The UAE’s General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) has issued 21 gaming-related vendor licences as of early 2026, building the B2B supply ecosystem ahead of the country’s first integrated casino resort opening in 2027. Aristocrat, IGT, Konami, Light & Wonder, Novomatic, Scientific Games, Sportradar and Games Global sit on the approved register alongside lottery specialists, live-table equipment makers, and geolocation compliance providers cleared to serve licensed UAE operators.
The vendor licences account for the bulk of activity on the GCGRA’s public licensee register, which currently lists 21 named entities holding 22 licence category entries. The discrepancy comes from Coin Technology Projects LLC, which holds two separate licences covering internet gaming and sports wagering.
Building the regulatory framework
The GCGRA was established by Federal Law by Decree in September 2023 and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi. It is the sole federal body authorised to license and supervise commercial gaming activity across the seven emirates, covering land-based facilities, lottery, internet gaming and sports wagering. Its licensing framework applies to operators, suppliers, and key individuals working within licensed entities.
The federal legal foundation shifted again in 2025. Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 removes Articles 1012 to 1019, the gambling and betting chapter, from the UAE Civil Transactions Law, with effect from 1 June 2026. The amendment does not legalise unregulated activity, which remains a criminal offence under the UAE Penal Code. It removes the civil-law basis for treating GCGRA-licensed gaming contracts as void and creates the legal architecture for those contracts to be enforceable in UAE civil courts.
Leadership has changed as the framework has scaled. Founding chief executive Kevin Mullally, previously chief legal officer at Gaming Laboratories International, stepped down in November 2025. Chairman Jim Murren, the former MGM Resorts chief executive, has assumed interim responsibility for the authority. The GCGRA signed a memorandum of understanding with New Jersey gaming regulators in April 2025 covering cross-border regulatory cooperation, signalling alignment with US Tier-1 regulatory practice rather than lighter-touch offshore jurisdictions.
How the UAE licensing system works
The GCGRA operates across four commercial gaming verticals: lottery, land-based gaming facilities, internet gaming, and sports wagering. A separate B2B category, the gaming-related vendor licence, covers technology suppliers, platform operators, content providers and equipment vendors serving the licensed operator base.
Industry guidance suggests the authority is following a one-operator-per-emirate model for both land-based and online gaming categories. Sharjah has confirmed it will not participate. Wynn Al Marjan holds the only land-based facility licence to date, and Coin Technology Projects holds the only internet gaming and sports wagering licences. The B2C operator base is deliberately restricted while the vendor register expands to support it.
Technical standards are aligned with Gaming Laboratories International benchmarks, including GLI-19 and GLI-33. Anti-money laundering requirements follow Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and FATF Recommendation 22 guidance. Foreign companies can apply, but must establish a UAE legal entity, register at emirate level, and appoint a local legal representative before the GCGRA conducts its cross-border regulatory checks and suitability review.
The vendor licensees
Aristocrat Technologies Europe was the first international supplier to receive a GCGRA gaming-related vendor licence, approved in October 2024 for both land-based and online gaming products. CEO Hector Fernandez said at the time:
“We are honored to be the first large, international technology provider to be awarded a gaming-related vendor license to serve the UAE market.”
The register has expanded steadily since. International Game Technology, Konami Gaming, Light & Wonder (under its LNW Gaming entity), Novomatic AG and Scientific Games International have each secured vendor licences covering casino products and supporting technology. Konami’s authorisation, granted in July 2025, was confirmed at the time as the 14th vendor licence on the register.
Lottery-focused suppliers form a distinct part of the vendor base. Pollard Banknote, Brightstar Lottery Cyprus, Scientific Games’ lottery division, and Finland-based Fennica Gaming are positioned to serve The Game LLC’s UAE Lottery operation, which introduced its Pick 4 daily draw in September 2025 and joined the World Lottery Association during the same year.
Live and table-game equipment specialists TCS John Huxley Singapore and Cammegh have also secured vendor approval, alongside random number generator and testing specialist Random State and US-based Smartplay International. Their licences cover the physical gaming-floor systems that will populate Wynn Al Marjan when the resort opens.
The compliance technology layer is represented by GeoComply Solutions and Xpoint Technology, both of which provide geolocation services to verify that players are physically present within UAE territory. The GCGRA framework requires geofencing across both land-based facility access and online operator services, and the regulator has identified “sensitive geographic areas” within the country where gaming is not permitted even for otherwise eligible users.
Sportradar AG received its gaming-related vendor licence in October 2025, allowing the Switzerland-based data and integrity firm to provide sports analytics and integrity services to licensed UAE operators. Arena Leisure, operating under the Racing1Markets brand, covers racing data and pool wagering technology.
The online-focused part of the vendor register is shorter but strategically significant. Live Online Gaming Services LLC, a UAE-incorporated subsidiary of the Yolo Group, supplies the OneTouch product set already visible on the Play971 platform and was added to the register in October 2025. The full context of that approval is covered in our earlier report on Yolo Group’s UAE gaming vendor licences. Estonia-headquartered Hub 88 Holdings is another aggregator-style approval. Games Global, licensed under its GG UAE LIMITED entity, brings Microgaming-legacy content to the UAE market. EQL Games rounds out the online content category.
The operator base
The operator base remains intentionally narrow. The Game LLC, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Momentum LLC, holds the UAE Lottery licence awarded in July 2024. Ticket sales began later that year, with the operation reported to have paid out more than $40m in prizes during its first year.
Wynn Al Marjan Island holds the only land-based gaming facility licence, awarded in October 2024 with a 15-year term. The $5.1bn integrated resort on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah is scheduled to open in March 2027 and will house approximately 1,530 rooms across a 70-floor tower, alongside 22 restaurants, an events centre, a theatre and a deep-water marina. Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings has cited analyst estimates of $5bn to $8bn in annual gaming revenue at full operation, a figure comparable to the aggregate gaming revenue of the Las Vegas Strip.
Coin Technology Projects LLC, headquartered at Twofour54 in Abu Dhabi and sharing an address with The Game LLC, was added to the GCGRA register under both internet gaming and sports wagering categories on 28 November 2025. Its Play971 platform went fully live on 15 December 2025 and is currently the only authorised real-money online gaming and sports betting site available to players inside the UAE. The platform requires Emirates ID verification, sets a minimum playing age of 21, and blocks access from designated sensitive geographic areas and from outside UAE borders.
Market outlook
Morgan Stanley has estimated the UAE could generate $3bn to $5bn in annual gross gaming revenue at maturity. Wynn analyst projections cited by Billings reach $8bn for the Ras Al Khaimah property alone at full operation. Whether Dubai or Abu Dhabi will issue additional B2C operator licences remains the open commercial question. MGM Resorts has publicly indicated interest in a second land-based licence, and the GCGRA confirmed in late 2024 that further licences would be issued without a fixed timeline.
The vendor register, by contrast, is expected to continue expanding through 2026 as suppliers position for both the Wynn opening and any subsequent online or land-based operator approvals. Certification of Wynn’s systems and games, employee licensing, and pre-opening regulatory approvals are scheduled across 2026 and into the first quarter of 2027.
Source: GCGRA
