Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority, has banned three companies from operating in Sweden.
These are Newera Frozen PTE Limited, Aprodi Ltd and Galaktika NV.
In all three cases, Swedish customers were able to access the sites in question and create accounts, despite the operators not having a licence to operate in the jurisdiction.
Newera Frozen PTE Limited
During an investigation, the Spelinspektionen found that Newera Frozen’s brand, hellcase.com, was offering skin gambling in the Swedish market.
The site offers the chance to win skins for several video games, including CS2, Dota 2 and Rust.
Not only did Newera Frozen not have a licence to operate in Sweden, but the information and FAQs on the website were in Swedish, there was Swedish marketing and the site used payment providers based in the country too.
Newera claimed that it wasn’t offering gambling services, as it was only selling loot boxes, but the Spelinspektionen explained how the skins do have real-world value, and so are still counted as gambling.
In response, the operator has removed the text, marketing and payment services that can be linked back to Sweden.
Aprodi Ltd
Similar to the above, Aprodi was found to offer skin gambling through its site, key-drop.com.
The website allows customers to bet a CS2 skin against the chance to win a more valuable skin – If the bet fails, then the user loses the skin.
The Spelinspektionen discovered that the site has information, instructions and marketing available in Swedish.
Not only that, but the Authority found that key-drop.com isn’t licensed to operate by any regulator for any jurisdiction.
Galaktika NV
The Spelinspektionen discovered that drop.casino from Galaktika NV, in addition to not having a licence, also ran marketing campaigns in Swedish.
The operator responded, explaining that it purchases its marketing through third parties and so does not intentionally target Sweden, but rather Europe as a whole.
The Authority ruled that “it is the company’s responsibility to proactively ensure that all marketing for their websites take place in a legal manner”.
Svenska Spel Sport & Casino
These operators weren’t the only ones who were reprimanded by Spelinspektionen though, as earlier this week, the Authority found that Svenska Spel Sport & Casino AB had failed to help customers who were at risk of excessive gambling.
After the audit ruled that Svenska Spel Sport & Casino failed the Gambling Act, it was issued a warning and administrative fine of SEK 100m ($9.4m).
Elsewhere in Sweden and on the right side of the law, Octoplay signed a deal with LeoVegas Group to offer the suite of games to players in the jurisdiction.
