The UK Gambling Commission considered suspending Evolution's licence after finding the supplier's games on unlicensed sites accessible to British players. The regulator disclosed the detail this week alongside the £4.75m settlement concluded last week.
The investigation uncovered serious weaknesses in Evolution's anti-money laundering controls and supply-chain oversight. Director of enforcement and intelligence John Pierce said the company's risk assessment was outdated and failed to account for threats from unlicensed operators. The gap between documented procedure and actual practice was critical.
The Commission opened its investigation in December 2024 after identifying Evolution games on six unlicensed sites run by two third-party operators. The breach ran from December 2023 through November 2024. The regulator first spotted the issue in August 2024 and formally notified Evolution in December. The supplier acknowledged the facts and blocked access for UK users.
Besides the unlicensed supply, the Commission found breaches of licence conditions 12.1.1 and 12.1.2 related to AML and compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. Evolution's third-party risk assessment between April 2024 and January 2025 was deemed inadequate. The supplier failed to detect that two operators were supplying its games into Great Britain without a licence.
Pierce said the failings were serious enough to warrant suspension. The regulator held back because Evolution acted quickly. In 2025 the supplier carried out a large-scale geo-blocking programme across Europe to cut off unlicensed sites from its games. The measures hit profitability.
Under the settlement Evolution will commission an independent audit of its UK licence within a year and reimburse the Commission's investigation costs. Chief executive Martin Carlesund told analysts on the Q2 call that the agreement would not affect the company's UK operations.
