The French national regulator, l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has issued a comprehensive mandate requiring operators to significantly reduce problem gambling levels by 2027.
The order follows an extensive review of action plans from all licensed French operators, revealing that 1.17 million citizens currently engage in problematic gambling, with 360,000 classified as extreme players.
The Challenge of Revenue Reliance
A critical concern for the regulator is the industry’s financial reliance on high-risk users. Data indicates that 38% of total gaming revenue in France is derived directly from problem gamblers. This creates a friction point between the ANJ’s aggressive harm-reduction goals and the commercial objectives of operators.
The situation is exacerbated by rising underage trends: a 2025 survey found that 42.6% of teenagers aged 15 to 17 have gambled at least once in the past year, an 8% increase since 2021. The ANJ has demanded that operators take immediate responsibility for these trends through improved age-verification and adult information campaigns.
Detection Success and Future Prohibitions
Online detection efforts saw a massive improvement in 2025, with platforms identifying 89,000 excessive players, up from 31,000 the previous year. However, the ANJ maintains that identification efforts must scale with user bases.
Looking forward, the regulator is implementing a three-year experiment (JONUM) to oversee games featuring monetizable digital objects like NFTs. Furthermore, the ANJ has formally demanded a total “whistle-to-whistle” ban on all gambling advertising during live sporting events and plans a massive responsible gaming offensive ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
