MGA moves against Winzon with immediate licence pull
Table of contents
- The Malta Gaming Authority has cancelled Winzon Group‘s B2C licence (MGA/B2C/717/2019) with effect from 11 March 2026, bypassing the standard notice period.
- Winzon faces over €193,000 in fines, with €147,080 in administrative penalties and €46,693.23 in outstanding fees.
- The authority has confirmed it will pursue further legal action if Winzon fails to meet obligations.
The Malta Gaming Authority has cancelled the B2C gaming service licence of Winzon Group Limited (MGA/B2C/717/2019) with immediate effect from 11 March 2026, ordering the operator to cease all activity at once.
The MGA published the notice on 7 April 2026.
Winzon shut down
The cancellation relied on an emergency regulatory provision, allowing the MGA to skip the standard 20-day notice requirement. The authority cited numerous regulatory shortcomings under the Gaming Act as grounds for the accelerated action.
The MGA imposed €46,693.23 in outstanding licence fees and compliance contributions, plus €147,080 in administrative penalties for multiple regulatory breaches under the Gaming Act. The authority has confirmed it will pursue further legal action if Winzon fails to meet those obligations.
Winzon operated a network of online gaming sites including Comix Casino and Betrocker. The operator’s official website is inactive, and most of its casinos have already shut down. Players attempting to register via the sites’ URLs are redirected to casinos operated by Curaçao-based companies.
The group must notify all affected players of the cancellation by email and on its websites for 30 days, refund all legitimate player balances, and submit supporting bank statements to the MGA as proof. All references to MGA licensing must be removed from its platforms.
MGA under pressure
The Winzon cancellation lands as the MGA faces a series of challenges to its standing as a regulator.
In March, German security researcher Lilith Wittmann, a Berlin-based software developer and Chaos Computer Club member, publicly claimed responsibility for a breach of MGA systems, stating she had shared data with media outlets and law enforcement.
The MGA confirmed it had identified a breach within one of its systems and activated internal response protocols, but said core regulatory databases remained secure with no evidence of personal or licensee data being exfiltrated.
The authority condemned the intrusion and rejected what it described as unsubstantiated allegations made alongside it.
On the supervisory front, the MGA has structured its 2026 enforcement agenda around three core themes: compliance, player protection, and sports betting integrity.
Targeted reviews will cover internal control frameworks around crypto asset use, as well as focused integrity assessments linked to athletes betting on their own sport and risks associated with esports markets.
Separately, Malta’s gaming tax and VAT frameworks are due for a significant overhaul from 1 October 2026, following the publication of Legal Notice 84 of 2026 and Legal Notice 86 of 2026 on 1 April. The reforms, developed with industry input, will simplify tax rates and consolidate the gaming tax and device levy into a single structure.
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