GLI vs BMM vs iTech Labs: Which Gaming Test Lab Should You Choose?

When a game studio or platform operator first enters a regulated market, the choice of independent testing laboratory (ITL) shapes the entire certification timeline. Regulators do not accept reports from every accredited lab, they maintain their own approved-lab registries, and a certification from a lab not on a regulator’s list is worthless for licensing purposes. The three firms that dominate this decision for iGaming suppliers are Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), BMM Testlabs, and iTech Labs. Understanding what each offers, where each holds regulatory approval, and how the competitive landscape shifted after GLI’s 2023 acquisition of iTech Labs is essential to building a certification strategy that maps to your actual target markets.

The Three Laboratories: An Overview

GLI, BMM Testlabs, and iTech Labs occupy different niches within the ITL market, shaped by their founding histories, geographic investments, and the standards they helped write. All three hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation from accreditation bodies in their respective primary jurisdictions, the international standard for laboratory testing competence that regulators treat as a necessary baseline. ISO/IEC 17025 alone does not confer acceptance in any specific jurisdiction, each regulator conducts its own approval process, which may involve scope reviews, on-site assessments, and the submission of testing methodology documentation.

GLI was founded on 23 June 1989 by James Maida and Paul Magno in Toms River, New Jersey, beginning with a machine-testing contract for South Dakota’s video lottery system. Over the following three decades, the company expanded into tribal gaming, international casino markets, and online gaming, certifying equipment for more than 710 jurisdictions and establishing offices across North America, Europe, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America. GLI’s own documentation states it is “accredited in all regulated iGaming markets.” The company has also been the standard-setter for the industry, authoring the GLI-19 Standards for Interactive Gaming Systems (currently v3.0, revised July 17, 2020), the GLI-33 Standards for Event Wagering Systems (v1.1, revised May 14, 2019), GLI-11 Standards for Gaming Devices, and GLI-16 Standards for Cashless Systems, among others. These standards are adopted directly as regulatory requirements by many jurisdictions, giving GLI a structural advantage in markets built around its own technical frameworks.

BMM Testlabs has operated in the gaming certification space since the early 1980s, originating in Nevada and building a reputation for depth in commercial casino testing, particularly for gaming devices and RNG mathematics. It has maintained strong coverage in Australian state jurisdictions, several U.S. commercial and tribal markets, and Latin America. In Brazil, BMM Spain Testlabs was formally approved as a certifying entity under Portaria SPA/MF 603 of 15 April 2024, one of the initial cohort of certified bodies authorised for the Brazilian federal licensed market under the Bets Act framework.

iTech Labs was a Melbourne-based independent gaming testing laboratory with a specialisation in online gaming products and a strong footprint in European and Asia-Pacific regulated markets. It operated as a standalone laboratory until May 2023, when GLI acquired iTech Global Pty Ltd (iTech Labs). GLI has continued to operate the Melbourne laboratory and maintained the iTech Labs brand for client-continuity purposes, but certifications issued under the iTech Labs name now sit within the GLI Group’s consolidated operations.

Jurisdictional Coverage: Which Lab Is Accepted Where?

Jurisdictional acceptance is the single most operationally consequential dimension of lab selection. A certification from a lab that is not on a regulator’s approved list cannot be used for licensing.

GLI’s Accepted Jurisdictions

GLI’s iGaming documentation identifies the jurisdictions where it was at the forefront of early certification: Antigua and Barbuda, Alderney, Malta, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, British Columbia, Quebec, First Cagayan in the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) granted GLI Europe BV full approval to test all categories of equipment following accreditation against ISO/IEC 17025, having initially held provisional approval only. GLI subsequently expanded to Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Italy, France (ANJ), Spain (DGOJ), Denmark (Spillemyndigheden), Estonia, Portugal (SRIJ), and the Bahamas, among others.

In North America, GLI was authorized by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) and the New York State Gaming Commission. It became the first test lab accredited by Coljuegos in Colombia. In Eastern Europe, it became the first international gaming laboratory accredited in the Czech Republic and assisted Romania’s ONJN. In Sweden, GLI added Swedish laws and regulations governing gaming to its ISO accreditations in anticipation of the Spelinspektionen market opening. In the Philippines, it became the first lab to test and certify online gaming systems for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) licence holders.

GLI’s acquisition of NMi Metrology and Gaming Ltd from NMi Certin, B.V. consolidated its Netherlands presence. It acquired SIQ Ltd in Ljubljana, Slovenia in June 2022, expanding its Central and Eastern European capacity. The purchase of Trisigma S.L.U. in Spain in May 2024 further deepened its Iberian footprint. Tribal gaming across the U.S. is another area of documented depth, with GLI serving more than 250 Class II and Class III tribal jurisdictions in North America.

BMM Testlabs’ Accepted Jurisdictions

BMM Testlabs holds regulatory acceptance across a range of commercial casino jurisdictions, with particular strength in Nevada, Australian state gaming commissions, and several Asian markets. It is accepted by multiple U.S. state gaming commissions and tribal regulatory bodies. For iGaming-specific platforms, its approved-lab status varies by regulator, suppliers should verify BMM’s current approval status directly with each target jurisdiction before engaging the lab. In Latin America, BMM Spain Testlabs received formal approval from Brazil’s Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA/MF) under Portaria 603 of 15 April 2024, positioning it as a valid certifying entity for operators entering the Brazilian regulated sports betting and online gaming market. In Ontario, AGCO’s publicly available guidance cites BMM Testlabs alongside GLI and eCOGRA as examples of ITLs registered to issue certifications for the Ontario iGaming market, subject to meeting the ITL Certification Policy requirements.

iTech Labs’ Historical Acceptance and Post-Acquisition Status

Before the 2023 acquisition, iTech Labs held regulatory acceptance at the MGA (Malta), UKGC, Curaçao, and several other European and Asia-Pacific regulators. Its Melbourne base made it a natural choice for Australian state gaming commissions, and its online gaming specialisation gave it strong European iGaming coverage. Post-acquisition, the lab’s accreditations have migrated into the GLI Group structure. Suppliers assessing iTech Labs certifications issued before May 2023 should verify with the relevant regulator whether the change of control triggered any notification or re-approval requirement.

Which Regulators Mandate Specific Testing Approaches

Several key regulators publish binding constraints on which laboratories they will accept, rather than operating an open-acceptance model.

The AGCO’s Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming Standard 4.08 requires that all igaming games, RNGs, and components of igaming systems that accept, process, determine outcome of, display, and log details about player bets must be certified by an independent testing laboratory registered by the Registrar, in accordance with the AGCO’s ITL Certification Policy, prior to being provided for any gaming site. The standard was amended in April 2023. ITLs issuing certifications for Ontario must be separately registered with the AGCO as a Gaming-Related Supplier and must have submitted confirmation, such as an independent audit, that their testing methodology has been configured to the Registrar’s Standards.

The MGA’s Directive 2 of 2018 (Player Protection Directive) defines a “Testing Lab” as “an independent testing lab accredited within a Member State of the European Union or a Member State of the European Economic Area or any other jurisdiction or territory approved by the Authority or recognised by the Authority as having the required accreditation to issue a certificate.” This is a principles-based definition rather than a published named-lab list, meaning MGA licensees must still confirm that their chosen lab is specifically approved by the Authority for the relevant product type.

The KSA (Kansspelautoriteit) in the Netherlands operates under the Online Gambling Gaming System Assessment Scheme, Keuringsschema version 2.1 (published 2 September 2024, effective from 1 October 2024). The scheme requires assessments to be performed by minister-designated keuringsinstellingen (assessment bodies). Only labs formally designated by the Dutch Minister of Justice qualify, operators must use a designated body appearing on the KSA’s published list. All assessments from 1 October 2024 onwards must be conducted under version 2.1.

How to Choose: The Decision Framework

No single correct answer applies across all market-entry scenarios. The decision turns on four variables: your target jurisdictions, your product type, your timeline, and your existing certification portfolio.

Target Jurisdiction Coverage

Map your priority markets before approaching any lab. For a supplier entering the U.S. commercial and tribal markets, UKGC, MGA, and major European regulated markets simultaneously, GLI’s depth in all of these is a material operational advantage. GLI’s standard-authorship means that jurisdictions building new regulatory frameworks frequently adopt GLI standards by reference, meaning an existing GLI certification can transfer to a new market more readily than a certification issued under a different framework.

For suppliers whose primary focus is Nevada gaming devices or Australian gaming machine markets, BMM Testlabs’ deep history in those jurisdictions gives it contextual familiarity that matters when regulators have questions about specific submissions. In land-based-heavy certification programmes, the lab’s relationship with the specific regulator can shorten review cycles in ways that do not appear on a headline price comparison.

For suppliers targeting Brazil specifically, both GLI and BMM Spain Testlabs hold SPA/MF approval. Brazil’s federal licensed market has approved multiple certification bodies, including BMM Spain Testlabs (Portaria 603, 15 April 2024) and Gaming Associates Europe Ltd. (Portaria 749, 9 May 2024), alongside GLI and eCOGRA. Suppliers entering Brazil should confirm each certifier’s current scope of approval, since SPA/MF approval covers specific product categories and any expansion of scope requires a separate Portaria.

Product Type

The certification scope varies by product category. A platform operator requiring RNG certification, game mathematics review, and system-level testing for an online casino suite has different needs from a supplier submitting sports wagering infrastructure under GLI-33 or a hardware manufacturer submitting gaming devices under GLI-11. GLI’s position as the authoring body for GLI-19 (interactive gaming), GLI-33 (event wagering), and GLI-11 (gaming devices) gives its engineers documented familiarity with those standards’ intent. For markets where a regulator has adopted a GLI standard directly as its technical requirement, this matters.

BMM Testlabs retains recognised depth in gaming device mathematics and RNG statistical analysis, particularly for physical gaming machines. Suppliers with hybrid land-based and online product portfolios sometimes split certifications between labs by product line, which is permissible in most jurisdictions, subject to the regulator’s ITL registration requirements being met for each lab used.

Lab	Founded / Acquired	Primary Strength	Key Markets	Standard Authorship
GLI	1989 (Toms River, NJ)	Broadest global jurisdictional reach, standard-setter	US (all commercial + tribal), UK, Malta, EU, LatAm, APAC, Africa	GLI-11, GLI-16, GLI-19, GLI-33 (and others)
BMM Testlabs	Early 1980s (Nevada)	Land-based device testing, commercial casino depth	Nevada, Australian states, US tribal, Brazil (SPA/MF approved 2024)	None (adopts regulatory standards)
iTech Labs	Pre-2023, acquired by GLI May 2023	Online gaming, European and APAC iGaming focus	MGA, UKGC, Curaçao, APAC (now within GLI Group)	None (operated as specialist online lab)

Timeline and Queue Depth

Queue depth at major labs is a real operational variable, though it is not publicly disclosed in any consistent format. In practice, suppliers report that lead times at all three major labs extend when new regulated markets open simultaneously, since multiple clients submit in the same window. During the Ontario iGaming market launch in 2022 and the Swedish market opening in 2019, all major labs reported extended backlogs.

GLI’s response to queue pressure has been structural: the company operates labs across multiple time zones, including in North America, Europe (Netherlands, UK, Spain, Slovenia), South Africa, India, Japan, Macao, and Australia (Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne). Distributing test workload geographically allows parallel processing of submissions for different jurisdictions. The Melbourne operation, now operated as iTech Labs within the GLI Group, continues to serve Asia-Pacific clients.

Suppliers running multi-jurisdiction programmes should request indicative timelines from any lab at the point of submitting a scoping request, and factor in that initial certification is only one phase. GLI’s Change Management Program Guide v1.0 sets out that, unless otherwise specified by the regulatory body, each product operating under a Change Management Program must be fully certified at least once annually to the rules and regulations of all jurisdictions where it operates, with ongoing level-2 and level-3 change notifications requiring three business days’ advance notice to the regulatory body and the ITL that performed the prior certification.

Existing Certification Portfolio Leverage

Once a supplier has built a certification history with a particular lab, switching labs introduces friction: new client onboarding, methodology documentation for the new regulator, and potential re-testing of products the previous lab had already certified. Regulators in jurisdictions that allow cross-recognition of prior certifications typically require those certifications to come from a lab they have already approved. GLI’s change of ownership over iTech Labs is operationally relevant here: a prior iTech Labs certification may or may not be accepted by a regulator without re-confirmation of the lab’s approved status under its new parent entity. Suppliers must obtain written confirmation from the regulator before relying on a pre-acquisition iTech Labs certificate for a new licensing submission.

A prior iTech Labs certification issued before May 2023 is not automatically portable into GLI’s certification infrastructure. The change of control is a material event that regulators with explicit approved-lab registries may treat as requiring fresh registration or re-notification.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all regulators accept all three labs?

No. Each regulator maintains its own approval framework. AGCO requires ITLs to be separately registered under its ITL Certification Policy. KSA requires labs to be designated by the Dutch minister under Keuringsschema v2.1. MGA accepts labs from EU/EEA member states or those otherwise approved by the Authority. GLI holds documented approval across the widest set of jurisdictions, BMM Testlabs holds strong approvals particularly in land-based-focused jurisdictions, and iTech Labs, now part of GLI, previously held several European and APAC approvals whose current status under the new ownership must be confirmed regulator by regulator.

Is GLI’s certification of a game sufficient for all regulated markets?

No. A GLI certification confirms that the product meets the standard tested against, as specified in the certification report. The certification “applies exclusively to tests conducted using current and retrospective methods developed by Gaming Laboratories International, LLC (GLI) on the specific items submitted,” as stated in GLI’s standard Terms and Conditions. It does not constitute regulatory approval in any jurisdiction. The operator or supplier must still apply for and obtain gaming licensure in each jurisdiction separately, and the relevant regulator must have approved GLI as a testing lab for that jurisdiction and product type. GLI’s jurisdiction-specific certifications are issued with reference to the applicable jurisdiction’s standards: a GLI certificate for Ontario cites compliance with the AGCO’s Registrar’s Standards, a certificate for New Jersey cites New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement requirements. These are not interchangeable.

The AGCO, MGA, and KSA Frameworks in Practice

For operators targeting Ontario through AGCO, the ITL Certification Policy requirement under Standard 4.08 means that before any lab can issue a valid Ontario certification, it must complete its own AGCO registration as a Gaming-Related Supplier and submit confirmation that its testing methodology has been configured to the Registrar’s Standards. This is a non-trivial process and means a lab’s general ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation does not automatically confer Ontario-certification authority.

For MGA-licensed operators, the Directive 2 of 2018 definition allows flexibility in lab selection, but operators must confirm with the MGA that their chosen lab has been approved or recognised by the Authority. In practice, the MGA’s preference is for labs accredited within the EU or EEA, which makes GLI’s Netherlands-based entity (GLI Europe B.V., which received full ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation) and its post-NMi Gaming acquisition presence particularly relevant for Malta submissions.

For the KSA’s Netherlands market, only minister-designated assessment bodies under Keuringsschema v2.1 may conduct gaming system assessments valid for KSA licensing. Version 2.1 was published on 2 September 2024 and all assessments from 1 October 2024 must be conducted under this version. Operators or suppliers that completed assessments under version 2.0 prior to that date should verify with the KSA whether those assessments require any supplementary review under the updated scheme.

GLI’s standards authorship creates a structural advantage in markets that adopt its technical frameworks by reference: an existing GLI certification against GLI-19 v3.0 can transfer to a new jurisdiction more readily when that jurisdiction’s technical standards are themselves built on GLI-19.

Practical Recommendations for Compliance Teams

Compliance teams entering a new market should treat lab selection as part of the pre-application regulatory mapping exercise, not a procurement decision made after submission. The first step is to obtain the regulator’s current approved-lab list or approved-lab criteria, since this determines which labs are legally valid options. The second step is to scope the product for certification: a full-stack online platform submission under GLI-19 involves different workstreams from a single game submission, and the lab must confirm it holds approval for the specific product category in the specific jurisdiction.

For multi-jurisdiction programmes, the most efficient path is to select a primary lab with the widest coverage across your target markets, and to supplement with a secondary lab only where the primary lab lacks approval or where a specific regulator’s process creates a structural advantage for a different lab. Given GLI’s documented presence in all currently regulated iGaming markets and its standard-authorship position, most iGaming-first suppliers will find GLI the default primary lab. Suppliers with deep land-based portfolios and existing BMM Testlabs relationships in Nevada or Australia will weigh the value of continuity in those markets against the additional registration burden of a second lab for iGaming submissions.

Any supplier that previously certified products through iTech Labs as a standalone entity should notify each relevant regulator of the change of control and request written confirmation that the post-acquisition lab entity remains on the regulator’s approved list under its current ownership structure. Qualified legal counsel with jurisdiction-specific gaming law expertise should advise on any notification obligations triggered by the 2023 acquisition, particularly in jurisdictions with material-change notification requirements.

The underlying principle applies across all three labs: a certification report is evidence of conformity with a tested standard, not a substitute for jurisdictional licensing. The GLI Change Management Program Guide v1.0 makes clear that annual re-certification is the baseline expectation, and that regulatory bodies retain discretion to require additional testing for any level-2 or level-3 change introduced into a certified system. Suppliers that treat lab engagement as a one-time event rather than an ongoing compliance relationship systematically underestimate both the cost and the timeline of maintaining a multi-jurisdiction certification portfolio. For a detailed comparison of the two standards most commonly tested by all three labs, see our analysis of GLI-19 vs GLI-33 and how to select the right certification path.

Key Resources

GLI iGaming Testing and Certification Services, gaminglabs.com/services/igaming/ (GLI’s own overview of iGaming accreditations and services)

GLI-19 Standards for Interactive Gaming Systems v3.0 (July 17, 2020), the primary technical standard governing online casino platform certification across the majority of regulated markets

AGCO Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming, Standard 4.08 (amended April 2023), the Ontario ITL registration and certification requirement for all games, RNGs, and igaming system components

MGA Directive 2 of 2018 (Player Protection Directive), defines “Testing Lab” eligibility for Malta-licensed operators, Article 2

KSA Online Gambling Gaming System Assessment Scheme v2.1 (effective 1 October 2024), sets out requirements for assessment bodies designated by the Dutch minister to conduct gaming system assessments for KSA licences

Brazil SPA/MF Portaria 603 (15 April 2024), formal approval of BMM Spain Testlabs as a certifying entity under the Brazilian federal licensed gambling regime