From 19th to 21st January 2026, the Casinolyze team attended ICE and iGB Affiliate in Barcelona. For those unfamiliar with them, they're an annual conference in the gambling industry. You can find casino operators, payment service providers, game studios, marketing companies, and more on this occasion.
We, the Casinolyze team, took this opportunity to discuss with casino operators the current state of the UK market, where we have seen turbulence of late, including the changes to wagering requirements and increased taxation on remote gaming duty.
In mid-January 2026, a new change came into effect capping the maximum wagering requirement at 10 times. It also requires casinos not mix bonuses in different gaming categories, for example, they are no longer allowed to offer a welcome package containing both free bets for sports and free spins. They have to be separated. Given this change, UK online casinos had to update their welcome offers before it took effect.
This had raised a question for us, whether casinos will try something more creative than the same old offer with little to no wagering requirement or not. One of the casino operators we met in the conference told us that some are trying to create a rather unique offer, for instance, handing out free spins when a certain team win in a sport. At the time of this blog post, we have yet to come across such, though.
When it comes to the increased taxation on the duty, they are not happy about it, obviously. We can easily picture some effects coming down on players, such as lowered settings on RTP across all casinos. We have also started seeing an increase in the minimum deposit threshold, like from £5 to £10, on some casino sites. A range of payment methods you can find on casino sites could possibly get fewer as the operators tackle the issue by reducing their operational costs.
During the conference, we also had the chance to speak with game providers like Octoplay and Gaming Corps. We tried discovering if there was any new game niche growing among UK players, but slots and bingo seem to remain the most popular among all categories yet.
Overall, our time at ICE and iGB Affiliate Barcelona confirmed that the UK market is in a period of adjustment rather than decline. Regulatory changes and higher taxes are forcing operators to rethink how they structure bonuses, payments, and even game portfolios, but we'd like to think that there is still plenty of innovation and optimism behind the scenes.
At Casinolyze, we’ll be keeping a close eye on how welcome offers evolve, which casinos adapt most effectively, and what this all means for player value in the UK. As these developments unfold, we’ll continue to update our casino reviews and guides so you can make informed choices about where and how you play!
Other Blog Posts
Alex is a partnerships manager at Casinolyze. He manages partnerships with online gambling operators and ensures our partners adhere to high standards of business conduct. If you are interested in collaborating or partnering with Casinolyze, he is the person to contact.
