About this app
How to play The Nutcracker
Black Cube, an intelligence firm hired by Playtech in 2020 to look into alleged illegal behaviour at its rival Evolution, released a divisive report into Evolution’s actions. Evolution denied and refuted much of its findings.
Evolution then commissioned Spectrum Gaming Group to produce a report on its actions and the validity of the Black Cube report. Produced in 2022, the report has long been subject to confidentiality despite Evolution claiming the report exonerated the company.
Playtech on Wednesday published a statement highlighting what it claimed were compliance failures at Evolution, written into the Spectrum report.
About The Nutcracker
The gap comes as Phnom Penh prepares to host its major anti-scam conference on 23-24 September, part of the wider government campaign against online scam networks.
Initially framed as “Together Towards Disrupting the Chain and Ending Online Scams” by AKP in August, the conference now carries the theme “Acting Together towards Breaking the Chain and Eradication of Online Scams” on its official website.
Prime Minister Hun Manet has publicly characterised the crackdown as an effort to “clean our house” and restore Cambodia’s reputation internationally.
About The Nutcracker
Compared to the 2021 licensing round, the KSA adopted a more granular and stringent approach to its licence renewal process. This was expected following new policy rules set out by the regulator in September 2025.
One such rule was for licensees that had faced compliance enforcement during the five years operating in the Netherlands.
At the time KSA announced: “Providers that made mistakes in the past five years must explain during the application process how they have learned from previous mistakes and how they intend to prevent recurrence. If we find this explanation insufficient, the permit may be denied or additional conditions and restrictions may be imposed.”
