GLI Approved to Test Games for New Zealand Online Casinos

Key Points

• Okay, so GLI is one of three test labs right in Australasia, but it looks like the draft testing rules will let in UK and Ontario-based labs too.
• The DIA is aiming to finalise everything by October 23rd, a few weeks after the licence auction got underway.
• And funnily enough, the law doesn’t actually make a national self-exclusion register mandatory until December 2027, long after the first licences get issued.

GLI Gives the Approval Needed to Test Games for New Zealand’s First Online Casinos

Every online casino game in New Zealand is going to need to be tested and approved by some laboratory before a single Kiwi gambler even gets to spin the reels, and Gaming Laboratories International has now got a spot on the list.

The test lab just announced its approval on the 8th of October, just as the licence process for the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 is reaching its final stages. But that’s not the real story here. The real thing to think about is who actually decides whether a New Zealand casino game is fair and square.

Three Australasian Labs and a Backdoor for Others

So, GLI is one of the three local labs that the Department of Internal Affairs’ draft testing rules have written in. The other two are Quality Assurance Laboratories and BMM Australia, which happens to mean the three chosen labs are all based in Australia.

But it doesn’t stop there. The same draft says that they’ll also accept testing results from UK and Ontario labs if the regulator is happy that the game has been checked for integrity. So, if an operator shows up with some documents from a lab that doesn’t even have an office in Australasia, they might just get off the hook.

Richard Howarth, GLI’s boss for Asia Pacific, welcomed the decision, saying, “New Zealand is a key step forward for regulated iGaming in the APAC region and we’re stoked that GLI gets to play a part.” He also added that GLI’s people are ready to help clients figure out the complex rules and get to grips with the new regulatory framework.

GLI has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, and says they’ve helped out over 710 regulated jurisdictions around the world.

The Register Every Applicant Has to Fuss Over

One thing that slipped under the radar in all the coverage was that every single applicant has got to submit a Register of Games and RNGs before they even get a licence. This is a no-brainer: every game and every live dealer game that the applicant is planning to use has got to have been tested.

RNGs are the ones that decide what card is dealt and what slot reels come to a stop. If the generator is dodgy, it means the odds are all off.

From Auction to Application

Auctioning of the licence began on 29 September. DIA used an ascending clock auction format, where all participants face the rising price, and demand equals the supply of 15 available licences.

Winning an auction is not enough for a licence. It only allows you to apply for a licence after paying the price and within 20 working days of being informed of winning, unless extended by the Secretary.

Entry requirements were pretty strict from the beginning. Applicants for expression of interest had to prove they had NZ$7.5 million in capital, and operators cannot control more than three licences.

How the Legislation Has Formed?

This was a fast process in terms of parliamentary procedure. Introduced on 30 June 2025, legislation got its third reading on 22 April 2026, and the Act received royal assent on 28 April. It became law on 1 May.

Public engagement was very active during the whole process. Select Committee got 4,837 written submissions, 3,966 of which mentioned the problem of funding local communities through pokie machine grants. Grants help junior sports teams and clubs to get money.

Lawmakers responded by raising the duty on online gambling from 12% to 16% of gross gambling revenue. An additional four points are intended to help communities, and their estimated value is between NZ$10 and NZ$20 million.

Market Data and What It Means

DIA’s analysis explains the actions of the government. Estimated offshore online gambling deposits in New Zealand amount to NZ$1.36 billion annually. Operators located in Cyprus, Gibraltar, Great Britain and Malta have 96.3% of this revenue.

It is important to understand what this data means and how it was obtained. They are based on deposit information from a single bank’s card transactions, extrapolated to the entire market. They do not include amounts wagered, but only deposits, and do not include such providers as Lotto NZ and TAB.

However, even with all these caveats, two messages can be seen clearly. Spendings on standalone online casinos increased by 38% year on year.

GLI enters New Zealand with recent accreditations in the region. In March, it received accreditation as the first iGaming testing provider in the Philippines from PAGCOR, and in August, Uzbekistan’s regulator included GLI in its accepted list.

Expert Analysis: Has NZ’s Fair Game Concept Been Determined Elsewhere?

We suspect the most decisive choice in this rollout is one no one is really discussing. New Zealand plans to outsource a lot of its fairness testing to London and Toronto.

It makes sense to explain the decision. To retest a product already approved under UK and Ontario laws means wasted effort and money. It seems DIA is concerned about avoiding such duplication, and we concur.

But there is something about the impact. Launch-day comfort suits operators with a catalogue already carrying approval under UK and Ontario laws. The spending statistics show where the money flows, but they do not say what brands it goes to. We cannot tell which operators benefit from the exemption. We suspect the decision favours big players, and the regulator must disclose the number of launch-day games that had the exemption.

More worrying for us is timing. The auction opened on 29 September, but the testing rules will only be finalised somewhere around 23 October. Bidders might have bid on certain prices without having precise rules.

Finally, there is an issue of safety that requires more public discussion. Under the Act, the Minister does not have to make a recommendation for a national self-exclusion registry until 1 December 2027. Labour MPs raised concerns about precisely such a delay in the select committee report. If the licences are issued in early 2027, the first licensed casinos could operate without the national tool for some months.

None of it discredits GLI, which won its approval in due order. But we have a question for Wellington. If New Zealand needs its regulated gaming market, should the process of its fairness testing take place there?