With renowned attendees, the SiGMA Roadshow registered 1,900 views of the conference, with the total number of entries almost surpassing the 8,000 mark.
The debates will mainly focus on Germany’s new gaming regulations, which will come into effect soon. Speakers also touched on technology topics and how product localization can help attract German players to the online casino market.
In the opening panel, the. Joerg Hofmann, Senior Partner at the law firm Melchers, made long-term projections, addressing upcoming regulatory changes in Germany. Last year was important for the German gaming market as the country prepared to implement online gaming regulations starting this year.
The 16 states of Germany have agreed to a new federal gaming law providing for the authorization and licensing of online casino and poker services as of July 1, 2021.
“The industry is offering to initiate a dialogue, to comply with regulations and to help build an environment that works for all stakeholders. For the first time there is licensing available for all major gaming verticals in Germany,” he said.
Based on his regulation talk, Joerg Hofmann was joined on the next panel by Mathias Dahms, president of the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) to discuss changes in the country’s regulation.
Hoffman highlighted the potential risk of strict rules, saying that there will always be a legal market and that certain restrictions can prevent operators from reaching the desired customer base.
“We have to look at the consequences of too restrictive regulation – if you are too restrictive, reduce content too much or impose tax rates that are not competitive, operators will not reach their customers. There will always be a parallel market, we cannot ignore it”.
A Sustainable Market
Another debate entitled ‘Germany as a safe and sustainable market’ was presented by Mauro De Fabritiis, founder of MDF Partners, Willem van Oort, and Rasmus Kjærgaard, CEO of Mindway AI.
Mauro de Fabritiis highlighted the fact that Germany is at a stage in which the regulatory model is based on common trends at the European level linked to specific themes such as customer protection measures, such as advertising limitations, which hinder the entry of operators in the market.
Artur Dervish Derwiszynski, Head of Business DACH + CEE – Jumio, discussed strategies that would help game operators get to know their players better. When it comes to knowing your player’s real identity, Arthur stated that the best way to do this is by acquisition, comparison and authentication.
All of this can be done by capturing a government-issued ID and performing a verification, then comparing the selfie with the photo printed on the ID, checking for similarities, and finally, to give it authenticity, asking for a new one. selfie and comparing it with the original.
How is technology impacting iGamnig’s business models?
How ‘tech trends are impacting iGaming business models’ was definitely another featured panel where Mario Chamorro, manager of MDF Partners and Mariud Galdikas, CEO and president of ConnectPay, spoke about how technology will affect the gaming industry now and in future.
Chamorro said responsible gaming is one of the biggest trends for the iGaming industry and technology will be key to that.
Galdikas continued: “There are technology trends, Internet trends, quality trends and trends in how people develop, look at and upstage games – which use more CPU power and require better cell phones. cloud hosting today will be the difference between good servers and great servers”.
The SiGMA Roadshow continued to focus on location and the importance of attracting German players with the participation of Mauro de Fabritiis, founder of MDF Partners, Jochen Mebus, Director of Global Revenue at Textbroker International, Robert Lenzhofer, co-founder and CEO of Hölle Games and Tobias Edl , head of new business relations at Whow Games.
Edl stated: “a good opportunity to show users, as a provider, some kind of safe haven they can play in. If they do it right, this could be a great opportunity (for the German market) to reach more users.
Lenzhofer stated that in the near future, more game providers will find German names that fit the slots and gaming experience. This is a unique feature that hasn’t been addressed by big gamers yet.
Linking the cryptocurrency market with the iGaming sector
Although more online casinos are starting to accept cryptocurrencies on their websites, there are few countries and therefore websites that actually regulate the game of cryptography. Max Krupyshev, CEO of CoinsPaid, cited that the synergy between the player and the cryptocurrency dealer is enormous.
“The person who deals in encryption is probably interested in the gaming industry, which is why when you try to promote your casino within user groups or encryption news sites, you will find that many banners are taken up by different iGaming services ”.
The second part of the SiGMA Roadshow will take place in September in Romania, New Jersey in October, Taiwan in November, before ending the year in the Netherlands in December. SiGMA’s full calendar of events can be found here.
