4ThePlayer has titles certified for Alberta, reaching operators through Relax Gaming and Gaming Realms. Note what the announcement does not claim: the studio does not say it holds an Alberta licence, and it probably does not need one.
What was announced
The North Shields studio said on 14 July 2026 that games including 4 Fantastic Lobsters, 4TP Pigs N' Pots and 5 Flaming Dollars had been certified for Alberta, distributed through Relax Gaming and Gaming Realms to licensed operators in the province. Co-founder Henry McLean said the studio was “thrilled to bring our innovative, player-centric games to Alberta”. Future releases will be certified for the province through the same distribution networks.
How a small studio reaches a new market
There are two routes into a regulated market. Hold a supplier licence yourself, deal with the regulator directly, and integrate with each operator. Or place your games on a distributor's already-licensed platform, and inherit its position.
For a studio of this size the second is the only realistic option. A direct licence in each market means an application, disclosure from the founders, local technical compliance and an annual burden — multiplied by every market. Distribution replaces all of that with a revenue share.
What it costs you is control and margin. The distributor owns the operator relationship, sets the commercial terms, and decides which of your titles get certified for which market. That last point is visible here: specific games were certified for Alberta, not the catalogue.
What our records show
We hold four licences for 4ThePlayer. A UK Gambling Commission licence (053858-R-330518-010) is at our highest tier, confirmed on the regulator's register. Records for Sweden's Spelinspektionen, Michigan's MGCB and New Jersey's DGE sit at published-source tier without numbers — which for a studio this size likely reflects distributor-held positions rather than its own.
We record it live in six markets: Ontario, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It was founded in 2018 and is known for the 4 Fantastic Fish and 9K Yeti series.
If you are buying
For a distributed studio, your contract is with the distributor, not the studio, and the titles available to you are the ones that distributor has certified in your market. Ask for that list. The studio's full catalogue is not what you are buying.
- 4ThePlayer
