Earlier this month, the Malta Gaming Authority published its report for the first half of 2022. Accordingly, the online casinos licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) were able to look forward to an impressive increase in members during this period. But how many players are there now in the licensed online casinos with MGA license?
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) remains arguably the most influential and important gaming authority in Europe. A few days ago, the Maltese Gaming Authority published its report for the first half of last year. It is therefore the period from January to June 2022. It was only in October 2022 that we published an article in which we reported in detail on the MGA’s 2021 annual report.
According to the Malta Gaming Authority’s semi-annual report, MGA-licensed online casinos saw significant member growth during the reporting period. Specifically, the number of registered player accounts is said to have risen to around 19.3 million. This means that online casinos with a Maltese license had a total of almost 20 million members in the first half of 2022 – an unprecedented number.
Compared to the same period last year, the online casinos with a Maltese license were able to enjoy an 8.7 percent increase in members. Compared to the same period in 2019, the growth in member accounts is even an impressive 25%. It was only in June 2021 that we reported that the Malta Gaming Authority lowered the minimum payout percentage for casino games. Since then, this has only been 85% instead of 92%.
According to the MGA report, almost four out of ten players at licensed online casinos are aged between 25 and 34 (39%). At 25%, almost a quarter of all users were even younger. Almost a third of the MGA users were between 35 and 54 years old. In addition, there were another 5% of casino players who were between 55 and 64 years old. In the older age groups, the values were only in the per thousand range. The distribution of the age structure shows that playing in online casinos is particularly popular with the younger target group.
In addition, around 2,500 gamblers contacted the Malta Gaming Authority about problematic gaming behavior in the first six months of last year. Incidentally, the Federal Center for Health Education, BZgA for short, helps with questions and problems relating to your own gaming behavior in this country. A somewhat older article, for example, dealt with the future financing of the BZgA hotline.
In addition, the Gaming Authority revoked a license in the first half of 2022 and carried out a total of 626 inspections of licensees. As a result of these checks, seven administrative penalties were imposed and two other settlements totaling EUR 85,000 were concluded.
Although in Germany, for example, the new Joint Gaming Authority of the States (GGL) started work in full on January 1, 2023, the number of players in online casinos with an MGA license increased at least in the first half of 2022. It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue in the coming annual reports, or whether the Maltese Gaming Authority will notice a change due to the new legal situation in the important German market.
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