Sweden

Sweden has run a licensing system for online gambling under the Gambling Act (Spellag 2018:1138) since the market was re-regulated. Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority, issues licences and permits and supervises the market. Commercial online casino and betting are open to licensed private operators.

Sweden stands out for its statutory marketing rules, including the duty of moderation and a one-time bonus rule. It also requires a separate permit for B2B game software. Recent legislative changes have focused on gambling on credit, state casinos and AML.

Regulator and licensing

Under chapter 4, section 8 of the Gambling Act, a licence is granted for a fixed period of no more than five years. The online licence types are set out in chapters 7 and 8:

• Commercial online gaming covers casino games, online bingo and computer-simulated slot games.
• Betting covers betting through agents and online betting, including sports events, simulated sports events and horse racing.

Each of these licences costs SEK 230,000 to apply for. Applying for both at the same time costs a single fee of SEK 230,000. For online gaming, only individuals who are resident or staying permanently in Sweden can be registered as players.

B2B game software permit. A separate permit for game software (tillstånd för spelprogramvara) is required under chapter 11 of the Act. The main points are:

• Who needs it: anyone who manufactures, provides, installs or modifies game software used for online gaming under chapters 7 or 8, whether as manufacturer or subcontractor. Companies with supply agreements with Swedish licensees also need one.
• Fee and term: the application fee is SEK 120,000, and a permit runs for at most five years.
• Licensee obligation: licensees must make sure the game software they use comes from a permit holder.
• Exemption: software built for supporting activities, such as results analysis, affiliates or customer management, does not need a permit.

Key rules for affiliates

Chapter 15 of the Gambling Act sets the marketing rules, and several provisions reach affiliates directly or through the operators they work with:

• Moderation. "Vid marknadsföring av spel till konsumenter ska måttfullhet iakttas": marketing of gambling to consumers must be moderate. It must not be aimed specifically at people under 18.
• Self-excluded players. Marketing may not be directed at a player who has self-excluded. A licensee may market directly to a player who has closed their account only if the player actively agreed to it when closing the account.
• Disclosures. Commercial messages must clearly state the minimum gambling age. Except on radio, they must also include contact details for an organisation that gives information and support on gambling problems.
• Bonuses. Under chapter 14, section 9, a licensee may offer or give a bonus only on the first occasion a player plays any of its games.
• Promotion of unlicensed gambling. Chapter 3, section 7 bans promoting, in a professional context or otherwise for profit, participation in unlawful gambling or gambling offered without the required Swedish licence. This rule applies to affiliates as much as anyone else.
• Supply-chain enforcement. On 27 May 2024, B2B supplier Hacksaw Studios AB received a warning and a SEK 2.6 million sanction fee for supplying game software to two operators without a Swedish licence.

Spelinspektionen publishes English translations of the Act and the Gambling Ordinance, including the ordinance as updated by SFS 2025:292.

Recent changes

• April 2025: state casinos. The state-owned casino business run through AB Svenska Spel's subsidiary Casino Cosmopol AB was wound down.
• 30 September 2025: credit bill. The government adopted bill 2025/26:11 proposing a wider ban on gambling on credit. Under the bill, licensees and agents may not let players take out credit with other parties when buying gambling, for example by linking to lenders next to online games.
• 1 January 2026: Gambling Act amendments. Two changes took effect:
  • casino games were removed from the state gambling licence type, so nobody can be licensed to offer gambling in a dedicated casino venue;
  • lotteries run for certain political parties got new information requirements and lost their exemptions from the credit ban and bonus restriction.
• 1 May 2026: wider credit ban. The expanded credit ban took effect. It covers all licensable forms of gambling and requires the following of licensees and gambling agents:
  • they must not allow or help gambling to be financed with credit;
  • they must take appropriate measures against it;
  • for online gambling, they must block credit cards as a payment method;
  • they must not facilitate credit, for example by linking to a lender or loan broker on their website.
• 1 September 2026: AML rules. Amendments to Spelinspektionen's AML regulations (SIFS 2026:2) took effect. They remove the previous exemption for land-based commercial casino gaming, after Spelinspektionen's September 2025 risk assessment found the money-laundering risk in that segment could no longer be regarded as low.