Allwyn has completed a £450 million technology overhaul of The National Lottery, clearing the way for the biggest change to its draw-based Lotto game since it launched in 1994. The upgrade finished in the first quarter of 2026 after the company migrated 18 million player records and more than three billion historical transactions.
The timing matters because the new system is not just a back-office change. It sets up the first new draw-based game this summer, with a UK-specific Powerball jackpot due later in the season, while Lotto’s new format is scheduled to go live from 7 June. For players, the change means two chances to win on every £2 Lotto ticket in the main draw for the first time.
The overhaul also touched the parts of the game most players actually see: the website, mobile apps and the technology used by retail partners. Allwyn said the completion of the transformation enables new commercial launches in Britain and marks an important inflection point for its business, after a period in which the company said it had absorbed the bulk of the transformation-related costs.
That upbeat message sat alongside softer numbers. Allwyn said UK gross gaming revenues fell 7 per cent to 942 million euros, or £814.2 million, in the first quarter, while underlying UK earnings dropped to four million euros, or £3.5 million, from nine million euros, or £7.8 million a year earlier. The company said part of the decline reflected tough comparisons with the previous year, when a record EuroMillions jackpot lifted demand, and part came from costs tied to changes on its online gaming platform after the upgrade.
The contrast is the crucial one: Allwyn has finished the investment that was supposed to modernise the National Lottery, but the quarter it completed it was also a weak one for sales and profit. Management is betting that the new products now becoming possible will reverse that picture. It said the completion of the transformation opens the door to more product changes in the United Kingdom and that it is still seeking regulatory approval for additional innovations.
Allwyn took over the 10-year National Lottery licence from Camelot in 2024, and this overhaul is the clearest sign yet of how it intends to reshape the business. The first test comes on 7 June, when the new Lotto format launches. If the company’s forecast is right, the change will more than double the number of Lotto millionaires from around 140 a year to about 345. The bigger question is whether that lift, together with the later Powerball launch at £4 per line, is enough to turn a completed upgrade into a lasting sales recovery.
