The regulator has issued gaming software licences to various businesses in anticipation of the mandatory requirement for all suppliers offering services to operators in the Swedish regulated market starting on 1 July. These licences have a five-year term and have been awarded to both well-known and lesser-known providers.
The following igaming providers have received licences: Arland Gesellschaft für Informationstechnologie mbH, Everymatrix Software, Hacksaw (including its subsidiaries Hacksaw Operations and Hacksaw Studios), Yggdrasil, Relax Gaming, and Thunderkick (which received licences for both their Swedish and Malta branches). These authorizations are in addition to the licences awarded earlier in the month to Synot Games, Skill on Net, and Norrköping AB.
Spilinspektion has received a total of 60 licence applications since the submission process opened on 1 March. The application fee for a B2B supplier licence is SEK120,000. The introduction of B2B licensing requirements aims to steer consumers towards the regulated sector by cutting off illegal operators from their technology providers.
While the domestic industry has not necessarily opposed these measures, there are doubts about their effectiveness in channeling consumers towards regulated providers. Gustaf Hoffstedt, the secretary-general of Swedish trade association Branscheförenigen för Onlinespel (BOS), expressed a generally positive attitude towards B2B permits in December but also acknowledged the lower expectations of the industry in terms of blocking the outflows from the Swedish licensing system.
