Play'n GO to Speak at the G7 About Responsible Gambling

The games supplier will lead a series of responsible gambling policy sessions at the G7, G20, and UN meetings, starting with the G7 Leaders Summit this week in Calgary, Alberta.

Ziv Chen - News Editor at Covers.com
Ziv Chen • News Editor
Jun 11, 2025 • 15:45 ET • 4 min read
Lars Klingbeil (3rd from left, SPD), Federal Minister of Finance, Vice-Chancellor and SPD Federal Chairman, attends the meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors.
Photo By - Kay Nietfeld/dpa/Sipa USA

Games supplier Play’n GO will lead a series of responsible gambling policy sessions at the G7, G20, and United Nations meetings in 2025, starting with the G7 Leaders Summit this week in Calgary, Alberta. 

Play'n GO is the only software developer invited to participate in the inaugural Global Forum on Responsible Gaming and Gambling Policy. 

Key takeaways

  • Play’n GO will engage with global leaders and experts during the G7 summit on June 13.
  • The forum is a three-part series, with Play’n GO also participating in the G20 Summit and UN General Assembly later this year.
  • The company took a lead in responsible gambling, banning bonus buy games and confirming its CEO wouldn't supply sweepstakes casinos, citing regulatory concerns. 

Shawn Fluharty, Play’n GO’s head of government affairs, will lead the discussions. On June 13, the G7 Summit's opening day, Fluharty will commence a session, engaging directly with global leaders, regulators, scientists, and public health officials on gambling and its effect on mental wellness.

The meetings aim to produce recommendations for international policy on public health, youth protection, innovation, and society prosperity. The recommendations will be collated and formally presented through policy channels to help define the next generation of international gambling regulation.

Speaking to Covers.com, Fluharty said: “Being the only online gaming supplier at the G7, G20, and UN policy forums carries a responsibility to bring real-world insight into high-level discussions. Working hand-in-hand with lawmakers, regulators, and public-health experts makes it possible to craft global standards that protect players, eliminate unlicensed risks, and foster sustainable innovation across regulated markets, something Play’n GO is fully committed to.”

Fluharty emphasized the importance of the forums, saying that "positioning responsible gaming at the world’s premier policy forums is vital to ensuring regulation keeps pace with rapid innovation and effectively protects consumers." He stated Play'n GO's presence as the sole online supplier at these events "will showcase the critical value of early collaboration with lawmakers and regulators in forging cohesive, global standards." 

A history of taking proactive measures

Play’n GO is at the forefront of advocacy for responsible gambling, increased oversight from regulators, and stricter enforcement. The company was the first to ban bonus buy games, pre-empting regulators like the KSA in the Netherlands and the UK Gambling Commission.

This was followed by company CEO Johan Törnqvist's announcement on May 6 that the business would never supply its games to sweepstakes casinos. Törnqvist stated, "Sweepstakes casinos do not operate inside a regulated framework and that’s not something we support. Our commitment to regulated markets is absolute."

Fluharty elaborated on the risk, adding, "Sweepstakes casinos threaten the regulated market model that many of us in the industry have worked so hard to achieve, which protects players first and foremost." He also warned that suppliers working with sweepstakes casinos may now face difficulties entering future regulated markets.

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Ziv Chen
News Editor

Ziv has been deep in the iGaming trenches for over 20 years, long before most people could spell "geolocation compliance." With a background in marketing and business development at some of the biggest names in gambling tech, Ziv knows the industry from the inside out. Since joining Covers, he's turned his sharp eye (and sharper keyboard) toward everything happening in the fast-moving world of online gambling. Whether it's new state launches, the latest twists in regulation, or what the big operators and game providers are cooking up next, Ziv breaks it all down with clarity, context, and just the right amount of snark. He covers the business side of betting, from affiliate trends and revenue reports to the tech powering your favorite slots. His motto in writing is “let’s make it make sense without putting you to sleep.”

When he’s not tracking gambling legislation or looking for the next breaking story, Ziv is living and dying with every pitch and play from his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. As a Pitt graduate, it’s a city loyalty forged in heartbreak, but one he wouldn’t trade for anything, except maybe a few more playoff wins.

When away from the keyboard, Ziv loves to hit the road and soak up the energy of casinos. Whether strolling the neon jungle called the Vegas Strip, or wandering into a smoky riverboat casino in the Midwest, Ziv’s in his element. He’s the guy chatting with players, blackjack dealers, and asking pit bosses way too many questions, all in the name of “research,” of course. The casino floor isn’t just his workplace, it’s a weird and wonderful ecosystem of flashing lights, wild characters, and pure sensory overload, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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