Industry roundup: week ending 2 October 2026

Regulatory risk moved from the margins to the centre of the agenda this week. Brazil's government shut down its licensed online betting market by decree barely 20 months after opening it, and the sector is now fighting that measure in the Supreme Court. Alongside that, Great Britain's regulator finalised a substantial package of technical standards for land-based gaming machines, Norway moved to bring online poker inside its state monopoly, and enforcement pressure on advertising platforms intensified in both the Netherlands and Switzerland. Our summary of the week's most significant developments for operators and suppliers follows, with all stories sourced from iGaming Business.

Brazil shuts its licensed betting market by decree, and the industry goes to court

President Lula signed Provisional Measure 1.394 on 25 September, prohibiting the operation of online betting sites in Brazil with immediate effect. Under the timetable set out in the measure, bettors had until 5 October to request withdrawals, licensed sites were to be blocked from 6 October, and operators were required to credit remaining player balances between 9 and 14 October. A provisional measure takes effect at once but lapses unless Congress ratifies it within 120 days, so the legal position is not settled. Regulus Partners described a market worth roughly $5.7 billion in net revenue as "facing an immediate and total shut-down". Two trade bodies, ANJL and the IBJR, have filed with Supreme Federal Court Justice Luiz Fux as amici curiae in three constitutional challenges, asking him either to suspend the measure or to extend its deadlines by six months, and to bar licence revocations and asset freezes in the meantime. Their central argument is that the constitutional test of urgency is not met, pointing to betting volumes that fell 42% between October 2025 and June 2026, and to the legitimate expectations of companies that each paid BRL30 million for a licence. Around 85 operators hold concessions, putting roughly BRL2.5 billion of licence fees at stake. The Attorney General's Office has asked the court for a 72-hour window to respond, and Justice Fux had not ruled as this was written. (iGaming Business, iGaming Business, iGaming Business)

What this means for operators: any operator or supplier with Brazilian exposure should be running a wind-down and player-funds plan to the decree's timetable while the litigation proceeds, because a favourable ruling cannot be assumed and the compliance deadlines are days, not months, away.

Great Britain confirms mandatory limits and staff alerts for gaming machines

The Gambling Commission published its response to the 2025 consultation on gaming machine technical standards on 1 October, confirming a package aimed at giving players more control over time and spend. Players will have to set limits on session length and net loss or accept defaults, with consumer-set ceilings of 60 minutes and £450 and defaults of 20 minutes and £150. Reaching a limit triggers a mandatory break and safer gambling messaging, with default time breaks escalating from 10 to 20 and then at least 30 seconds. Machines must show net position and elapsed session time by default, though players may hide the display after 10 seconds. Venue staff will receive real-time alerts when players reach or change a limit, though the Commission stopped short of mandating an interaction. Audiovisual celebration of returns at or below the stake is prohibited, as are turbo and quick spin features. The changes phase in across three dates: the session definition applies from 30 March 2027, most standards from 30 June 2027, and staff alerts become legally mandatory on 3 October 2028. They apply to games newly released in categories A, B1, B2, B3, B3A and B4 after 30 June 2027, with existing machines largely exempt on retrofitting-cost grounds. (iGaming Business)

What this means for operators: manufacturers and game studios should treat 30 June 2027 as a hard product-roadmap date, since any title classed as new after it must ship compliant, and land-based operators will need venue processes and staff training ready well before the 2028 alert obligation bites.

Norway consults on bringing online poker inside the monopoly

Norway's Ministry of Culture and Equality opened a fast-track consultation on 29 September on amending gambling regulations so that state operator Norsk Tipping can offer online poker, in both tournament and cash game formats, for the first time. The proposal is tightly bounded:

• A daily loss cap of NOK5,000 and a monthly cap of NOK10,000, reduced to NOK2,000 a month for players under 20.
• Maximum buy-ins of NOK2,500 for tournaments and NOK1,000 for cash games.
• A limit of four simultaneous tables.
• Five-minute breaks after each hour of tournament play, and a 15-minute pause when switching between poker and casino products.

Culture and Equality Minister Lubna Jaffery framed the move as channelling, arguing a regulated domestic offer is preferable to unregulated play with foreign companies. Official estimates put the number of Norwegians using offshore poker sites at between 100,000 and 150,000 a year. (iGaming Business)

What this means for operators: this is a channelling measure inside a monopoly rather than a market opening, so the commercial opportunity sits with platform and content suppliers able to meet Norsk Tipping's procurement and player-protection requirements, not with operators hoping for licences.

Dutch licensees take Meta to court over illegal gambling adverts

VNLOK, the trade body for licensed Dutch online gambling operators, summoned Meta before the Amsterdam court on 28 September, alleging the platform has failed to meet its obligations under the EU Digital Services Act. VNLOK says more than 90% of gambling advertising on Facebook comes from unlicensed operators, that Meta platforms carried over 70,000 gambling-related adverts in the fourth quarter of 2025 with unlicensed operators behind more than 95% of them, and that fewer than 5% of adverts flagged to Meta were removed, with monthly removal rates of 11% in May and 15% in June. In parallel, a parliamentary motion from MP Bart Bikkers would give the Kansspelautoriteit explicit power to fine digital platforms that repeatedly fail to take down illegal gambling advertising, and was scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives the day after the summons. (iGaming Business)

What this means for operators: licensed operators should keep documented evidence of black-market advertising they report to platforms, as that record is becoming the raw material for both litigation and regulatory action, and should expect platform-side gambling ad verification to tighten across the EU.

Paf and Meta pilot a licensing-data approach in Switzerland

Speaking at SBC Summit Lisbon on 1 October, Åland-based operator Paf said it is working with Facebook on a Swiss pilot intended to stop unlicensed operators advertising to Swiss players. Paf will supply Meta with licensing documents, URLs and affiliate data so the platform can distinguish regulated operators from unregulated ones, and the Swiss regulator is to be brought into the process. Paf's representative described the aim as building a model that could then be scaled to other jurisdictions, and said the operator is investing no money in the initiative, only time. Switzerland is a concentrated market: Grand Casino Luzern's mycasino.ch turns over more than €100 million a year and holds over 30% of it. (iGaming Business)

What this means for operators: industry-supplied licensing data is emerging as a practical alternative to litigation for getting black-market adverts taken down, and operators in regulated markets may want to make sure their own licence details and affiliate lists are in a form platforms can verify.

Competing estimates reignite the EU black market debate

A report published on 29 September by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, with analysis by Gaming Compliance International, estimates that unregulated operators generated €91.6 billion in gross gambling revenue across the EU's 27 member states in 2025, against €36.5 billion for regulated operators, which would put the unlicensed share at about 72% of a €128 billion online market. The figure sits far above other published estimates: Regulus Partners and Helios put the illegal market at €12 billion, or 25%, and H2 Gambling Capital at €18 billion, or 27%. The dispute turns on whether traffic-based models convert reliably into revenue, particularly for app-based play, and feeds a wider argument about whether enforcement should target the infrastructure behind illegal operators, including payment processors, affiliates and advertising platforms, and whether higher taxes on licensed operators help or hinder channelling. (iGaming Business)

What this means for operators: expect these numbers to be cited in tax and licensing consultations across Europe, so operators making channelling arguments should be ready to engage with the methodology rather than the headline figure alone.

If any of this affects your licensing position or your plans for a new market, we are happy to talk it through. Get in touch to discuss your licensing and compliance requirements.