The Netherlands has entered the second phase of its regulated online gambling era, with the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) granting the first eight follow-on licenses to operators that entered the market after legal online gambling launched in 2021. More importantly, the regulator is making clear that an operator’s compliance history can follow it into its next five-year licensing period.

The first follow-on licenses will run from October 2026 through September 2031.

For operators and the wider European iGaming industry, however, the significance goes considerably further. The Dutch licensing system is moving towards a model in which maintaining a license is not simply about meeting the requirements on the day a new application is submitted. Past regulatory behavior now forms part of the next licensing assessment.

Five Years of Compliance History Now Matters

The KSA says that, when evaluating follow-on applications, it explicitly examines violations that were definitively established during the previous five years.

Existing operators were required to explain what measures they had taken to correct identified violations and, importantly, what they had changed to prevent those failures from happening again.

The regulator said that several of the eight successful applicants were given additional points requiring attention, although all eight ultimately satisfied the requirements for receiving their new licenses.

This creates an important distinction between launching a compliant casino app and remaining compliant throughout its operating life.

The KSA's application procedure for existing license holders specifically requires an “overtredingspreventie” (violation-prevention) document describing concrete measures taken following regulatory breaches involving online gambling rules. Existing operators are also reassessed in areas including addiction-prevention and advertising policies.

In practical terms, compliance history is becoming part of license continuity.

What Happens If a Casino App Cannot Keep Its License?

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Dutch reforms from a casino-app perspective is something users rarely think about when downloading an app: what happens if the operator eventually has to shut it down?

Under the KSA's 2026 licensing policy, applicants must submit an exit plan explaining how they would wind down their gambling offering and associated operations if the license ends or the operator otherwise stops offering gambling.

The KSA says an exit plan must demonstrate how an operator can end its gambling offering carefully. Its guidance specifically addresses player funds, with operators expected to ensure that balances are paid to current or former players quickly and efficiently. Operators must also demonstrate extensive, documented attempts to contact players and return remaining funds where necessary.

That changes the way we should think about casino-app regulation.

A properly regulated app needs a lifecycle plan covering not only onboarding, KYC, payments and responsible gambling while the platform is operating, but also account closure, access to funds and withdrawal procedures when the service itself ends.

Casino Regulation Doesn't Stop

A modern regulated casino app sits on top of a much larger compliance infrastructure.

That includes identity verification, transaction monitoring, player-fund protection, responsible-gambling systems, regulatory reporting and technical controls. The Dutch follow-on licensing procedure also requires operators to explain how they will ensure that the KSA is informed promptly about important changes to their policies or business operations.

In other words, an app may look almost identical from one year to the next while substantial regulatory work is taking place behind the interface.

The second Dutch licensing cycle effectively tests whether that infrastructure has worked in practice.

The Netherlands Is Already Testing Affordability Inside the Player Journey

The renewal framework arrives in a market that already applies comparatively interventionist player-protection rules.

Since October 2024, Dutch online operators have been required to act when monthly net deposits exceed €300 for young adults aged 18–23 and €700 for players aged 24 and above. Further deposits generally have to be blocked unless the operator can establish that the player can financially afford the higher level of gambling.

The KSA reported in July 2026 that it had examined affordability checks conducted by 20 license holders and updated its guidance following that investigation.

These requirements increasingly turn responsible gambling from a static menu item labeled “Limits” into an active part of casino-app architecture.

Deposit monitoring, affordability verification, transaction blocking and player communication all need to function reliably within the digital customer journey.

From Market Launch to Market Maturity

The timing is important.

The Netherlands legalized regulated online gambling in 2021, and the original five-year licenses issued at the market's launch expire at the end of September 2026. The KSA stresses that these licenses cannot simply be extended: existing operators must apply for new licenses through a dedicated procedure.

That makes 2026 more than another regulatory milestone. It is the first opportunity for the Dutch regulator to evaluate operators over an entire licensing cycle.

The first eight approvals show that established brands can successfully move into the next cycle, but they also demonstrate that regulatory history does not simply disappear when the calendar resets.

Compliance is becoming cumulative.

The Need for an Exit Strategy Too

A regulated casino platform also needs to answer what happens when the relationship ends, whether because an individual closes an account or because the operator itself leaves the market.

The KSA's exit-plan requirement effectively acknowledges that player protection continues beyond the point at which gambling stops.

That means withdrawals, outstanding balances, account records and player communication should increasingly be viewed as part of casino-app quality and compliance, rather than administrative details hidden behind the product.

The Netherlands' first follow-on licenses therefore represent more than eight operators receiving another five years in the market.

They mark the moment when one of Europe's major regulated online gambling jurisdictions begins judging operators not only on whether they can enter the market but on what they actually did while they were there.

Sources

Kansspelautoriteit. (2026, September 17). Eerste vervolgvergunningen voor online kansspelen verleend. KSA — First follow-on online gambling licenses

Kansspelautoriteit. (2025, September 2). Nieuwe Beleidsregels vergunningverlening kansspelen op afstand vanaf 1 januari 2026. KSA - New remote gambling licensing rules for 2026

Kansspelautoriteit. (2026). Aanvraag Koa vergunning door vergunninghouder. KSA - Application requirements for existing license holders

Kansspelautoriteit. (2026). Exitplan. KSA - Exit plan requirements

Kansspelautoriteit. (2026, July 2). Kansspelautoriteit actualiseert richtlijnen voor uitvoering draagkrachttoets. KSA - Updated affordability-check guidance

Kansspelautoriteit. (2025). Marktscan kansspelen 2025. KSA - Dutch gambling market scan 2025