Evolution agrees £4.75m settlement with UK Gambling Commission after black market review

Evolution Gaming has reached a regulatory settlement with the UK Gambling Commission after an investigation launched in December 2024 into black market activity. The supplier will pay £4.75 million, and the case matters for PSPs and high-risk operators because it shows how quickly content distribution, licensing status, and market-access controls can turn into a regulatory bill.

1. The Gambling Commission’s 18-month review flagged two operators that had offered Evolution’s content to consumers without holding a UK licence. The regulator said the content was available via six websites that offered it to British consumers without UK authorisation.
2. Evolution said the unlicensed operators had “actively evaded restrictions in place at the time” and that, during the 18-month review, “no broader pattern of unlicensed access to Evolution content in the UK has been identified”. The company also said it fully cooperated with the Commission and that its technical, legal and commercial controls are meant to prevent unauthorised access.
3. According to Evolution, the commercial relationships with the two operators were terminated immediately after the issue was discovered. After the Commission launched its investigation in 2024, Evolution also implemented ring-fencing actions across Europe to stop its games from being provided via other unlicensed operators.
4. Those ring-fencing measures have had a commercial cost. In Q1/25, Evolution said profitability had been hit as a result of the pivot and of its likely exit from a number of black or grey markets. Profit for the period fell 5.4% to €254.7 million ($289.7 million), from group net revenue of €521 million, up 3.9% year-on-year.
5. Evolution has said the strongest negative revenue impact has come from markets with low channelisation. In its full-year 2025 results in February, Carlesund said the supplier had “the strongest ring-fencing measures in place among all [the sector’s] suppliers”, while also pointing to losses from “regulated markets losing ground”. The company has since shifted attention to the Americas, where it expects continued growth thanks to “a more stable environment”.