The National Lottery could be rolling out a new draw game within weeks after completing a major digital upgrade and attracting a million more online players
The National Lottery could be introducing a new draw game within weeks. It comes after the completion of a £450 million major digital overhaul.
The lottery operator handed out a 190 million-euro (£164 million) jackpot to a EuroMillions winner last year. It has today confirmed that game launches are imminent.
Its operator Allwyn revealed it had finished a substantial IT upgrade involving the transfer of 18 million player records and more than three billion historical transactions from legacy platforms to new ones. The National Lottery website and app were taken offline for approximately 24 hours in January whilst the work was undertaken.
The £450 million upgrade also featured enhancements to its digital systems which are anticipated to result in the launch of new games and draw in more players. New player safeguards have been introduced including mandatory personal deposit and spend limit settings, as well as automatic logouts after 60 minutes, with a 10-minute cooling-off period, and regular 20-minute “reality checks” for instant game players.
Allwyn assumed the 10-year licence to operate the National Lottery in 2024 from Camelot, which had run the draw since its launch in 1994. Fresh figures from Allwyn reveal a record number of people are playing National Lottery games online, prompting the operator to record a 10% increase in digital sales last year.
The lottery firm achieved digital sales worth £4.1 billion in 2025, up 9.8% on the previous year. Some 12.1 million individuals were engaging with the National Lottery via digital platforms, including the website and app, marking an increase of a million from the previous year.
Draw games such as the Lotto and EuroMillions can be played online, along with instant games offering the opportunity to win prizes. Total sales, encompassing lottery tickets purchased in shops, reached £8.1 billion in 2025, a rise of 3.5% from the preceding year.
Over £1.7 billion was generated for what is referred to as ‘good causes’, which includes funding for health, education, arts, sports heritage and charitable causes, and taxes raised amounted to £967 million. Andria Vidler, the chief executive of Allwyn UK, expressed: “We are delighted to have delivered growth to the National Lottery whilst successfully completing the largest international upgrade in lottery history.
“This is a hugely exciting time for the National Lottery and its players, as these much-needed upgrades now allow us to launch new games and products, meaning we can generate more money than ever before for good causes.”
