past couple of years, we have achieved remarkable results, advancing our product and technology capabilities, strengthening our position in key markets, and building a culture of financial discipline and accountability. This planned evolution of our leadership team marks a natural step in our growth journey. It reflects the maturity of our organization and our ambition to push forward, positioning Superbet for the next phase of sustainable global expansion.”
Jimmy Maymann, incoming Member of the Board, Superbet Group, said: “When Sacha first asked me to join the Board three years ago, our ambition was made clear: to transform Superbet into a global challenger built on world-class product and technology platform. It was necessary to accelerate that change from within, and I took the lead on that chapter of transformation.
“Together, we have achieved a lot: launching Brazil, growing our actives, revenue and EBITDA while strengthening our product and tech stack, and now, with the migration of Romania to our own platform, we are nearing completion of our first phase of transformation. As we prepare for the next phase, simplifying how we operate will help us move even faster, with a single-threaded leader, our founder, Sacha Dragic.
“It’s been a privilege to work with Sacha and the whole Superbet team and I’ll continue to do so as an advisor and as part of the Group’s Board. This is a great company with a huge potential ahead and I’ll stay engaged and help see it materialize.”
The post Superbet Appoints Sacha Dragic as Sole CEO appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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