Play North Wins Five-Year Finnish Licence Ahead of 1 July 2027 Market Opening

Play North, through its subsidiary Play Suomi Ltd, has been granted a five-year Finnish gambling licence by the National Police Board, covering 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2032 when Finland's regulated online market opens.

The licence number is RALU/2027/L121. Play North's release, reproduced by EE Gaming on 12 November 2026, presents the grant as the third of three licence milestones the company has reached this year.

What Play North has secured

The licence is a five-year grant issued by the National Police Board (Poliisihallitus), the authority handling applications under Finland's new Gambling Act. Its validity begins on the day the new market starts, so Play Suomi Ltd cannot offer licensed services before 1 July 2027.

Play North's Greg Papanastasiou summed up the year's run with the line "One, two, three — three licences secured," according to the company's release.

Intergame, which reported the grant, notes that Play North launched Pikakasino in 2019. It also says Hippos ATG and Wildz Group hold confirmed Finnish licences and that Veikkaus is set to launch Viabet.

Where the licensing process stands

The Police Board confirmed its first 18 licensees on 29 October 2026, according to Gaming Intelligence, with 63 applications still pending. Applications have been open since March. Play Suomi Ltd was not among the 18 named, so its grant came after that list. The 18 included Hippos ATG Oy, SuomiVeto Oy and Granturo Finland Ltd.

Gaming Intelligence quotes Police Board senior adviser Juho Puisto on the first batch. It also reports that the Police Board supervises and licenses until the end of June 2027. From July 2027 the Finnish Supervisory Agency takes over.

Rules and costs operators face

Parliament approved the new Gambling Act, and the National Police Board opened licence applications on 1 March 2026. The 2026 application fee is EUR 29,000 per application, whether or not it succeeds. The Board's target processing time is three to six months, and it warns that applications may take longer.

A grant alone does not allow an operator to start. Gambling services may begin no earlier than 1 July 2027, and that also requires completed audits and integration with the supervision system, according to the Board's licensing guidance. Fees for international cooperation licences and licence amendments are EUR 1,120 each in 2026. A licence to provide gambling software can be applied for from the start of July 2027, which leaves B2B suppliers waiting while operators move first.

The market being opened

The licensing round follows years of policy work. Gamingo has tracked the route from the plan to end the monopoly in 2023 through the target of a liberalised market by 2027 and the advance of the gambling bill in 2025.

The incumbent is large. State-owned Veikkaus Oy reported gross gaming revenue (GGR, stakes minus winnings) of EUR 1,032.0 million in 2023, according to the Police Board. How it fares against licensed rivals is the question behind Gamingo's analysis of whether Veikkaus can compete in the liberalised market, and its live casino launch with Playtech showed the monopoly already adding product ahead of competition.

What operators should watch

For operators still waiting, the 63 pending applications mean a long queue against a fixed 1 July 2027 start. The Board's three-to-six-month target means applicants who have not yet been approved should plan for audits and supervision-system integration in parallel, since neither is optional for launch. Suppliers can apply for software licences only from the start of July 2027, so their timelines trail those of their operator customers.

Status reviewed on 13 November 2026. Licence details come from Play North's release as reproduced by EE Gaming, and market counts and fees from Gaming Intelligence and the National Police Board. More regulation news and EMEA coverage.