Playtech plc subsidiary granted Gaming-Related Vendor License in the UAE

Gaming technology giant Playtech plc has become the latest company to be granted a Gaming-Related Vendor License to provide its products and services in the United Arab Emirates.

According to information on the website of the nation’s gaming regulator, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), a license has in recent days been granted to Playtech subsidiary VS Technology Ltd – making it the 23rd company issued a Gaming-Related Vendor License.

VS Technology Ltd is an entity acquired by Playtech in 2009 and that originally developed its now defunct EdGE aggregation platform.

The full list of 23 licensed vendors includes many of the industry’s biggest supplier names including Aristocrat, IGT, Light & Wonder, Novomatic, Konami and Scientific Games. More recent additions include premium gaming table supplier Cammegh Ltd and online casino game developer.

Although the supplier list has been steadily growing, the GCGRA has only issued one license for each operator license category, including a Land-Based Gaming Facilities License to Wynn Resorts for its US$5.1 billion Wynn Al Marjan Island development in Ras Al Khaimah, and a Lottery License to The Game LLC as operator of the UAE Lottery.

Online gaming and sports betting is operated by Momentum via its subsidiary Coin Technology Projects LLC, which last year launched its B2C site Play971.

A report by Vixio Gambling Compliance last October claimed that the GCGRA may eventually allow one B2C online gaming license per emirate for each of the country’s seven Emirates, mirroring a model said to be in place for land-based casino gaming, although none of this has yet come to fruition.