For the first time since 2014, Sweden has had a change of government—the country’s general election concluded September 14, with the right-leaning coalition headed by the Swedish Democrat Party securing a close victory over the incumbent administration.
The four-party coalition also includes the Liberal, Christian Democrat and Moderate Parties. Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson has been tabbed as the country’s new prime minister, replacing Magdelena Andersson.
The new administration will now be tasked with finishing the overhaul of the country’s iGaming market, which went live in 2019.
An inquiry into the industry was published in 2021, which highlighted several recommendations. Among them were new licensing guidelines for software companies and game developers, as well as a proposed 6 a.m.-to-9 p.m. ban on iGaming ads.
The Moderate Party has said it intends to split the country’s state-controlled gaming monopoly, Svenska Spel, into different divisions for lotteries and other forms of gaming. It has also said it is in favor of selling the operator’s commercial holdings due to conflicts of interest.
The Swedish and Christian Democrat Parties have also supported these proposed reforms.
The country’s iGaming trade association, Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) said in a statement to SBC that “It is reasonable to expect that a possible sale of AB Svenska Spel’s subsidiary Sport & Casino will be higher on the agenda because both the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats, who are both part of the new majority, have advocated just that.”
The agency added: “It is also reasonable to expect that the tightening of gambling marketing proposed by the outgoing government, so-called “adjusted moderation”, will be more difficult to win the Riksdag’s approval.”
With that in mind, Sweden’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has wasted no time in implementing a slew of new responsible gaming policies.
Autoplay features on slot machines are now banned, regardless of whether the number of spins is finite or indefinite. This feature has already been banned in other markets, most notably the U.K. and Ontario, Canada.
Spelinspektionen has also issued a ban on “reverse withdrawals,” or scenarios in which players cancel withdrawals before the money reaches their bank accounts.
The regulator told iGaming Business that “It is likely that players who use these features will react to their removal, and it is therefore good to communicate that the change is taking place in light of the fact that these features are risky and coexist with problem gambling.”
Additionally, operators are barred from offering suggestions related to time, deposit or loss limits that players may wish to set. iGaming sites are also required to log out players who have been idle for more than two minutes, or give them an opportunity to stay logged in, similar to streaming platforms.
Operators are also being tasked with reporting the number of players who have reached their deposit or time limits, as well as the number of players who have resumed playing after opting for self-exclusion.
