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About Dragons Lock
The ASA reviewed a clip posted to TikTok in July promoting Midnite, a Gibraltar-based online casino app. The clip displayed a young-looking man using the app, accompanied by the voiceover: “Another massive World Cup upset. Bet £10 on the big match and get £30 in free bets. Level up your World Cup with Midnite, get on it.”
According to the ASA’s Code for gambling advertising, anyone who “was, or seemed to be, under 25 years of age” must not be depicted gambling or playing a significant role in advertisements.
The regulator concluded that the central figure’s youthful facial features, casual styling and excited demeanour gave the impression he was in his late teens or early twenties.
How to play Dragons Lock
Earlier this year, Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi called illegal betting a “scourge that corrupts society” and emphasised a move towards tougher enforcement.
According to Çiftçi, the rapid growth of digital payments and cryptocurrencies has transformed illegal betting into a major conduit for money laundering.
“Casinos, junkets, cryptocurrencies and underground banking are the most critical parts of the money laundering infrastructure that fuels international organised crime,” he said at the time. “The global gambling market will reach $205 billion in 2030.”
What is Dragons Lock?
Lower barriers to entry could significantly widen the pool of potential game creators. Curwen sees opportunities not only for established and emerging studios, but for operators, suppliers, entrepreneurs and potentially entirely new entrants.
“The big change is that technology can increasingly provide the infrastructure,” he says. “The creator provides the idea. And I think that will make the industry much more interesting.”
For Yggdrasil, Game in a Box and Studio in a Box are therefore intended to become more than tools for its own development operation. Curwen envisages them supporting a wider creator ecosystem, although he acknowledges that proving the model commercially must come first.
