French Regulator Penalizes Unibet France for System Malfunction
Unibet France has been fined €800,000 by France’s National Gaming Authority (ANJ) after a serious malfunction in its self-exclusion system allowed previously banned players to continue gambling. The penalty, the largest ever imposed by the regulator, underscores the importance of responsible gambling measures.
Thousands Potentially Affected by System Error
The issue, which impacted iOS users, first surfaced between March 2021 and December 2022. Despite being fixed, the error reappeared from December 2022 to February 2023, before finally being resolved. Unibet admitted it could not determine the exact number of affected players, but estimates varied widely. While the operator claimed no more than 100 users were impacted, ANJ reported that over 4,500 players may have been affected.
The malfunction stemmed from a coding error that misinterpreted exclusion periods. Players who opted for a 12-month self-exclusion were only restricted for 12 days, significantly undermining responsible gambling protections.
Regulator Slams Unibet’s Response
ANJ criticized Unibet France, operated by SPS Betting, for failing to implement effective corrective measures in a timely manner. “The ability for players to self-exclude is a crucial safeguard in online gambling,” the regulator stated, highlighting the importance of compliance.
This latest sanction follows previous fines against Unibet France, including penalties for exceeding the country’s 85% return-to-player limit.
Unibet Ordered to Display Public Notice
As part of the penalty, Unibet France must display a public notice on its homepage from 17 March for two weeks, informing customers of the sanction. The fine will also be published in France’s Official Journal and on the ANJ website until March 2026, at which point references to the operator will be anonymized.
SPS Betting has two months to appeal the decision before the Council of State.
FDJ Prepares for First Full-Year Report Since Unibet Takeover
The timing of this fine coincides with the upcoming release of the 2024 full-year financial results for La Française des Jeux (FDJ), which acquired Unibet’s parent company, Kindred Group, in October 2024 for €2.45 billion. The report is expected to provide insights into Unibet’s performance under its new ownership.
Unibet, one of the leading Swedish gaming operators, has announced the simultaneous launch of an exciting new slot titled Mystic Monkeys from Genesis Gaming across three different formats – Flash, HTML5 and mobile versions of Unibet. The release is the first time that a game has been made available simultaneously on all versions of a site.
Mystic Monkeys Slot is a five-reel and 50-line slot that has been launched across Unibet’s online and mobile casinos as well as via its Spin City gaming app that enables gamers to enjoy a consistent player experience across all channels.
The new slot game features three wise monkeys who are watched over by Buddha.
Daniel Eskola, Unibet’s Head of Gaming, revealed that they are very pleased to achieve this significant milestone and that by making game releases live simultaneously on all their casino channels, it creates a better experience for their players. He added that once players hear about a new game, they can play the game on their preferred channel, or on all three and that players appreciate the convenience of finding new games available on all their Casino channels.
James Wilson, Genesis Gaming’s European Sales Director, said that a “Triple Play” release, where all three formats are made available simultaneously, is essential for engaging players optimally where and when they want access to their games. Wilson added that their partnership with Relax and their proprietary development tools made it possible for them to offer this unique milestone for Unibet and that they have four more games scheduled for “Triple Play” release this spring for Unibet players to enjoy.
Microgaming powered QuickFire is thrilled to announce that a lucky Norwegian punter had a massive 5.4 Kroner win recently through the Microgaming powered Progressive Jackpot Network.
The lucky winner, a 35 year old Norwegian player, was playing “The Dark Knight” online video slot at Unibet’s website when he struck it lucky and hit the jackpot.
In contrast to the industries’ usual manner of staggering payments in a jackpot win, Microgaming’s Progressive Jackpot paid out the 5.4 million Kroner to the lucky player in one single cash payment.
The lucky winner, who has not yet been identified, has revealed that he did not have any idea of what was happening. In the beginning he thought that he had won an amount of 5,000 Kroner and he remembered thinking that the win would be a very nice Christmas present for his girlfriend. However, he saw that the amount was still increasing until it eventually displayed the amount of 5 million Kroner. The winner just could not believe his luck and says that he was in complete shock. It was only after getting confirmation of the win when he phoned the Unibet customer service department that he actually realized that he had in fact won the staggering amount of 5.4 million Kroner.
The Dark Knight video slot game is based on the epic battles between legendary Gotham City crime fighter, Batman, and his arch nemesis The Joker. The 5 reel and 243 Ways to win The Dark Knight video game has 4 progressive jackpots and offers players lots of action and great excitement.