Gaming Licences under Maltese Gaming Law

Maltese law envisages two categories of Malta gaming licences:

• Gaming Service Licences (B2C licences)
• Critical Gaming Supply Licence (B2B licences

A Gaming Service Licence; or better understood as a business-to-consumer (B2C) licence to offer or carry out a gaming service. A ‘gaming service’ is defined as (a) the offering, provision, or operation of a gaming service; (b) the hosting by a person in his premises accessible to the public or in premises accessible to the public that are in his possession or under his control, the operation or in any other manner the making available for use of a gaming device or gaming system. Thus, the B2C licence will also cover land-based gaming.

A Critical Gaming Supply Licence; or better understood as a business-to-business (B2B) licence to provide or carry out a critical gaming supply. A ‘critical gaming supply’ shall consist of the: (a) supply and management of material elements of a game; (b) supply and management of software, whether as a stand-alone or as part of a system, to generate, capture, control or otherwise process any essential regulatory record and, or the supply and management of the control system itself on which such software resides.

In simple terms, the B2B licence will enable the licensee to either provide games and/or back-end services to gaming operators.

Within the context of a Malta gaming licence, a gaming service or a critical gaming supply shall constitute any one or more of the following game types:

Type 1 – Games of chance played against the house, the outcome of which is determined by a random generator, and shall include casino type games, including roulette, blackjack, baccarat, poker played against the house, lotteries, secondary lotteries and virtual sports games; and/or

Type 2 – Games of chance played against the house, the outcome of which is not generated randomly, but is determined by the result of an event or competition extraneous to a game of chance, and whereby the operator manages his or her own risk by managing the odds offered to the player; and/or

Type 3 – Games of chance not played against the house and wherein the operator is not exposed to gaming risk, but generates revenue by taking a commission or other charge based on the stakes or the prize, and shall include player versus player games such as poker, bingo, betting exchange, and other commission-based games; and/or

Type 4 – Controlled skill games as per Regulation 8 of the Gaming Authorisations Regulations (LN 243 of 2018). The only type of game which is currently licensable as a type 4 ‘controlled skill game’ is fantasy sports (as defined under the Controlled Skill Games Ruling).