The Norwegian Gaming Authority has legally defined skin betting as gambling, in a note published earlier this month. Consequently, operators offering skin betting services will face prosecution moving forward.
The NGA is the second European regulatory body turning towards the esports skin betting market within just a couple of days. On March 15, the U.K.’s gambling commission lashed out at the industry, calling websites that offered skin betting “parasites.”
Norway’s gambling regulators believe that skins constitute virtual currencies, thus making them eligible for sanctions under existing gambling jurisdictions.
“There are separate online casinos where you can bet and win skins, and in such cases, skins are virtual currency that can be used for gambling,” the NGA concludes.
Different than in the U.K,, Norway doesn’t provide a licensing process whatsoever. That means only two wholly state-owned companies are allowed to offer gambling services in the country.
In other words, skin betting operators in Norway have effectively been shut down completely.
