Yggdrasil hit with fines for supplying unlicensed operator

The Swedish gambling regulator has issued a warning and a penalty fee.

Sweden.- The Swedish gaming regulator Spelinspektionen has issued a warning and a SEK 300,000 (€26,170) penalty fee against Yggdrasil Gaming Limited for providing gaming software to an operator active on the Swedish market without a local licence.

The regulator said it had checked several websites run by operators who do not have Swedish gaming licences and found that Yggdrasil was a game supplier to one of them. It therefore began an inspection.

Last July, Spelinspektionen introduced mandatory licences for B2B gambling software providers. All manufacturers and suppliers of gambling software must have a licence to supply licensed operators. At the time, the regulator had said that it hoped the measure would increase channelisation to the regulated market since licensed suppliers would be unable to provide their software to unlicensed operators.

Preliminary data suggests that gambling revenue in Sweden fell by 1.2 per cent last year. Revenue for 2023 came in at SEK 27.13bn (€2.42bn). The biggest decline was at Svenska Spel’s land-based Casino Cosmopol casinos, where revenue fell 11.4 per cent. Svenska Spel has already announced plans to close two of its three casinos as a result. The state lottery and slots segment saw revenue fall by 3.6 per cent to SEK 5.60bn.