Evolution agrees £4.75m settlement in Gambling Commission black market review

Evolution Gaming has reached a regulatory settlement with the UK Gambling Commission, after the regulator initiated an investigation into its black market activity in December 2024.

The supplier will pay £4.75 million to the Gambling Commission as part of the settlement. In its investigation the regulator found Evolution’s game content was available via two operators on six websites that offered content to British consumers without a UK licence.

In a statement released by Evolution on Wednesday, the supplier said the unlicensed operators had “actively evaded restrictions in place at the time”.

It added that during the 18-month review, “no broader pattern of unlicensed access to Evolution content in the UK has been identified”.

“Evolution has fully cooperated with the Commission consistent with its longstanding approach to regulatory engagement. The company routinely takes technical, legal and commercial action to identify, address and prevent unauthorised access to its content,” the statement added.

“The commercial relationships with the two operators whose websites offered Evolution content that may have been accessed by British consumers were terminated immediately upon discovery.”

Following the launch of the Commission’s investigation in 2024, Evolution implemented ring-fencing actions across Europe to ensure its games were not being provided via any other unlicensed operators.

Evolution ring-fencing actions hit profitability in 2025

In its Q1/25 results, it said that as a result of this pivot, and Evolution likely exiting a number of black or grey markets, profitability had taken a hit.

Profit for the period was down 5.4% to €254.7 million ($289.7 million), from a group net revenue of €521 million, up 3.9% year-on-year.  

“On top of what we have already done in the UK to meet regulatory requirements, we have taken proactive and self-initiated actions in February to ring-fence additional regulated markets in Europe,” Carlesund said in the Q1 earnings report.  

“The effects have varied, with the largest negative revenue impact in markets where channelisation is low.” 

In its full year 2025 results in February, Carlesund said he believed the supplier had “the strongest ring-fencing measures in place among all [the sector’s] suppliers”, but he also put losses down to “regulated markets losing ground”.  

As a result of pains across its European business, the supplier has shifted its focus to the Americas, where it expects continued growth, thanks to “a more stable environment”.

Evolution had initially expected the commission’s review to come to a close at the end of 2025.

Speaking during the supplier’s Q3 earnings call last October, Carlesund said: “When it comes to the UK Gambling Commission timeline, unfortunately I don’t have any other information. It’s in the hands of the regulator and our estimation is that it will be by the end of this year.”