A Malta-based gaming company has decided to expand its local operations and plans on adding 150 new jobs in the coming year.

PressEnter announced its expansion plans during an event held in collaboration with the Economy Ministry on Monday.

The company was previously known as Betpoint but rebranded to Press Enter earlier this month. It manages six different gaming brands in over 20 different countries.

Company CEO Lahcene Merzoug said that Press Enter had chosen to expand in Malta because the country “offers the best sought after talent in this industry, as well as the support that this sector requires, including the good relationship between the regulator, the Malta Gaming Authority and Gaming Malta."

He said that the company had more than quadrupled its workforce over the past year and planned on increasing it to a total of 250 workers by the end of 2022. Around one in every four workers is Maltese.

Merzoug said that the company was supportive of government efforts to get Malta off the FATF greylist as quickly as possible.

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said that the company’s decision to invest in Malta was a testament to the trust the sector has in the government’s policy.

‘This encourages us as a government to continue investing in education to ensure that Malta nurtures its talent in this sector,” Schembri said, saying that the government was now trying to attract venture capital funds to invest in video game development.

“In addition, we are committed to further bolstering our talent, so much so that, in the coming days, an agreement will be signed with UNITY so that lecturers can be trained to teach the language in this field,” the minister said.

Gaming Malta chief operating Officer Ivan Filletti said he was pleased with PressEnter’s decision to expand.

“Seeing companies like PressEnter Group increase their activity and investment, along with highly talented workers, further strengthens Malta’s credentials as a 'Home of Gaming Excellence',” he said.