Sweden ends land-based gambling, Star doesn't have plan B, and Kalshi under attack

We bring you the hottest industry updates of the week, with legal, regulatory, and commercial developments all featured in our weekly news bulletin roundup.

Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag, has voted in favor of discontinuing the country’s land-based casino industry, which is down to a single Casino Cosmopol location due to close in 2026. The decision came earlier this week, with lawmakers backing the abolishing of the sector. Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm is the last state-owned and land-based casino in the country.

Kalshi has seen itself in all sorts of trouble this week, with the prediction market platform, undergoing scrutiny in Connecticut, Illinois and Ohio, as well as launching counter lawsuits against gambling regulators in New Jersey and Nevada.

The platform is offering prediction contracts for March Madness, one of the most popular sports events in the country, which has ruffled regulatory feathers all across the United States. At least five regulators have now issued cease-and-desist letters against the platform.

Kalshi, though, has vowed to fight back against this regulatory overreach, insisting that it was subject to federal rather than state laws and that this regulation was attempting to kill one of the most "important innovations of the century."

Star Entertainment Group, the beleaguered Australian gambling major, may be running out of options after a proposal tendered by Salter Brothers was withdrawn, the company confirmed in a filing to the ASX on Wednesday.

The proposal was first brought up on March 7 and it would have allowed the company to secure a debt relief of up to AU$940m, allowing it to fend off buyout offers and restructure its operations amid growing regulatory and legal scrutiny and tensions.

This means that Star Entertainment is now only left with Bally’s as a potential lifeline. Bally’s Corp. pitched a proposal on March 10 in which it argued that it would buy out a 50.1% controlling stake in the company for AU$250m, but Star did not respond by the deadline set for March 28.

Bally’s may still be willing to buy, and one of Star’s major stakeholders has backed the proposal already, but it is not clear if the firm will secure the same terms, if at all.

Business and finance

EveryMatrix has appointed an Evolution Gaming veteran as its new SlotMatrix CCO. Björn Sjöberg is stepping into the ambitious and consequential role after eight years with Evolution and a stint as a self-employed iGaming specialist. Sjöberg joins the company at a time when SlotMatrix has become the world’s largest aggregator of iGaming content.

Evoplay has released its latest crash title, Avia Rush, which is another instalment by the company in the ambitious segment. The game seeks to balance risk and reward and innovate the crash mechanic by offering players even more insight into their gameplay.

Play’n GO has launched with Hollywood Bets in South Africa, where the company continues to expand its footprint and seeks to secure better overall positions in the emerging iGaming market. The company is bringing a number of excellent titles from its catalogue, among which are options such as FireJoker, Boat Bonanza, and Rise of Olympus 1000.

3 Oaks Gaming has teamed up with BetVictor, offering its outstanding portfolio of games and engagement features. Since the supplier entered the UK market, it has been quickly expanding its local footprint in a bid to bring players and operators the best possible products.

Regulation and laws

The biggest story of the week in terms of legal developments has been Light & Wonder’s decision to withdraw its Jewel of the Dragon game preemptively. This comes as Aristocrat, a rival developer, has filed an amended complaint against the company that successfully saw the Dragon Train series by Light & Wonder receive an injunction order and be temporarily discontinued in the United States. Now, Aristocrat is also contending that the Jewel of the Dragon also copied intellectual property and math from its own games, prompting Light & Wonder to act preemptively in the matter. Light & Wonder has stated that the withdrawal of the game would have no material impact on its financial performance.

Responsible gambling

The European Betting and Gaming Association (EGBA) has released its report assessing the state of the industry in 2024, focusing on both consumer trends as responsible gambling awareness and safe gambling tools use.

The association found out that 65% of the active players in Europe have used a responsible gambling tool, or some 21m people, a new record.

Earlier this week, the Health and Social Care Select Committee in the United Kingdom convened and heard evidence from witnesses involved in the field of research, gambling regulation, and responsible gambling. This is part of a broader attempt to collect enough public input to inform regulation and policy.

Gamban has launched its blocking service for customers in Norwegian and Finnish, making it the sixth and seventh languages, respectively, in which the service is now available.

The service is determined to keep protecting consumers across key jurisdictions and has previously successfully collaborated with Svenska Spel in Sweden as well as with regulatory bodies in the Netherlands and Ohio, the United States.

The voice of the industry

The voting for the Casino Guru Awards in the Voice of the People category is still ongoing. Casino Guru Awards invites you to take part in deciding who the most deserving contender in the category is by navigating to the official website and casting your vote today!

In this week’s interviews roundup, Casino Guru News had the pleasure to catch up with Playson’ Sales Manager, Cristhian Zito, who spoke about how success is defined in the B2B iGaming sector.

Zito spoke about Playson’s ambitions for the Latin American region, and the most recent forays into the Brazilian online gambling market. He argues that the best way to measure success as an iGaming supplier is to see if players engage with your products. You can read the full interview with Zito here.

At the same time, Casino Guru News has had the opportunity to post an earlier conversation with Playson that took place during ICE Barcelona 2025.

At the time, Casino Guru News correspondent Denisa Vydumova spoke with Playson’s Head of Marketing, Oleg Profatylo, who went a step further in explaining what a successful marketing strategy looks like, arguing that a good brand is all very well, but a strong underpinning product is a must. You can watch the full interview with Profatylo here.

For those of you who are always keen to never miss a relevant industry event, you will be happy to find out that the agenda for the upcoming Leaders in Compliance Conference due to take place on May 8-9 has been revealed. You can find out more about the event and the agenda here.

Last but hardly least, Clarion Gaming’s Director of Industry Insight and Engagement Ewa Bakun will attend the Italian Gaming Exhibition and Conference and moderate a live stream. Bakun has spoken about the shared ethos and values of the Italian Gaming Exhibition and Conference and Clarion Gaming’s own flagship events.

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