Behind every online casino game and every high street gaming machine sit businesses that make and supply them. The Gambling Act 2005 does not leave those businesses out. It licenses them as well, through categories separate from the operating licences held by the companies that take bets and stakes from the public. This page covers the software and machine side.
Gambling software
On the public register the activity is called Gambling Software. It authorises a business to design, produce, supply, install or adapt software used in connection with remote gambling. In plain words, it is the licence for the people who write the code behind online casino games, betting platforms and similar products, as opposed to the people who run the website and take the stakes.
Two of the twelve operators on this site's licensed casinos list show the activity, as read on 9 November 2026. They are Rank Interactive (Gibraltar) Limited, with a start date of 11 March 2022, and Skill On Net Limited, with a start date of 11 March 2015. Both entries also list casino and other remote activities. The Commission describes the start date as the date the business was most recently granted a licence to operate that product, so it may reflect a renewed or varied licence.
Note what the table of twelve does not show. Software licences are held by many businesses that do not run consumer casino brands, because they sell to operators. Those businesses are on the wider register of 2,629 records but not on our list, which is built around licensed casino brands.
Gaming machine technical
A gaming machine technical licence is for businesses that make, supply, install or adapt gaming machines, the cabinets found in arcades, bingo halls, casinos and betting shops. It is a business-to-business licence. A machine operator needs its own operating licence, and the technical licence covers the people who build and maintain what the operator uses.
Gaming machines are a large part of non-remote gambling. The Commission's industry statistics for April 2025 to March 2026 put total gross gambling yield for gaming machines in Great Britain at £2.7 billion, up 4.3% on the year before. Machines accounted for £461.7 million of non-remote bingo and £238.9 million of non-remote casino yield in the same figures. Those numbers show why the machine supply chain is regulated.
Because the activity concerns premises-based equipment, it belongs to the non-remote side. A consumer-facing online casino does not hold it. If you see it on an entry, the entity supplies machines or machine components.
Game host
Some businesses host games on behalf of others, running the platform on which another licensee's customers play. In the remote setting this role sits between the software maker and the operator. The Commission's guidance describes how hosting is licensed, and the name and scope of the licence are set there. If you need the precise term for a particular business, search for it on the register and read its activity list. We do not list a game host in our data, so we say no more about it than the general description.
Who needs these licences
Anyone who makes or supplies gambling software used in Great Britain, or who makes or supplies gaming machines for use here, needs the relevant licence, wherever they are based. The link to the operator is practical: the Commission expects licensed operators to use games that meet its technical standards, and it licenses the suppliers who build them. Sections 33 and 36 of the 2005 Act cover providing facilities for gambling, while the licence categories on this page cover the supply chain around them. Because this is a technical area, the Commission's guidance is the place to confirm what a particular business needs. This site does not give legal advice.
Why this matters to a player
A player does not deal with a software licensee, but the licence has an effect. A licensed supplier is assessed by the Commission, and the games it supplies to licensed operators are expected to meet the Commission's standards for fairness. At an unlicensed site there is no such assessment that a UK player can rely on, and no Commission route to turn to if the games behave unfairly. Playing at an unlicensed site is not an offence for the player, since the offence under section 33 belongs to the operator, but the protections are different. Our trust and safety page lists what a licence brings.
Reading the status
Active means the licence is in force and up to date. Pending means a licence or variation has been applied for and is not yet active. Suspended means the Commission has stopped the activity pending investigation. Revoked, Surrendered, Lapsed, Expired and Forfeited mean the licence no longer works. The full table of values sits on the licence types page, and our guide to checking a UKGC licence explains how to search.
For operating activities, see remote casino and the ancillary remote page.
Gambling help
Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over. The GamCare National Gambling Helpline is free on 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day, and the GamCare site has support online. You can block yourself from licensed sites with GAMSTOP, and BeGambleAware lists further help.