Pragmatic Play remains present in Belgium’s regulated market despite Dutch regional blocks

Pragmatic Play maintains its offering in the regulated Belgian market despite reports of regional blocks in the Netherlands. The first alerts arrived on 28 May 2026 and Dutch coverage was updated on 9 September; meanwhile, Belgian licensed operators continue to offer localised versions of Pragmatic Play titles.

What happened in the Netherlands and what was reported on 28 May 2026

On 28 May 2026 several visitors from Dutch IP addresses received the error message 'Not available in your region' when attempting to open Pragmatic Play games on sites without a Dutch licence, according to the note published by CasinoNieuws.nl. That information was reviewed on 9 September 2026, when the same outlet clarified that the alleged “block” did not affect all unregulated sites or all users equally.

There was no confirmation in the Dutch coverage that Pragmatic Play had imposed the measure following communication with the Nederlandse Kansspelautoriteit, nor formal statements from the supplier specifying which titles, operators or territories were subject to restrictions. The incident illustrated how the same supplier can exhibit different behaviour depending on the country, the website and the game version.

Pragmatic Play in Belgium: presence verified with licensed operators

In Belgium, Pragmatic Play games remain available at several operators that operate under the national regulatory framework. Verified examples include PepperMill Casino, which offers Gates of Olympus and a version tied to the operator’s identity called Gates of PepperMill; and StarCasino, which lists an adaptation under the name StarCasino Bonanza.

Those adaptations — branded or local versions — are common in the Belgian market. The existence of operator-tied variants shows that the presence of a supplier logo alone is not proof of a site’s legality. Authorisation to operate in Belgium depends on the licence granted by the Belgian Kansspelcommissie, not on the software supplier.

Why “Dice” versions frequently appear in Belgium and what the B+-license means

Consultant Henk Wolff explained in interviews how suppliers such as Pragmatic Play adapted titles for Belgian operators that operate with a B+-license. These adaptations often add suffixes such as “Dice” to internationally recognised names, indicating modifications to presentation or specific rules.

Changes to a game version require operators and regulators to review the rules and the applicable return-to-player percentages for that specific deployment. A recognised brand or title can reappear with adjustments; therefore it is incorrect to assert that a supplier has “left” a market solely because certain versions are absent.

Regulation, technical accessibility and the limits of available information

That a game opens from Belgium without an error message does not prove the operator is legally authorised. The Belgian Kansspelcommissie maintains a public register of licences that is the reference to confirm whether a casino may offer games in Belgium. A foreign licence does not substitute for Belgian authorisation. [Regulation](/regulation)

Technically accessible is not identical to legal. The sources consulted do not provide data on whether the same titles that showed the message in the Netherlands were also blocked for Belgian IPs when accessed from unlicensed sites. Resolving that gap requires spot checks from Belgian IP addresses or a formal clarification from the supplier.

What Belgium can learn from the Dutch case: actors and available tools

The Dutch discussion raises a practical question: besides operator supervision, can suppliers reduce the accessibility of their catalogue on illegal sites? If a supplier restricts access to certain domains or geolocates content, part of the catalogue that attracts users could disappear from those websites. That would be an operational consequence of a block, not a certainty proven by current coverage.

In player-protection matters, Belgium uses EPIS as the national exclusion system, while the Netherlands uses Cruks. Both mechanisms pursue different objectives: an exclusion registry manages access for barred players, and a regional restriction acts on the technical availability of games.

Conclusion: the Belgian situation deserves its own account

The 'Not available in your region' notification made clear that an international supplier does not always offer the same catalogue in every market. In Belgium, with operators licensed by the Belgian Kansspelcommissie, Pragmatic Play remains present and sells titles adapted to the local market. Dutch press pieces do not justify claiming that Pragmatic Play has ceased activity in Belgium nor provide evidence of restrictions applied from Belgian IP addresses to unlicensed sites.

To confirm whether the same games are blocked on illegal casinos accessible from Belgium would require direct checks or a specific statement from the supplier. Until then, the Belgian narrative should remain separate from the Dutch one: Pragmatic Play is still available in the regulated Belgian offering, while the scope and cause of the limitations observed in the Netherlands remain unclear.

'Not available in your region' was the message that drew initial attention, but subsequent updates to the Dutch coverage qualified that there was no uniform shutdown of unregulated sites, according to the report by CasinoNieuws.nl.