An online gaming company has announced that it will close its Malta studio and move to another EU member state, making some 30 of its employees redundant.

Yggdrasil, which provides gaming content for online casinos, blamed a lack of human resources for its decision to consolidate its studio operation in Poland.

It will retain a much-reduced presence of less than 20 people in Malta, where the company, which describes itself as “one of the industry’s most respected and acclaimed suppliers” has been operating since 2013. 

A spokesman for the gaming supplier said “the regretful decision was based on the fact that Malta has not been an optimal location for a fully-fledged end-to-end studio as the company has been relying on relocating talent instead of recruiting local talent”.

He said that it was part of the company’s strategy to “consolidate our game development efforts around our very successful studios in Krakow and Stockholm for all disciplines required in a complete game development studio, including client development, game server development, math design and other areas”.

It comes a month after two Malta-based online betting companies announced nearly 100 redundancies as part of major restructuring.

The Stars Group, part of the TSG Interactive Gaming Europe Ltd, with offices in St Julian’s since 2017, informed about 80 of its local staff it will not need their services any longer.

It is not feasible any longer to rely on foreign imported human resources

The move came after a sharp fall in the company’s turnover.

Days later another gaming company, Multilotto, also based in St Julian’s, made some 15 employees – half its workforce – redundant in an unexpected move.

Industry sources said that while the online gaming sector remains a strong contributor to the Maltese economy, there are signs of “fatigue” and “lack of attractiveness” in the current economic state of the island.

“The industry has been sending out messages to the regulator and the government in general, that there is a lack of human resources and that it is not feasible any longer to rely on foreign imported human resources.”

Representatives from the gaming industry have also repeatedly warned that Malta’s high cost of living, particularly regarding rent rates, has affected competitiveness.

During the past years, Malta has relied heavily on the gaming and financial services industries to sustain its economic growth. 

The two industries are highly dependable on foreign staff which has resulted in a significant increase in the numbers living and working on the island.

Latest figures show that the gaming industry presence is currently worth some €1.2 billion or 12 per cent of GDP.

Ivan.Camilleri@timesofmalta.com

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