In alignment with the UAE Federal Law by Decree Regarding Regulating Commercial Gaming, the GCGRA has established a robust framework of technical standards produced by Gaming Laboratories International, LLC (GLI) in collaboration with legal experts for the testing and certification of gaming technology. These are specific to the type of game / operation and can be found here: https://www.gcgra.gov.ae/en/legislation-compliance/legislation/technical-standards/
Jurisdictions › United Arab Emirates › Distribution and platforms
United Arab Emirates · Question 09 of 11
Distribution and platforms: Can we ship through apps and platforms?
Unfavourable · Probable · Expert approved · 1 post-review update · Not reviewed · In expert review scope · Back to full United Arab Emirates report →
Key section parameters
| Jurisdiction | United Arab Emirates (AE) |
|---|---|
| Regulator | Recorded in register |
| Favourability | Unfavourable |
| Confidence | Probable |
| Review status | Expert approved · 1 post-review update · Not reviewed · In expert review scope |
| Last collected | 23 Oct 2026 |
Summary answer
In alignment with the UAE Federal Law by Decree Regarding Regulating Commercial Gaming, the GCGRA has established a robust framework of technical standards produced by Gaming Laboratories International, LLC (GLI) in collaboration with legal experts for the testing and certification of gaming technol…
Not reviewed Information added after the 4 Sep 2026 expert review — published for currency and labelled not reviewed.
Google Ads updated its UAE gambling advertising policy on 10 March 2026 to permit advertising eligibility only for GCGRA-licensed advertisers. This gates a major digital-advertising distribution channel on the same federal gaming licensure that GCGRA itself administers, meaning an operator without a GCGRA licence loses access not only to lawful UAE operation but to a principal paid-acquisition channel. This is a platform-level advertising policy rather than a UAE regulatory instrument, and it remains revocable unilaterally by Google, so it should be read as a market-access amplifier layered on top of GCGRA's own licensing gate rather than as an independent regulatory development. No other distribution-platform development (app-store rules, ISP blocking, affiliate-marketing platform restriction) was surfaced.