Netherlands puts greater emphasis on targeting illegal suppliers

• The Netherlands Gambling Authority is intensifying its crackdown on illegal gambling, shifting part of its focus from unlicensed operators to the suppliers behind them
• Game providers could face regulatory consequences for supplying content to illegal platforms, following similar enforcement approaches already seen in Sweden and the UK
• While targeting suppliers may strengthen consumer protection, the rapid rise of AI-driven game development is complicating enforcement efforts and lowering barriers for new, unregulated studios

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) is continuing to step up its efforts against the illegal gambling sector, which is now involving more measures not only against the operators of brands, but also against suppliers that may be contributing games to these websites.

Suppliers may soon be on the hook in the Netherlands

Suppliers are fewer to go around, and this means that they can ill-afford to lose market share in regulated markets because of their association with rules-breaking operators, the logic goes.

The KSA has vowed to pay more attention to crucial pillars of its gambling framework, including better supervision of advertising, the duty of care, the Wwft, protection of minors and young adults, and addressing the outstanding issue of illegal operators.

Yet, the KSA acknowledges that it may have been failing to successfully restrict the reach of illegal gambling, calling measures such as fines "reactive," indicating that they come a little too late, and are hard to enforce.

Suppliers make a good target as they hold accountability to regulators, and cannot risk losing market share due to rogue operators. Similar measures have been passed in Sweden, where an operator whose games are found on operators targeting the country without a proper Spelinspektionen license runs the risk of having their own license suspended.

The UK Gambling Commission has also recently produced a report of suppliers who may be engaged with both white and black market operations.

A challenge for the age of AI

However, going after suppliers may have an inauspicious timing. The rise of Artificial Intelligence has gone from a speculative "how would it impact game development" to a very tangible "entire studios are now relying on AI for game production."

What this means is that, much like operators are able to shutter one domain and set up a mirror in the matter of days or hours, so can "new studios" spring up to supply illegal gambling platforms.

However, legacy developers still have the advantage of experience and developing blockbuster and established games, which could still make a measure such as restricting suppliers over partnerships with unauthorized operators an effective way to safeguard players.

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