GLI Approved To Test iGaming For New Zealand Market
Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) has been approved to provide independent testing and compliance services for New Zealand's newly regulated online casino market, as operators and suppliers prepare for licensing under the country's new framework.
New Zealand's Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 establishes the country's first regulated framework for online casino gaming, with the Department of Internal Affairs publishing minimum standards and draft testing and monitoring requirements for the sector.
Operator licensing is moving through a competitive allocation process, with the application stage due to open this month.
GLI's approval allows it to offer testing and compliance services to operators and suppliers seeking to enter the market, helping them meet the technical and regulatory requirements set out by the DIA ahead of launch.
GLI's Read On The Region
"New Zealand represents an important development for regulated iGaming in the APAC region, and we are delighted that GLI is approved to support this new market," said Richard Howarth, GLI's managing director for Asia-Pacific.
"As operators and suppliers prepare for licensing and market entry, our teams are ready to help them understand and efficiently navigate the technical requirements of the new regulatory framework," Howarth added, pointing to GLI's international testing experience combined with regional APAC capabilities as a fit for the market's early stage.
What Comes Next?
The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 came into force on May 1, giving the DIA the legal basis to run the country's first regulated online casino licensing round, with regulations following in June.
The department's framework limits the number of licences issued through a competitive allocation process rather than an open application system, meaning operators and the suppliers that support them, including testing labs like GLI, need to be ready well before the application window opens this month.
GLI's approval gives operators preparing bids one more accredited option for getting their platforms and games certified against the DIA's minimum standards before licences are awarded, a step regulators in other newly regulated markets have flagged as a common bottleneck when only one or two labs are approved at launch.
Quick Moving Market
GLI announced the approval on its own site, with trade outlet GGRAsia first reporting the news.
New Zealand's approach mirrors a pattern seen in other newly regulated APAC and European markets, where testing-lab approvals and licensing timelines move in parallel: suppliers and platforms typically cannot finalise certification until a lab like GLI is formally accredited by the local regulator, which in turn cannot issue operator licences until certified products are available to test against.
That sequencing makes early lab approvals like this one a leading indicator of how quickly a market can realistically launch, and GLI's approval suggests New Zealand's timeline for awarding its first online casino licences remains broadly on track, rather than slipping further behind the May 2026 launch of the underlying Act.
