Blackstone has committed $250 million to Advanced Digital Gaming Technology, a new Abu Dhabi-based payments and data platform formed with Raya Holding, NRT Technology, and Sightline Payments. The company said ADGT will start with deployments in the UAE, the Middle East, Africa, and selected international corridors.
The ADGT said it can contract directly with both land-based venues and online platforms in the UAE, giving it a role on both sides of the market as commercial gaming takes shape.
ADGT wants to handle wallets, payouts, and compliance in one system
ADGT said its platform combines digital wallets, real-time funding and payout tools, identity and access management, compliance monitoring, and both closed-loop and open-loop controls. It is also built to support payments on property and across digital channels, which points to a setup meant for casino floors as well as online gaming.
The setup fits the way the UAE is building the sector. The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority has exclusive jurisdiction over commercial gaming in the country, and its remit covers lottery, internet gaming, sports wagering, and land-based gaming facilities.
The UAE market is still young, but the plumbing is being built early
The GCGRA says any business that wants to conduct or facilitate commercial gaming in the UAE must first get a license. That rule also applies to third parties providing products or services to the industry, which makes payments and compliance vendors part of the licensing picture, not just operators.
ADGT is calling itself the only licensed platform able to contract directly with both physical venues and online operators in the UAE commercial gaming market. If that holds, Blackstone is not backing a single gaming brand. It is backing a payments layer that could sit underneath several of them as the market opens up.
