The Yggdrasil game company leaves Malta and moves its studio to Poland. The main reason why Yggdrasil moved the art department to Poland is because of the difficulty in finding qualified and optimal Maltese staff to develop their work in the company’s art department. Until now the company has had to seek professional talent outside of this Mediterranean island as it cannot employ local workers.
The Yggdrasil spokesperson commented that the decision was made because “Malta has not been an optimal location”, as the company has had to hire staff from other countries instead of recruiting local talent.
Yggdrasil fires 30 workers
Yggdrasil leaves Malta and moves its studio to Poland. The closure has caused the layoff of some 30 employees. The Yggdrasil spokesperson commented that the decision was made because “Malta has not been an optimal location”, as the company has had to hire staff from other countries instead of recruiting local talent. Despite this massive layoff, Yggdrasil will continue to operate in Malta. About 20 employees will continue to work in the offices that the company has on the island and opened in 2013
Malta’s iGaming sector in trouble
October, a black month in the gaming industry in Malta. The iGaming sector in Malta is not going through its best moment. The closure of Yggdrasil joins the dismissal of workers from The Star Group, Global Gaming and Multilotto.
At the beginning of October the news was known that the Canadian group The Star Group (Poker Star and Sky Betting) made the decision to dismiss about 50 of its employees in Malta. For its part, the Swedish company Golbal Gaming will reduce its workforce by 50% before the end of the year.
And something similar has happened with the betting operator Multilotto, by laying off between 10 and 15 workers. About half of its staff.
IGaming moves 1,200m € a year in Malta
The gaming industry in Malta moves around 1,200 million euros annually. This figure represents 12% of GDP. Malta’s economic growth in recent years has exploded thanks to the gaming and financial services sector. This fact has caused the massive arrival of foreign workers on the island. And with the arrival of community and non-community workers, apartment rents and the standard of living in Malta have skyrocketed.
In recent years, representatives of the gaming industry have warned authorities that the high cost of living, mainly caused by high rents, is affecting competitiveness and some workers are refusing to move to work in Malta.
