Heart Of Rio

What is Heart Of Rio?

Malta’s gambling regulator has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) gaming charter after finding that governance is struggling to keep pace as the technology becomes more widely used across the sector.

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), working alongside the Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA), drafted the voluntary charter following extensive surveys and interviews with industry licensees.

That study found that AI adoption across the gambling industry remained uneven. It highlighted customer support, data analytics, fraud detection, and responsible gaming as areas where the technology was already being heavily used.

What is Heart Of Rio?

Remote casino, betting, and bingo activity was the standout channel, generating £8.3 billion in GGY, a 6.9% year-on-year increase and accounting for approximately 63% of the non-lottery industry yield.

Online casino stood at £5.7 billion for the 12-month period, of which £4.8 billion was derived from slots. Remote betting came in at £2.4 billion, led by football (£1.2 billion) and horse racing (£769.3 million). Remote bingo GGY was at £147.8 million.

Quarterly data from January to March 2026 reinforced this trend, with online verticals generating £2.2 billion, and remote casino alone accounting for 68.3% (£1.5 billion) of that total.

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Moreover, Evolution had continued earning revenue from operators in so-called grey markets without enforcing contractual blocks or other remedial measures despite earlier allegations.

Last month the UK Gambling Commission agreed a regulatory settlement with Evolution of £4.75 million, after finding its games had been accessible via a handful of unlicensed operators in the UK.

In July the Commission said its investigation had discovered the supplier had failed to maintain adequate anti-money laundering and customer due diligence controls in the UK.