EDICT EGAMING
GIO: Speaking of those two Netherlands and Germany, what are your impressions from the first months in those markets? D-DL: Overall, we are happy that those markets are finally regulated, and we can offer the Merkur slots in a regulated environment. But there are huge differences between those two markets, and it shows how different the approach towards regulation can be.
In Germany the taxation seems to be a huge problem for the operators, as well as the restrictions for the players. When the markets become too unattractive, the players will move into the black market and that’s exactly what we don’t want. We all know that player protection and funds are not safe there. But if the offer is not attractive for the player, they will move on. The internet is a huge place and it will be interesting to see, which actions the German authorities will take against illegal operators and what the effect of those actions will be, now that the first licenses have been granted.
In the Netherlands the new regulatory framework seems more balanced, and it looks like most of the players are happy with it. Furthermore, the approach in Holland is a lot more industry friendly as the regulator is
granting the licenses faster and the rules are simple and clearly defined. In Germany every game is checked manually by the authorities for each operator, we can all imagine the workloads it takes and how slow the time to market is due to that. Most of the game studios have several hundred titles in their libraries and they release several games a year. Instead of certifying a game one time for all operators, it will be checked for each operator over and over again. A very time-consuming process for the authorities, but for the operators and game studios as well.
GIO: Quick last question, where is the industry heading in coming years? D-DL: Everybody is looking at Ontario right now and it seems to be the next playing field for a lot of operators. But it will also be interesting to see where the Dutch market is heading after more licenses will be granted and if Germany will be modifying its regulation.
Overall it seems to be a trend that the bigger companies are aggressively trying to get bigger, get a footprint into every market and have as much content as possible. For sure our industry never sleeps and the coming years will be exciting as always.
GIO JULY 2022 7
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