Key Points
- Chris Armes, who has been serving as chief technology officer at High5Games since December 2022, has been appointed as executive vice president of Gaming Technologies in Veikkaus from autumn 2026.
- The appointment comes alongside the resignation of deputy CEO Velipekka Nummikoski on 31 August 2026, marking the end of a 14-year journey which saw the creation of the present Veikkaus through a triple merger in 2017.
- Approximately 50 gambling operators had sought licenses in Finland by June 2026, the vast majority of whom were foreign, indicating the competition faced by Veikkaus when its online monopoly ended on 1 July 2027.
The Finnish government-owned online casino and sportsbook service Veikkaus has about ten months to run as the sole legally operating online casino and sportsbook in Finland. The fate of Veikkaus after 1 July 2027 depends largely on its competitiveness, but Veikkaus is now hiring the technology talent it thinks will determine the answer.
Veikkaus hired Chris Armes as executive vice president of Gaming Technologies and new members of its executive management on 17 August 2026. Armes will head the technology function from Helsinki as of autumn 2026.
A Career Built on Platform Complexity
Armes is no paper tiger. Having worked with High5Games, an international technology solutions firm for the online games industry, in the position of chief technology officer since December 2022. Previously, from 2019 to 2022, he held the position of chief information officer at Gaming Innovation Group (GiG), which was scaling up rapidly during those years in several regulated European countries. Before that, he was responsible for integrating the technology following the acquisition of NYX Gaming Group by Scientific Games Digital in 2018, one of the more difficult platform integrations that had occurred in the sector up to that time. Since then, Scientific Games has rebranded itself as Light and Wonder.
Armes graduated from Staffordshire University with a BSc (Hons) in Computing Science and is also a Chartered Engineer.
What Sarekoski Said, and What He Did Not?
Veikkaus president and CEO Olli Sarekoski made the case for Armes publicly. “His broad experience in transforming iGaming technology platforms and leading in highly regulated international markets will be extremely valuable as we continue to develop first-class customer experiences and technological innovation,” Sarekoski said in the official Veikkaus announcement. “Chris’ strong commitment to responsible gaming and security is well aligned with our values, and he brings extensive international gaming experience to our team.”
Armes offered his own interpretation of what lies ahead for him. “I am excited to join Veikkaus, a dynamic and innovative company, that is moving on to the next level of growth as the Finnish market opens up and the company continues its internationalisation journey,” he stated. “It is my pleasure to be part of the skilled team in Helsinki in assisting the next step in the growth story driven by technology and delivering competitive, scalable and safe digital platforms for our customers.”
Neither of the two mentioned statements talked about the technological environment that Armes inherits. Veikkaus changed its sportsbook from DraftKings to OpenBet which became operational in May 2025. In June 2026, Veikkaus expanded its association with OpenBet and deployed the AI-enabled responsible gambling platform of Neccton. This platform provides Veikkaus with real-time monitoring of player behaviour and automates alert processes. These features are part and parcel of the mandate that Veikkaus has assigned to Armes, namely cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and AI-based player protection.
Three Departures, One Arrival, One Month
Armes’ appointment does not arrive in isolation. Ari Aarnihuhta, who has held the EVP of Gaming Technologies position since January 2024 and has worked at Veikkaus for over 23 years, steps back into an executive adviser role. Sarekoski acknowledged Aarnihuhta’s “long and distinguished career” and thanked him for work across “several demanding management positions.”
Nummikoski will retire from Veikkaus by 31 August 2026 after spending 14 years with the company. Nummikoski started his career with RAY, the Finnish Slot Machine Concession, in the capacity of chief executive officer in 2012, launched the online casino operation for RAY and was one of the executives who merged RAY, Fintoto and the old Veikkaus into one state-owned organisation in 2017. “It was my privilege to be associated with the creation of a new Veikkaus by merging three companies. The experience I have gained through this process has been extremely rewarding,” he stated.
Three personnel shifts in one month tell a story that goes beyond routine succession. Veikkaus is separating the people who built and managed the monopoly from those who will compete without one. The company’s financials give that urgency a number. Sales revenue in 2025 reached €936.3 million, down from €959.1 million the year before, while operating profit fell to €431.6 million from €461.6 million. The direction is consistent, and it is moving that way before competition has even started.
Fifty Rivals Already Queuing
The market that Veikkaus is preparing for is not a forecast. By June 2026, about 50 operators had applied for licences to the National Police Board of Finland after the window for the submission of applications opened on 1 March 2026. Most of these applicants were international companies. “Most of the licensees are international companies,” commented Juha Katainen, a senior advisor to the National Police Board. Analysts had predicted that the number of licences would be between 40 and 50 when the market opens. The number of licences has been reached a year before the market opens on 1 July 2027.
Veikkaus will retain exclusive rights over lotteries, scratchcards and parts of land-based gambling. Its online casino and sports betting operations, however, go head to head with operators who have built technology stacks across multiple markets for years. That is the specific gap Armes is hired to close. His work at GiG and High5Games was built on helping operators compete across jurisdictions rather than within just one. At Veikkaus, the challenge runs in reverse: a single-market incumbent learning to act like a multi-market competitor before a hard deadline.
Industry consultant Jari Vähänen, who previously held a senior executive role at Veikkaus, estimated the business could be worth up to €4.5 billion based on a 10x multiple of its annual gaming surplus of approximately €450 million. He put the digital arm at between €1 billion and €1.5 billion, with the retained monopoly business in lotteries and gaming machines accounting for the remaining €3 billion. Vähänen has also warned that Veikkaus’ financial returns had nearly halved over five years and that failing to carry its estimated 2.5 million registered players into the open market would significantly reduce that figure.
Expert Analysis
Veikkaus has taken years to prepare, change platforms, deploy AI player protection measures, and reorganize its board. The hiring of Armes is the most explicit sign that the company’s management recognizes something its press releases do not admit often: the technical capacity that has been established in the monopolistic era will not suffice in the coming era of competition.
Bringing in someone shaped by multi-market platform work at GiG and High5Games points to a specific concern. Veikkaus knows it will face operators who have already done what it still needs to do. Armes has done it too, from the other side. Whether that translates into results before July 2027 is the question the Finnish gambling industry will be watching closely.
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