Malta Media, The Penthouse, Triq Manwel Dimech, Sliema (2026)

11/09/2026

Donald Tusk has backed serious consideration of an EU-level gambling tax as European policymakers search for new ways to fund the bloc’s 2028–2034 budget.

The European Parliament has already raised an online gambling levy as one possible revenue source, with estimates suggesting it could generate between €2bn and €4bn a year. But nothing has been agreed yet, and any change to the EU’s revenue system would still require unanimous support from member states.

For gambling operators, the real concern is whether a future EU levy would come on top of existing national taxes. That question will be central if the proposal moves beyond political discussion.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called for serious consideration of a gambling tax at European Union level as policymakers examine possible new sources of revenue for the bloc's 2028-2034 long-term budget. The issue emerged during discussions surrounding the EU's next Multiannual Financial Fra...

11/09/2026

Mr Vegas is returning as sponsor of Big Brother UK for the 2026 series, extending its partnership with the ITV2 programme after last year’s campaign.

The brand will feature through sponsorship idents and on the show’s voting platform, while using the returning “Guess who’s back?” message across the series. The 2025 campaign generated plenty of audience reaction online, which appears to be one of the main reasons for bringing the partnership back.

The strategy is simple: attach the brand to a programme with strong personalities, active viewers and plenty of social conversation. The harder question is whether that attention can keep building brand value without becoming repetitive.

Mr Vegas is returning as a sponsor of Big Brother UK for the 2026 series, extending a commercial relationship that first gained visibility during the programme's previous campaign. The renewal places the online casino brand alongside one of ITV2's most recognisable entertainment formats as the new s...

11/09/2026

German authorities have raided 11 premises linked to an unlicensed online casino that allegedly handled almost €6bn in wagers over roughly two and a half years.

The operation involved more than 100 officers, froze around €82m in assets and uncovered at least €77.6m in unpaid taxes. The size of the case is now raising broader questions about whether Germany has underestimated the scale of its illegal gambling market.

That is where the issue becomes bigger than one enforcement action. If licensed operators continue to capture only a limited share of online gambling activity, Germany may need to look not only at tougher enforcement but also at whether its regulatory model is doing enough to keep players inside the legal market.

German authorities have escalated enforcement against suspected illegal online gambling following coordinated searches across 11 premises in the Frankfurt and Rhine-Main area. The operation, which involved more than 100 officers, focused on five suspects allegedly connected to internet gambling serv...

11/09/2026

Maxxi Labs has launched a new casino content collective built around six independent studios, each with its own style, mechanics and target audience.

Bad Company, Fortune One, Gacha, Red Papaya, Slotty and Ventura Studios will all operate under the same distribution structure, giving operators access through one integration. Together, the studios are expected to release six to eight new games each month across slots and casual formats.

The model is deliberately built around difference rather than a single house style. The challenge will be keeping those identities genuinely distinct as output increases and more studios join the collective.

Maxxi Labs has launched a new casino content collective built around six independent studios, bringing different creative approaches under one operational structure. The company positions the model as an alternative to the standard single-brand development approach by allowing each studio to maintai...

11/09/2026

Wazdan has expanded its UK operations through a new partnership with Jupiter Gaming, bringing its games to six casino sites.

The initial rollout includes 13 titles across brands such as 666casino, dreamjackpot, kingcasino, ladcasino, mrluck and redcasino. The deal gives Wazdan broader distribution in one of Europe’s most established regulated iGaming markets.

The opportunity is clear, but the UK is also highly competitive. The bigger question is whether wider availability can translate into stronger player engagement and long-term performance across the operator’s network.

Wazdan has expanded its footprint in the regulated UK market through a new content partnership with Jupiter Gaming, bringing its casino portfolio to six of the operator's UK-facing sites. The rollout places Wazdan titles across 666casino, dreamjackpot, kingcasino, ladcasino, mrluck and redcasino. Th...

11/09/2026

A new international alliance has been launched to strengthen cooperation against telecom and cyber fraud, with 46 countries joining as founding members.

The initiative is expected to focus on intelligence sharing, cross-border investigations, fugitive tracking, asset recovery and joint enforcement. This is important because scam networks often operate across several jurisdictions, making it harder for individual countries to trace suspects, funds and digital infrastructure on their own.

The alliance gives participating authorities a more structured platform for cooperation. The bigger question is whether that framework can produce faster investigations and more effective action against fraud networks that already operate internationally.

The International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud was formally launched on 10 September 2026 during the 2026 Conference of the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in Lianyungang, China. The initiative brings together 46 founding countries to strengthen international cooperation again...

11/09/2026

Aviatrix has launched Aviatrix Fortunes, a new Asian fortune-themed slot connected to its wider iGaming Metaverse.

The 3x3 game includes five fixed paylines, a Symbol Respin Feature and an x10 Multiplier. More importantly, it is designed to link into the same progression, rewards and loyalty system used across other Aviatrix titles.

The strategy is broader than one slot release. Aviatrix is trying to keep players moving between different game experiences without breaking the sense of progression. The real test is whether that shared ecosystem creates meaningful engagement or simply adds another layer around the games themselves.

Aviatrix has launched Aviatrix Fortunes, a new slot game built around an Asian fortune theme and integrated into the company's wider iGaming Metaverse. The release represents another stage in Aviatrix's strategy to broaden its portfolio beyond its original crash game while maintaining a connected ec...

11/09/2026

Newcastle United has renewed its partnership with BetMGM through a new multi-year agreement covering the UK and Europe.

The deal will keep BetMGM branding at St James’ Park and continue fan competitions, hospitality offers and matchday activations such as the Flight of the Mags tournament and Half-Time Challenge. The partnership began in 2023 and has now been extended as betting sponsorships across the Premier League continue to evolve.

The regulatory context also matters. BetMGM operates under the relevant licences in the UK, which gives this agreement a different footing from some other betting partnerships linked to Premier League clubs. The wider issue is how clubs manage commercial opportunities while maintaining clear standards across different markets.

Newcastle United has extended its commercial relationship with LeoVegas Group through a new multi-year agreement that keeps BetMGM as the club’s Official UK and European Betting Partner. The renewed arrangement strengthens an established commercial link while expanding opportunities for fan engage...

11/09/2026

A conservative internal Bet3000-linked workbook records €211,171,607.82 in German tax payments from 2012 into 2025. The records include monthly entries to Finanzamt Frankfurt, split payments, corrections, late fees and a repayment. They are not an official tax-clearance certificate, but they provide a detailed payment trail that can be checked against tax accounts and bank records.

The contrast with Lottoland is difficult to ignore. Lilith Wittmann’s July investigation estimates that German lottery tax, gambling tax and money intended for social purposes may have gone unpaid in amounts running into hundreds of millions. Lottoland rejects that analysis, says the underlying material is incomplete and misleading and insists that all legally required German taxes were paid. Those allegations are not final tax findings.

Our article does not compare unlike figures as though they were the same. Bet3000’s €211.17 million is a compilation of recorded payments. Wittmann’s figures are calculations of disputed liabilities based on company accounts, stakes and assumptions about German revenue. The companies, products and tax rules differ.

The regulatory question remains unavoidable. The GGL said in 2022 that tax referrals were among its most effective tools and that tax debts could make a future licence almost impossible. German law allows tax authorities and gambling regulators to share relevant information, even though tax secrecy limits what can be published. So what has been verified, what remains disputed and how did the tax history affect licensing and enforcement decisions? Read the full investigation.

https://malta-media.com/follow-the-tax-money-bet3000-versus-lottoland/

A conservative internal Bet3000-linked tax compilation records €211,171,607.82 in German payments. Lilith Wittmann's Lottoland investigation points instead to disputed liabilities running into hundreds of millions. The figures are not equivalent, but the gap between a payment ledger and an unresol...

11/09/2026

A casino lobby can be faked. A funded wager, a functioning live game and an Evolution-linked technical route are considerably harder to wave away. That is what makes the Asian section of The Evolution Files uncomfortable.

The New Jersey regulator did not find that Evolution knowingly supplied prohibited markets. That matters. But later analyst testing reported funded play on KUBet and BC Game, named routes through evo-games.com and evonetworks.net and repeated access involving Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan and China.

None of this proves that Evolution management approved every operator or knew about every individual session. But “we are only the B2B supplier” cannot be the end of the discussion when casino keys, API tokens, whitelisted endpoints and supplier-related game servers sit inside the technical chain.

In the latest Malta Media article, I separate what Black Cube alleged, what Rothschild & Co Redburn and Andrew Tam reported, what Evolution says and what the evidence still does not establish. This is not a conviction. It is a supply-chain question that simply refuses to disappear.

Read the full article: https://malta-media.com/evolution-asia-tests-raise-offshore-access-concern/

The complete 501-page PDF will be available by request after final legal and copyright sign-off. Readers, regulators, lawyers, analysts and industry participants can contact me at [email protected] and include their WhatsApp number.

Hong Kong and Singapore produced complete player journeys. Thailand and Vietnam added funded play and operator-linked technical routes. None of that proves that Evolution knowingly approved every session, but it leaves a much harder question than a few old casino screenshots. I keep coming back to o...

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