UKGC reinstates Spribe gambling software licence
Table of contents
- The UK Gambling Commission lifted Spribe OÜ’s suspended gambling software licence on 30 March 2026, five months after imposing it.
- The regulator suspended the licence on 30 October 2025 under section 118(2) of the Gambling Act 2005, citing non-compliance with hosting requirements.
- Sweden’s Spelinspektionen separately issued Spribe a formal warning and a SEK 5,000 (approximately €466) fine for supplying software to unlicensed operators.
Spribe OÜ can resume supplying its flagship crash game Aviator in Great Britain after the UK Gambling Commission reinstated the developer’s gambling software licence.
The Commission updated its enforcement notice on 31 March 2026 to confirm the suspension had been lifted the previous day.
How the suspension arose
The UKGC suspended Spribe’s gambling software licence on 30 October 2025 under section 118(2) of the Gambling Act 2005. In its published notice, the regulator said the action was taken “on grounds of suitability, due to serious non-compliance with the hosting requirements of our licensing framework.”
The Commission stated that all hosting activity had to cease immediately unless and until a suitable hosting licence was obtained. It also noted that, under Section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005, providing gambling facilities in Great Britain without the appropriate licence constitutes a criminal offence.
Hosting, under the Commission’s framework, refers to a supplier housing games on its own servers so that players can access those titles through an operator’s platform. This activity requires a separate remote casino game host licence on top of a gambling software licence.
Spribe described the situation in its own terms as a “technical licensing gap.” In a statement to iGaming Business at the time, the company said:
“In 2020, Spribe applied for and was granted a remote gambling software licence. However, it has now been identified that our business model also requires a remote casino game host licence. This is a technical licensing gap that was not identified during the original application process in 2020.”
Spribe said it was “working diligently” to submit the required application and expressed hope the Commission would approve it promptly.
At the time of the suspension, the company said it expected to restore Aviator’s availability in the UK within the coming month. That estimate proved incorrect, as the process ultimately took around five months.
Licence lifted after five months
The UKGC updated its original enforcement notice to record the outcome. The regulator’s page now states at the end:
“On 30 March 2026 the suspension of Spribe OÜ’s licence was lifted. The Licensee is now permitted to provide gambling facilities in reliance on its gambling software licence.”
The Commission did not publish a separate statement explaining what steps Spribe had taken to satisfy the requirements.
Sweden fine adds to regulatory pressure
Spribe faced a separate regulatory action in Sweden. Spelinspektionen issued a formal warning and a fine of SEK 5,000 (approximately €466) after an inspection in November 2025 found Spribe’s games available on websites operated by companies without a Swedish licence.
The authority concluded that Spribe had breached Chapter 11, Section 6e of the Swedish Gambling Act, which prohibits licensed software suppliers from providing gambling software to unlicensed operators, whether directly or through intermediaries such as aggregators.
Spribe told the regulator it had taken corrective action after the issue was identified and had removed its content from the relevant platforms.
Spelinspektionen described the breach as serious but said a warning was proportionate given Spribe’s corrective steps. Spribe’s Swedish software supplier licence runs until 2028.
The two enforcement actions, across separate jurisdictions and separate regulatory frameworks, suggest that B2B suppliers bear direct compliance responsibility for how their products reach end users.
Spribe’s case also offers a degree of reassurance. Regulators in both the UK and Sweden stopped short of revocation when the company moved swiftly to correct the issues. Regulators’ next moves in 2026 will indicate how far that principle extends.
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