The Growing Influence of Gaming Labs International
The strapline of Gaming Labs International (GLI) is “illuminating your path to greatness” and it’s a very accurate description of their offering. Established in 1989, GLI has helped to consult on and certify millions of systems for the global gaming marketplace. According to the official GLI website, it has certified devices and systems across land-based and online gaming sectors, including lottery games. The organisation aims to provide reassurance for regulators and operators alike over the compliance of the services offered.
Learning more about GLI’s approach
Although testing and certifying gaming products – both online and offline – is a large part of GLI’s services, there’s plenty more it delivers too. In the iGaming industry, innovation is everything. It’s an increasingly saturated marketplace but software developers are trying hard to conceive new gaming experiences and environments. GLI plays a key role in the research and development (R&D) phase of new iGaming experiences. It works with developers and suppliers to conduct pre-certification testing, ensuring new products and services comply with the regulatory frameworks of specific jurisdictions.
The firm is also enlisted to conduct ad-hoc on-site inspections of service providers, providing reassurance to regulators and operators that their devices, systems and equipment are functioning safely and fairly. This includes guarding against the threat of online fraud, with the use of cybersecurity services.
This includes the assessment and testing of land-based gaming operators, such as casinos, bingo halls and lottery game providers. The Gaming Labs Certified logo is an increasingly important marker for online poker sites. With players growing increasingly savvy and aware of the potential for illegitimate gaming, choosing a poker platform that’s fully certified by Gaming Labs International offers genuine peace of mind today. The PokerStars brand displays all its certifications and accreditations in the footer of its website, ensuring that those who choose to play poker online on the platform are aware of the safe and fair gaming available. All of which has been tested and proved by an independent third party.
GLI is becoming an increasingly global gaming laboratory
GLI isn’t just expanding into other iGaming verticals. It’s also growing its presence in other continents too. Africa is an iGaming market with high growth potential. GLI made the move into Africa and by June 2022 it had surpassed the milestone of 100 employees in the continent. In August 2022, GLI started to join forces with operators in the African online sports betting market to conduct vulnerability assessments.
Further afield, GLI is also making waves in the Americas. In 2022, it was named Gaming Laboratory of the Year at the SiGMA Americas awards. The same year, it was also named Best Laboratory in the SAGSE Latam awards. In Europe, where GLI established itself from the get go, it retains a strong reputation too. In 2023’s European iGaming Excellence Awards, it was named Best Testing Laboratory. The firm secured the same award at the Central & Eastern Europe GamingTECH awards too.
As of September 2023, the firm also became the first gaming lab to be fully accredited in the Brazilian state of Parana. This is big news considering that iGaming is only just starting to come to the boil in Brazil.
North America is another area where GLI is fast becoming influential. Since the abolishment of PASPA in 2018, the US iGaming market has been fair game. Individual states now have the flexibility to legalise and license iGaming services, often in partnership with Class II and Class III tribal operators. In fact, there’s over 250 tribal jurisdictions active across North America and GLI supports the bulk of these with their regulatory frameworks.
Company acquisitions are also the name of the game to cement GLI’s status as a globally recognised gaming laboratory. In May 2023, the firm acquired Melbourne-based gaming testing lab, iTech Global Pty Ltd (iTech Labs). Although iTech Labs will continue to trade under its brand, these deals increase GLI’s reach in the global gaming space.
With player trust becoming an increasingly important factor in the iGaming world, companies like GLI are worth their weight in gold to provide another layer of integrity to partnered brands.
