“Balance” should be the number one aim when introducing new regulations as excessive red tape can lead gamblers to “look elsewhere”, thereby driving traffic to black market sites. 

That was one of the key focuses in episode four of the What’s Up Ygg podcast as guests discussed the changing dynamics within the igaming industry, recovery from the pandemic and the introduction of new regulations. 

Opening up discussions, Yggdrasil CEO Fredrik Elmqvist began by looking at what he considers to be the major dynamics at play across the igaming industry.

“Industry dynamics is a super broad topic, and there are so many factors at play if you’re looking at it from a global perspective,” he said. 

“We are a casino developer at heart, but we’re now taking more of a publishing role, working more to enable external technology, enabling external studios and so forth. All of this is bringing relevance to our market. 

“But taking a few steps back and looking at the casino industry from a global perspective, we obviously see some turbulence in Asia. We’re seeing the impacts of regulation across Europe – these can swing either way.

“We’re all for the regulation, but restrictions which are too heavy can have a negative impact on the legitimate market. This can then create some really dark things – by that I mean counterfeit B2B and B2C organisations, hijack streams etc. 

“From the other side, we have things such as SPACs, sports betting etc. But as you can see, it’s a super dynamic landscape at the moment.” 

Stewart Darkin, the podcast’s host and director of new media st Square in the Air, then quizzed Björn Krantz, Chief Global Market Officer of Yggdrasil, about his thoughts on the ever-changing igaming industry. 

Krantz urged listeners to consider the need for collaboration between the igaming industry and the regulator, emphasising his belief that when it comes to introducing new regulations, excessive red tape can be detrimental for player protection.

He added: “This collaboration between the industry and the regulators is key. The regulator should also have an appetite to gain insight into the possible effects here; they should know what they want to achieve, and how to both streamline and harmonise the frameworks so that it is optimised towards responsible gaming measures. 

“If we look at Germany which has a one euro max bet, we hear in the market that this could drive the RTP down which is not good either. If you have a low stake, and then you’re taxed on turnover – which I think can, and most likely will happen in Germany – then you have no margins. In order to get any sort of margin, people will lower the RTP to get a little bit more out of it – but that is not helping players. 

“When you introduce measures which aren’t helping the player side of things, that’s when bettors start to look elsewhere and you have lower channelisation into the regulated market. 

“I think the main thing to consider here is balance. There is this collaboration and proactive dialogue which news to happen between the industry and the regulator – not just within one individual country but maybe on a wider scale.” 

Watch the full podcast here.