Ewings plans “exciting” new ventures after losing out on the first licence for the United Arab Emirates national lottery.
The Game LLC was awarded the UAE Lottery license by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority yesterday (28th July).
The Game had not yet launched any lottery products, while Emirates Draw and Mahzooz competed for the license. The Game and Emirates Draw suspended their operations on 1 January of this year, before applying for the licence.
Ewings, the parent company of Mahzooz and Emirates Draw, has yet to publicly comment on this decision. However it says that they are now working on “exciting” new projects. They promise more information soon.
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‘Disappointing Decision’ in UAE Lottery Licence Race
Companies had until January 1st to make their bids after the invitation was issued to potential lottery licensees late in December. Suzan Kazzi, Ewings’ head of communication and local media spokesperson, told the local press in February that the operator was hoping for a final decision to be made by the end Q1. The GCGRA selected The Game in July.
Ewings has retained all its staff and is focusing on improving their products, internal systems, and becoming the UAE Lottery Operator.
A spokesperson for iGB said that the company also conducted customer research and spoke to consumers to tailor Mahzooz to their needs. They answered many questions about when Mahzooz would relaunch.
The statement said: “While the delayed decision was disappointing, particularly since we had kept our staff at maximum capacity in the last seven months, anticipating a positive outcome, we respected the selection process as well as the commitment of the government to set standards for the industry.”
Ewings discusses Mahzooz
Mahzooz was originally launched as Emirates Loto in 2020, with collectable tickets that featured local landmarks. However, it stopped operations three months after its launch.
It relaunched as Mahzooz in 2021 and since then has run 161 live draws, creating 66 millionaires and awarding over AED500m (PS106m/EUR126m/$136m) to more than two million players.
The operator said that Mahzooz was also a force of good in the UAE. It contributed to several causes, including healthcare, education and the environment, as well as to charitable organizations.
There is currently no timeline for The Game to launch the UAE Lottery. GCGRA stated that it would not be able to provide any further comment than the announcement made yesterday.
