Game Providers Allowed at UKGC Casinos vs Non UK Casinos

If you’ve ever noticed that a casino non UK lobby lists studios you’ve never seen at a UK site, there’s a simple reason: to supply games to UK licensed casinos, a studio needs its own UK Gambling Commission licence — or has to go through a partner that holds one. Many perfectly legitimate studios never apply, so their games only reach British players through offshore casinos.

We checked each studio below against the UKGC public register on 8 October 2026. Registers change, so treat this as a snapshot and check the register yourself before relying on it.

How UK provider licensing works

• Studios need a UKGC remote software licence to supply games to UK licensed casinos. Some also hold a game-host licence to run games from their own servers.
• Some supply through a licensed partner. A studio can reach UK casinos under a licensed parent company or aggregator, so “no entry of its own” doesn’t always mean “never available in the UK”.
• A licence doesn’t mean every game is in the UK. Licensed studios still remove or adapt products for the British market — for example, bonus-buy versions of slots.
• The regulator also polices supply to unlicensed sites. In July 2026 Evolution agreed a £4.75 million settlement with the UKGC after its games appeared on unlicensed websites reachable from Great Britain.

Studios with a UKGC licence

These studios hold an active UK licence in their own name, so their games can appear at UKGC casinos as well as offshore.

Studios that supply the UK through a licensed partner

Studios with no UKGC register entry

We found no current UKGC register entry for these studios under their own names. In practice, their games are mostly found at non UK casinos. Some third-party directories describe a few of them as UK licensed, but we could not confirm that on the register — and a studio could still reach UK sites through a licensed aggregator.

Features restricted in UK versions of games

Even when the same studio supplies both markets, UK builds differ. Since 31 October 2021, UK online slots must:

• take at least 2.5 seconds per spin;
• offer no autoplay, turbo, quick-spin or slam-stop features;
• not celebrate a “win” that returns the stake or less;
• show your net position and time played, and not allow several slots at once.

Online slot stakes are capped at £5 per spin (since 9 April 2025) and £2 for players aged 18–24 (since 21 May 2025).

Bonus buys aren’t named in UK regulations, but in practice they’re gone: in January 2020 the Gambling Commission warned operators about “feature buy” games — one cost more than £3,000 a spin — and told the licensees offering them to remove them. Offshore, the same titles usually come with their bonus-buy option intact.

What you’ll find at non UK casinos

Offshore lobbies combine both groups: the UK-licensed studios above (often in their full-feature international versions) plus the many studios with no UK presence. In the five casino lobbies we reviewed this month, the “Hot” shelves mixed UK-licensed studios such as Hacksaw Gaming, Playson and 3 Oaks with Amusnet, which has no UK register entry.

The upside is variety — crash games, bonus buys, higher stakes and studios you can’t play at home. The downside is that you can’t rely on UK testing and RTP disclosure rules. Two habits help:

• Check the RTP in each game’s info screen. The same slot can run at 96%, 94% or lower depending on the casino’s configuration.
• Prefer established studios with licences in serious jurisdictions such as Malta, Sweden or the UK, even when you’re playing offshore.

How to check a studio yourself

Search the studio or company name on the UK Gambling Commission’s public register. If nothing appears, try the parent company or the studio’s website domain. An active “remote software” licence means the studio can supply UK licensed casinos; anything else means you’ll mostly see its games at non UK casino sites.