Momentum, the operator behind the UAE’s solely licensed lottery, has begun operating two on-line playing platforms that supply in depth on line casino and sports activities betting choices. The websites, named TrueWin and Dream Island, are energetic regardless of the absence of any revealed laws authorizing on-line playing within the Emirates. Both platforms present a full suite of on line casino video games and wagering markets, positioning Momentum on the middle of a quickly creating and extremely scrutinized space of the nation’s digital leisure sector.
Platforms Go Live Amid Regulatory Uncertainty
TrueWin and Dream Island characteristic dwell vendor content material, roulette, poker, slots, and a number of sports activities betting classes protecting soccer, tennis, basketball, cricket, and different worldwide occasions. Their operational standing locations them in a regulatory gray zone. Although Momentum is the one entity permitted to supply gaming legally by way of the UAE Lottery, the 2 new websites don’t show licensing particulars from the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, the regulatory physique established in September 2023.
Domain data present that TrueWin.ae was registered in March 2023, a number of months earlier than the regulator was shaped. Dream Island’s area predates it additional, having been registered in 2020. These timelines point out that each platforms have been ready effectively upfront of any formal introduction of on-line gaming oversight, and earlier than the regulatory surroundings had totally taken form.
Momentum’s intentions to develop into on-line on line casino and sportsbook operations surfaced publicly earlier this 12 months when the corporate marketed for a business director for an upcoming digital gaming model. This signaled {that a} broader product launch was underway effectively earlier than the platforms went dwell.
Broader Gaming Developments within the UAE
The development of those platforms coincides with a interval of great anticipation surrounding the potential legalization of playing within the UAE. No federal regulation has been revealed to authorize such choices, but trade analysts recommend that the nation could also be approaching a landmark shift. As reported by Arabian Gulf Business Insight (AGBI), regulated playing may generate income equal to roughly 1.3 p.c of nationwide GDP—estimated at roughly US$6.6 billion—surpassing markets such as Singapore.
The UAE has already accredited a serious built-in resort challenge in Ras Al Khaimah, the place Wynn Resorts is creating a multibillion-dollar complex anticipated to characteristic the nation’s first land-based on line casino. Alongside this, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority has issued a number of provider licenses to firms together with Aristocrat, Light & Wonder, IGT, Konami, and Sportradar. A separate operator, Coin Technology Projects LLC, additionally seems on the regulator’s listings, providing on-line gaming through a platform referred to as Play 971. Information circulating inside the trade hyperlinks this operator to Momentum as effectively.
Reports from Vixio GamblingCompliance point out that the regulator could ultimately authorize one B2C on-line gaming license for every of the seven emirates, doubtlessly matching a mannequin additionally thought of for land-based on line casino exercise. Such a framework would place the nation for a structured and multi-regional regulatory system if playing legal guidelines are finalized.
Interest within the regulatory path intensified earlier this month when Kevin Mullally stepped down from the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority after becoming a member of it in 2023. The management change arrives throughout an vital interval by which Momentum’s newly launched choices, provider licensing exercise, and ongoing development of the Wynn Resorts challenge all level to a sector in transition.
