Central Europe
The Right RTP for the German 5.3% Turnover-taxation?
So, you may have seen a poll I have published recently with the title: “If/when Germany introduces the 5.3% turnover tax, what RTP rate is best suited considering both game-play and effective tax-paid?” If you haven’t seen it, here is the poll again for reference:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6790660730564825088/
There are a few ways of looking at this, but I think the key take-away is that the industry this poll represents is fairly evenly split between above 90% RTP and below 90% RTP.
The tax explained
First, to ensure we are on the same page, a quick explanation of the tax proposed:
Currently a 5.3% tax on turnover has been proposed and a draft-legislation does exist. I won’t go into the politics and the thinking behind this, but rather try to analyze the numbers.
A 5.3% tax on every bet being placed on an online slot means an operator can not offer an RTP over 94.7%. At 94.7% RTP, the operator would break even exactly on a bet-level, but obviously would lose money as marketing, employees and general operation have to be financed somehow. Considering financial overhead in any operation, that means the maximum RTP a casino is technically able to offer while avoiding bankruptcy is probably around 93% or more likely at 92%. This is the top ceiling and at the same time too high to be profitable.
Now, there is a bit of uncertainty and I’m also not entirely sure if the number to calculate against is 5.3% or rather 5.033%. The tax is 5.3% on turnover, meaning a 1 EUR bet causes a tax of 5.3 cents, which totals to 1.053 EUR. The tax-portion of 1.053 EUR is less than 5.3%. 100*5.3/(100+5.3) = 5.033 resp. 5.033%. I do calculations here in this document based on 5.3%.
How to balance RTP and profitability
We’ve established above that 93% or 92% is the top ceiling, but where is the bottom?
The table below shows how a Slots-operator will be taxed, calculated into the GGR-equivalent %-age number and cross-referenced with RTP. For reference, many other jurisdictions in Europe offer a GGR-based tax-rate of around 20%. As you can see from the table below, the 5.3% tax-rate on turnover wouldn’t be so bad, if players would accept 80% RTP. At 80% RTP, the GGR-equivalent tax-rate is 26.50% and thus a competitive tax-rate.
The coloring I have done here may be slightly biased, especially in terms of RTP so please take with a grain of salt. But if you roughly accept that the red-area you want to avoid on the RTP and on the GGR-% side, then you end up with an RTP-bandwidth between 84% and 91% to play with.
Further, and again granted you accept the coloring, an operator obviously wants to find an RTP in the green and a GGR-% in the green. Here we arrive at 88% and 89% RTP.
Now, a lot has been written that players will not accept such low RTP’s as say 84%. There are counter-arguments made that in land-based slots the RTP is exactly at that level and actually 88% is on the higher-end in land-based casinos.
On the other hand, for many market-participants the number “9” is a psychological blocker. Players, Affiliates and a couple of Slots-Studios I speak to feel very anxious offering product below 90% as this number still feels somewhat close to the industry-average of 94 to 97%. 89% sounds very different than 90%, although it is “just” 1% in RTP dropped.
Sportsbook vs. Casinos
It will be interesting to watch if Sportsbook or Sports-led brands will choose a differing RTP-rate than Pure-Play Casinos. A Sportsbook can more easily stay on a higher RTP and just pause all short-term expenses (bonus, marketing, etc.) and focus on cross-sell. A pure-play Casino will have to look a lot more closely on bottom-line and in my opinion will have a hard time offering e.g. 90% RTP-Slots as the GGR-equivalent tax-rate is 53%.
Game-Mechanics?
Will there be new Game-Mechanics invented to combat this problem? Looking at the table above again, the second column states how many spins a player on average can make until 1 EUR is spent depending on the RTP-Level. At 95% RTP this is 20 spins. Now, if a Game-Mechanic can be invented that provides a low mathematical RTP while at the same time provides a similar amount of real spins, then this could be a solution to the problem.
Conclusion & in my opinion
The above explanation is in no way complete – there are actually interesting studies which analyze how much an RTP is “felt” by the player and there is probably very good data the land-based industry has to offer.
But, to move away from being neutral, here’s what I personally think: The reality will be that everyone will push the RTP down and experiment with the lowest acceptable RTP as this maximizes their income. As such, come 1st of July, we’ll see a lot of RTP’s experimented with. Imagine you are a pure-play casino and you can provide a Game-Mechanic that feels good to the player and has a nice session length, while staying at or below 40% GGR-equivalent-tax. I believe things start to fall apart financially for an operator at 40% tax-rate. If you own your own media-assets and have good deals with your suppliers and run a tight operation then a 40% tax is possible to do really well in Germany. That means, the average-RTP across the portfolio will have to be around 87–88%. I think you can mix in 91% games into the portfolio just so that is part of the portfolio too, but the majority of revenue of the white-market in Germany will in my opinion come from Slots around 88% RTP. And since some games will be mixed in at 90/91% you can expected some slots to be mixed in at 84/85% rate as well.
Update 07/05/2021:
I didn’t mention in this article two other potential solutions. One is directly taxing the customer on the bet and the other is directly taxing the customer on a win (paying the tax-authorities on a bet-level, but collecting funds/tax from players on a win) like currently most sportsbetting companies do in Germany. These solutions also lower the effective-RTP-rate to the customer (just charged at a differing touch-point).
The main issue with those solutions is that an operator ends up with an equivalent-GGR taxation of around 57% which isn’t sustainable. Here are some calculations of these alternative solutions: DE 5.3% Taxation Calculations
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2025 Gaming in Germany Conference
Evaluation of State Gambling Treaty key topic at 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference
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In two weeks, operators, industry analysts, and legal experts will once again gather in Berlin to attend the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference. This year’s event will take place on Tuesday, November 11.
Key topic: Evaluation of 2021 State Gambling Treaty
The 2021 State Gambling Treaty (GlüStV 2021) is currently being evaluated by the German federal states, with a final report expected next year.
The outcome of this evaluation will determine to what extent Germany’s iGaming regulatory framework will be adjusted to reflect market realities. Already, it appears that certain things the industry has been clamoring for – e.g., easier game certification – will become a reality.
While the industry will certainly not get everything it wants, the direction of regulatory development could be toward improvement.
Willem van Oort, Founder of Gaming in Germany commented: “This year’s Gaming in Germany Conference is where important discussions will take place on which regulatory goals to pursue. Major stakeholders, including operators, trade associations, and the regulator, are all coming. I think this underscores the importance of our event. Moreover, it is the only conference aimed at the German market where both domestic and international stakeholders show up to connect and share insights and information. If you want to help shape the conversation and meet key stakeholders, Berlin is the place to be.”
Breakout program
In addition to high-level regulatory and policy-related information, the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference also offers highly practical information on topics such as data compliance, game certification, RG, live casino, eSports, and much more. Breakout sessions will be hosted by trained experts and are highly interactive.
Agenda & registration
The 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference takes place at the DoubleTree Hilton Ku’damm in Berlin – just 100 meters from the magnificent Kurfürstendamm.
The event’s agenda – including breakout program – is available here.
Registration for the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference is now open.
The post Evaluation of State Gambling Treaty key topic at 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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SiGMA Europe is one of the most significant events in the iGaming industry. This year, the event is taking place in Rome and will bring together over 30,000 attendees, 1200 sponsors and feature four stages with 550+ top speakers.
On November 05, in partnership with MelBet Partners & Affiliates, former MMA legend and World Champion Kamaru Usman will join the event as a special guest. At booth 5067G attendees of SiGMA Central Europe have the chance to take photos, hear insights and what it takes to rise to the top on a global stage.
During the conference, there will be two activities available for guests at MelBet’s booth:
Punch Challenge. Anyone can come to the booth on November 4 and test their punching power. The person with the strongest punch will have the honour of competing against Kamaru Usman himself.
Want to get exclusive merchandise and take a photo with the MelBet Partners & Affiliates championship belt? Visit the booth. Follow MelBet’s official Instagram account and take a picture with the belt. Those who post a story with the championship belt and tag MelBet will automatically be entered into a drawing for exclusive UFC-themed merchandise.
There will also be a private party, Triumph of the Gladiators, exclusively for the partners and representatives of MelBet Partners & Affiliates, which Kamaru himself will attend. This evening will be an epic event, where history and modernity merge into one.
The post MelBet Partners to Bring UFC Champion Kamaru Usman to SiGMA Central Europe appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Award-Nominated EGT Digital Brings Sweet Spins, Smart Tech, and New Thrills to SiGMA Central Europe 2025
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EGT Digital will showcase the upgraded Sugartime 1000, available for visitors to try in demo mode, and offer a sneak peek at the upcoming Hermes Fortunes 2000 at SiGMA Central Europe, Rome (4 – 6 November, booth 2050). Both titles build on fan-favorite originals, offering players thrilling upgrades, bold visuals, and massive win potential.
The company also kicks off SiGMA Rome 2025 celebrating five B2B Award nominations for innovation and growth:
- B2B Industry Leader Italy 2025
- AI Pioneer in Platform Innovation 2025
- Fastest Growing Aggregator 2025
- Best Game Provider Italy 2025
- Best Bonus Engine 2025
Sugartime 1000 – double the flavor, ten times the fun
Visitors will be able to experience Sugartime 1000 firsthand in demo mode. The sweet hit returns with multipliers up to x1000, the Toppling Reels feature, and the Clover Chance Jackpot for nonstop excitement.
Players can trigger Free Spins with 4 – 6 scatters or activate Super Free Spins with guaranteed high multipliers and wins reaching 25,000x the bet value. The result is a faster, more colorful, and even more rewarding experience that keeps the charm of the original.
Hermes Fortunes 2000 – mythic wins take flight
Visitors will get a sneak peek at this mythology-inspired sequel before its official release. The messenger of the gods brings bigger rewards with multipliers up to x2000, Free Spins where symbols can transform into multipliers, and a Super Free Spins mode guaranteeing x20+ multipliers. Linked to the Clover Chance Jackpot, this upgraded sequel offers a divine mix of myth and adrenaline.
“Both Sugartime 1000 and Hermes Fortunes 2000 reflect our respect for the players who made the originals so loved,” said Tsvetomira Drumeva, Head of Sales at EGT Digital. “We wanted to give fans the same excitement they cherish while upgrading every element of gameplay for an even more dynamic and immersive experience.”
Expanding the game universe
At SiGMA Central Europe, EGT Digital will also present its broader content lineup, featuring over 150 in-house developed slots and popular jackpots like Bell Link, Clover Chance, and Gods & Kings Link.
EGT Digital’s Aggregator solution will also be in focus, offering access to over 13,000 games from 200+ global providers through a seamless, high-performance integration.
Boosting engagement through innovation
EGT Digital will also highlight its X-Nave platform - an all-in-one, modular solution featuring Casino, Sportsbook, CRM, Payment Gateway, and the powerful Campaign Manager module.
Now enhanced with proprietary AI, X-Nave personalizes player experiences, optimizes performance, and ensures responsible gaming. Its Campaign Manager helps operators drive engagement, loyalty, and results through automated tournaments, Gift Spins, and Buy Bonus competitions, turning gameplay into measurable marketing success across all devices.
Visit EGT Digital at booth 2050 during SiGMA Europe, Rome, from 4 – 6 November.
The post Award-Nominated EGT Digital Brings Sweet Spins, Smart Tech, and New Thrills to SiGMA Central Europe 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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