By Arthur D – Published on 8 September 2026 | Updated 9 September 2026
Several casino sites have opened in Belgium over recent months. That is true, and it can be checked.
What is less true is that they come from new players. No operator has entered the Belgian market for years, and that is no coincidence: the Commission caps land-based licences and accepts no further applications. The sites that open belong to operators who were already there.
That is not an accusation: it is how a closed market works. But it changes what “new” means, and nobody says so. I read the fifty-eight licences in the register one by one, with their dates and their durations. Here is what they show.
The casinos that arrived recently, and what their licence says
These are the seven most recent authorisations in the register, by decision date.
| Site | Decision | Term granted | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| peppermillcasino.be | 25 June 2026 | 6 years 3 months | Oct. 2032 |
| oria.be | 23 April 2026 | 9 years | Apr. 2035 |
| meridiancasino.be | 18 Dec. 2025 | 4 years 10 months | Oct. 2030 |
| greenjackcasino.be | 20 Nov. 2025 | 8 years 1 month | Dec. 2033 |
| fortunacasino.be | 1 July 2025 | 2 years 8 months | Mar. 2028 |
| dragoncasino.be | 28 Feb. 2025 | 3 years 4 months | June 2028 |
| lococasino.be | 21 Nov. 2024 | 4 years 1 month | Dec. 2028 |
Only one runs for nine years. The other six received a markedly shorter authorisation, and that is not an anomaly: an online licence always expires together with the land-based licence carrying it.
One case deserves an immediate mention: Green Jack obtained its licence in November 2025, but its site was not yet reachable when this record was made. A licence is not an opening.
Among those recent operators, the ones I have examined
I have not audited all seven. Of the recent authorisations, four match sites I went through document by document, and whose score and reservations I publish.
Those four are the ones whose documents I have read among the recent authorisations. The full ranking, across all operators, is in the comparison of casinos licensed in Belgium.
Three dates, and never the same story
Every line in the register carries three dates that comparison sites confuse.
The decision date is when the Commission grants the authorisation. The publication date is when the line appears in the register. And the site’s launch appears nowhere.
The three can be years apart. Green Jack has a November 2025 decision and no site online. Fortuna obtained its own in July 2025 and opened months later. Conversely, Oria has an April 2026 decision but has been in the register since January 2022: its authorisation was renewed, not created.
A comparison site that headlines “new casino” on the decision date alone is wrong half the time.
An online licence has no life of its own
This is the point nobody uses, and yet the Commission states it in black and white.
“Supplementary licences are valid for the term of the land-based licences and must be renewed at the same time.” An online authorisation therefore has no term of its own: it expires with the arcade or casino it is attached to.
Fortuna is the clearest example. Its online licence was granted in July 2025 and expires in March 2028: two years and eight months, not because it is second-hand, but because the land-based licence carrying it falls due on that date.
What the term tells you is therefore not the site’s age. It is how long before the whole thing goes back before the Commission.
What the full record shows
Applied to the fifty-eight licences, the calculation gives three categories.
| Category | What defines it | Count |
|---|---|---|
| First online authorisation | The entry appears in the register within days of the decision | 44 |
| Renewal | The entry was already in the register, sometimes for years | 16 |
Forty-four online authorisations out of fifty-eight are therefore first entries, and the most recent dates from June 2026. Online licences are indeed granted, regularly.
But they never go to a newcomer. The Commission caps A licences at nine, all allocated, and B licences at one hundred and eighty, and it states that no application can be submitted today for either. An online extension can only be requested by a land-based operator who already holds one.
That concentration has another consequence, which I set out separately: the fifty-eight licences are shared among a far smaller number of brand names.
What it changes for you
Three practical consequences, and none of them is theoretical.
A near expiry is information. Fortuna’s authorisation runs out in March 2028. It will very probably be renewed, as most are. But it is a fact no comparison site displays, and it is public.
A new site has no history. That is the real drawback of novelty: no known dispute, no payment times observed over the long run, no reputation to look up. What remains checkable is the documents, and I examine those against the seven points that make an online casino reliable.
That is especially true of withdrawals: a site that opened six months ago has no timings observed over the long run. What can be checked is what it states and what its terms permit, and I have recorded the gap between the two at every Belgian operator.
And novelty guarantees nothing about compliance. A recent site holding a Belgian licence is bound by the same obligations as an old one. A recent site without a Belgian licence is bound by nothing, even if it displays a foreign authorisation. I have explained what those foreign licences allow, and what they do not.
How to check for yourself
The register is public and the check takes two minutes.
- Open the Belgian Gaming Commission licence register and search for the site’s name.
- Compare the decision date with the publication date. A few days apart means the entry has just come into the register. A publication years before the decision means a renewal.
- Compare the publication date with the decision date. If it comes years earlier, this is a renewal.
- Finally, look at the class: an A+ or a B+. It says nothing about age, but it decides what the site is allowed to offer, and the difference comes down to a detail few players know about.
It is the same work I carry out on every operator I audit, and how I weight the criteria is set out in my method.
Frequently asked questions
Are there really new online casinos in Belgium?
Yes for the sites, no for the operators. Online authorisations are granted regularly, the most recent in June 2026. But they only go to operators who already hold a land-based licence, and none of those is available any more.
How do I know whether a Belgian casino is genuinely new?
By comparing its decision date with its publication date in the register. A few days apart signals a first entry; a publication years earlier signals a renewal.
Which online casino is the most recent in Belgium?
It depends what you measure. The most recent decision is Peppermill’s, in June 2026. The most recently launched site among my audits is Fortuna. And Green Jack has a November 2025 licence with no reachable site when this record was made.
Is a new casino riskier than an established one?
Not in law: the obligations are identical. A recent site does, however, have no history of payments or disputes, which makes examining the documents all the more useful.
Why do some licences expire so soon?
Because an online licence expires together with the land-based licence carrying it. An authorisation granted mid-cycle therefore shows a short term, without that saying anything about its age.
Can a casino announced as new not yet exist?
Yes. A licence can be granted months before a site opens. Green Jack is an example: authorisation in November 2025, site not reachable when this record was made.
Sources and limits
- Register of A+ and B+ licences, Belgian Gaming Commission, recorded 9 September 2026: file number, holder, venue, decision, expiry and publication dates
- Casinos (licence A – A+), Belgian Gaming Commission: ceiling of 9 licences, all allocated, no application possible
- Slot machine arcades (licence B – B+): ceiling of 180 licences, no application possible, and supplementary licence terms aligned on the land-based licences
- Belgian gambling act of 7 May 1999, for licence durations
- Terms and conditions of the audited operators, consulted during each audit
Recorded 9 September 2026. The distinction between a first entry and a renewal rests on the gap between the decision date and the publication date: that is a reading of the register data, not an official characterisation. In case of doubt, the Commission is the authority. This page will be updated as the register changes.
Three years in iGaming, focused on licensed casinos in Belgium. I write every CasinAudit page myself and check each figure against an official source.