Rising Regulatory Pressure on Gambling Suppliers: Why Technical Compliance Is Becoming a Hurdle

The gambling industry has always been highly regulated, but over the past few years, suppliers who provide the platforms, games, and services operators rely on, have come under increasing scrutiny. Today, suppliers are facing a new reality: regulatory requirements that are growing not only in number but also becoming far more complex, fragmented, and costly to navigate.

According to Vixio’s 2025 Supplier Survey, suppliers cite technical compliance as one of the most pressing challenges shaping their business strategies over the next five years.

When Regulators Don’t Speak “Tech”

One of the key frustrations among suppliers is the lack of technical knowledge among regulators and policymakers who are setting the rules.

86% of respondents said policymakers often enact regulatory requirements for online gambling without sufficient consideration of the impact from a technical and product compliance perspective.

This is further exacerbated by respondents' indication that, for technical requirements, there are conflicting requirements across jurisdictions (23%), an increasing frequency of new compliance changes (24%), and a high cost and diversity of certification requirements (26%).

“We’ve seen the scope of technical compliance increase in established markets, and we’ve seen more markets with more complexity, which is further compounded by the frequency of changes.. [Previously] we might have dealt with changes in one jurisdiction per year, two if we’re unlucky, whereas now we’ve got changes that are happening at the same time in multiple jurisdictions."

_{- Richard Bayliss, Senior Regulatory Affairs & Compliance Manager, Playtech}

For innovations like artificial intelligence (AI), suppliers believe regulators’ insufficient understanding will be one of the biggest limiting factors to adoption in the near term.

The result? Rules that can be difficult to implement without major disruption to suppliers’ product roadmaps.

The Fragmentation Challenge

Even as regulators attempt to collaborate more, suppliers report that requirements are diverging rather than harmonising.

While some regulators have made efforts to streamline, most suppliers see complexity increasing. This fragmentation forces suppliers to allocate more resources toward compliance rather than innovation.

Pressure from All Sides

It’s not just regulators tightening expectations. Operators, their direct customers, are also demanding higher standards.

“We need to get things right and get them right quickly. Everyone wants to be first into the market with as much content as possible. So the real key for us is how you can assess what you need to do, how quickly you can get it done, and deliver that to licensees so they can go live from the very beginning,” says Bayliss. 

75% of suppliers say operators are pressuring them to remain compliant, especially as operators themselves face stricter enforcement from regulators.

71% of suppliers believe they will soon have to make a clear choice between working in grey markets or focusing exclusively on licensed markets.In addition, although respondents identified emerging markets in Latin America and Africa/Middle-East as providing the most growth opportunities in the next five years alongside North America, suppliers marked high concern regarding the emergence of “challenger” offshore licensing regimes for operators, with over 87% of respondents being of the opinion that such licences are not sufficiently reputable to work with.

With regulators becoming more knowledgeable about suppliers’ role in the gambling ecosystem (81% agree), suppliers are finding they can no longer fly under the radar.

“No one wants to be that supplier that’s delayed because of development requirements that were maybe not picked up during an assessment of the technical requirements.”

_{- Richard Bayliss, Senior Regulatory Affairs & Compliance Manager, Playtech}

Why Technical Compliance Can’t Be Ignored

The survey findings make one point clear: suppliers can no longer treat technical compliance as an afterthought. It has become a strategic business function that directly influences market access, commercial partnerships, and long-term sustainable growth.

The risks of getting it wrong are significant. Failure to meet technical compliance standards can:

• Delay a new game’s speed to market.
• Result in products failing certification or being removed from the market.
• Lead to reputational damage, lost revenue, and even fines.

“[The] bottom line is that if we misunderstand the requirement and we must make some change later in the development process, that can lead to extra work and longer certification times… which means risk for our revenue or missing out on opportunities."

_{- Abaz Beganovic, Head of Compliance, Comtrade Gaming}

Given how technical compliance requirements are often hard to find, fragmented across multiple documents, and not always available in English, keeping up is increasingly a full-time task for compliance teams.

How Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool Helps

To combat these challenges, Vixio has launched its Technical Compliance Tool, designed specifically for operators and suppliers navigating the fast-changing regulatory landscape.

Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool:

• Consolidates all requirements for online casino games and information security across regulated iGaming markets.
• Links directly to the original regulatory sources, making it easier to find, interpret, and apply requirements with confidence.
• Simplifies complexity, giving compliance teams a single, reliable reference point for new features, game certifications, and expansion planning.

For suppliers under pressure to support operators’ rapid market expansion, this means:

• Faster speed to market, by identifying easy-win jurisdictions and reducing delays.
• Clear visibility of problem areas, so teams can focus attention where it matters most. 90% agree that technical compliance requirements are becoming increasingly diverse across regulated markets, and this trend is only expected to accelerate.‍
• Reduced compliance burden, freeing teams to provide better guidance to product, tech, and business development functions.

“It saves a lot of time… Before [using Vixio],  I needed anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to get the documentation or translation…. Now we just download it from the Vixio platform, and our project team can start sooner, which means the product will be ready for the market much faster,” explains Beganovic.

By removing guesswork, Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool empowers suppliers to grow more quickly, more strategically, and with greater confidence in their compliance posture.

Looking Ahead

As technical compliance requirements continue to multiply and diverge, suppliers will need to invest in solutions that bring clarity and consistency to an otherwise fragmented regulatory landscape. With regulators and operators both raising the bar, suppliers that embrace robust frameworks and adopt tools like Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool will be best positioned to succeed in the years ahead.

“I suppose I should say yes, I would recommend Vixio. But, on the other hand, I'm not sure if I would recommend a tool that offers a reliable and time-saving solution to one of our direct competitors. You know, I would rather keep it a secret weapon.”

_{Abaz Beganovic, Head of Compliance, Comtrade Gaming}

Want to know more about the shifting technical compliance landscape for suppliers?

Book a demo or download our free guide, Rising Tide: The Increasing Regulation of Online Gambling Suppliers, which is your essential guide to the shifting regulatory landscape for suppliers in the gambling industry - including the increasing complexity of technical compliance.