The licence that stops being a conversation. Payment providers, software suppliers and affiliates all take it without questions, and roughly half the European industry is registered on an island of half a million people. You pay for that with a year of your life and a compliance department.
| Regulator | Malta Gaming Authority, under the Gaming Act 2018 |
|---|---|
| Licence types | B2C gaming service across four game types; B2B critical gaming supply for platforms and studios |
| Term | Ten years, renewable — the longest of any jurisdiction on this site |
| Company | Maltese company with an office on the island |
| People | Key function holders certified by the MGA: compliance, MLRO, data protection, information security, responsible gaming, internal audit |
| Technical | Certified RNG and games, plus a system audit after you go live |
| Go-live deadline | Within 60 days of the licence being issued |
| Player funds | Segregated from operating money, with the split reported |
| Public register | Yes — the MGA publishes every licensee and the domains it covers |
Malta moves slowly and then does something the rest of Europe argues about for a year.
15% on Type 1 revenue and 10% on Types 2, 3 and 4, up from a single 5% rate. It still applies only to players located in Malta, so for most operators the bill stays small — but the calculation changes.
Malta added Article 56A to the Gaming Act, refusing to enforce foreign judgments against MGA licensees where the claim conflicts with Maltese law. Germany and Austria objected loudly; the provision stands, and it is one reason operators facing player-refund claims moved here.
Malta replaced a patchwork of class licences with one gaming service licence covering four game types, a ten-year term, and the key-function system that defines the regime today.
This is where Malta differs from every offshore jurisdiction. One licence, but the products are split into types, and each carries its own fee floor and ceiling. You apply for the types you actually run.
Casino, slots and table games against the house, on a random number generator.
€15,000–375,000 a yearFixed-odds betting, where you carry the risk on an event outside your control.
€25,000–600,000 a yearPoker, betting exchanges and anything where you take a commission rather than a position.
€25,000–500,000 a yearControlled skill games, including fantasy sports. The cheapest way into the regime.
€5,000–500,000 a yearThose ranges are the compliance contribution, not a menu price. It is charged monthly on a sliding scale against gaming revenue, falling as you scale, with a floor you pay even in a bad year and a ceiling that caps it in a good one. Suppliers take the B2B critical gaming supply licence instead, which is cheaper and carries no player money.
Malta is the one jurisdiction where the regulator's fee is the small line. People, office and audit are the bill.
| Application fee | €5,000 one-off, non-refundable |
|---|---|
| Annual licence fee | €25,000 B2C gaming service; €10,000 for Type 4 alone |
| Compliance contribution | floor and ceiling per type monthly, sliding with revenue |
| Gaming tax | 15% / 10% from 1 Oct 2026, Maltese players only |
| Corporate tax | 35% headline with the refund system most groups use |
| Key function holders | Six certified roles — the largest recurring cost in the regime |
| System audit | After go-live, then periodically |
| MGA fees | People & office | Compliance | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year one | €30,000 | €45,000 | €25,000 | ≈€100,000 |
| Renewal | €25,000 | €45,000 | €15,000 | ≈€85,000 |
On top of both sits the compliance contribution, which is revenue-linked and has a floor. Budget it as a tax rather than a fee: at zero revenue you still owe the minimum for your type.
Seven to twelve months, and the clock does not stop when the licence arrives: you have 60 days to go live.
A Maltese company with a real address. This is also when you decide which game types you are applying for, because it shapes everything after it.
Six certified roles — compliance, MLRO, data protection, information security, responsible gaming, internal audit. Each needs MGA approval, and finding people the authority already knows is the fastest route.
Three-year financial projections the MGA will interrogate, plus owners, funding and track record. This is a real review, not a formality.
AML and KYC, responsible gaming, player-fund segregation, incident handling, data protection — checked against the MGA's own documentation checklist.
Filed through the MGA portal with the €5,000 fee. Then fit-and-proper, business and technical reviews, each with its own round of questions.
You launch on the approved environment within 60 days, and an independent auditor checks the live system against what you described.
The common misreading of Malta is that it is an EU passport. It is not. The MGA licenses you to operate; each national market still decides who may sell to its players.
Any EU state that runs its own licensing regime has to be blocked unless you hold that state's licence too — which is exactly why large groups end up with Malta plus four or five national licences. The MGA does not publish a master list, so keeping the block list current is the licensee's job, and it changes.
This is the reason most operators pay for Malta. An MGA licence gets you through onboarding at acquirers that will not read a Curaçao application, gets you card rates a point or two better, and removes the rolling reserve argument or shortens it. Tier-1 banking is possible rather than theoretical, and the local banks understand the industry because the industry is the island's economy.
It also matters downstream. Game studios licence their content to MGA operators without a separate risk review, affiliates in regulated markets will work with you, and an acquisition conversation does not start with due diligence on your licence.
The top of the scale, with the Isle of Man alongside it. Curaçao sits two steps left, Anjouan four.
| Malta | Isle of Man | Curaçao | Anjouan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year one | ≈€100,000 | ≈€49,000 | ≈€97,000 | €17,000–22,000 |
| Time | 7–12 months | 5–9 months | 6–8 months | 4–6 weeks |
| Tax on gaming revenue | 10–15% on Maltese players | 0.1–1.5% duty | 0% | 0% |
| Licence term | 10 years | 5 years | 1 year | 1 year |
| People on the ground | Six certified key functions | Local presence and oversight | Director plus one employee | None |
| Payment acceptance | Broadest | Broadest | Workable | Specialist only |
The Isle of Man is the closest thing to a cheaper Malta, and at scale its tapering duty beats Malta's rate for anyone with Maltese players. Malta wins on recognition, on the ten-year term, and on the depth of the local supplier market — there is no other island where you can hire six certified key function holders in a fortnight.
Take the licence number from the footer — MGA numbers follow a fixed format, and a number that does not is a red flag on its own.
Open the MGA's own licensee register at mga.org.mt, not a link from the operator's page.
Match the company name and check which game types the licence actually covers. A Type 2 licensee running slots is not licensed for them.
Confirm the domain you are on is listed, and that the status is active rather than suspended.
The licence runs ten years, so there is no annual renewal drama — but there is continuous supervision. Audited accounts, player-fund reconciliations, compliance reports and the system audit all come round on a schedule, and changes of ownership or key function holders need approval before they happen.
The MGA suspends and cancels licences, and it publishes when it does. The usual causes are AML failures, player funds not where they should be, marketing into blocked markets, and reporting that stops arriving. Enforcement here is public in a way it is not offshore, which cuts both ways: it is why the licence carries weight, and why a bad year is visible to everyone you do business with.
€5,000 to apply and €25,000 a year for the licence itself, plus a monthly compliance contribution that slides with revenue and has a floor. With a Maltese company, an office, six key function holders and certification, a realistic first year is around €100,000.
Seven to twelve months. The MGA's own reviews run three to six months of that; the rest is incorporation, hiring key function holders, the business plan and the documentation pack.
No. It licenses you to operate from Malta. Germany, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and other EU states run their own regimes, and you need each of their licences to sell there.
Type 1 is casino against the house, Type 2 fixed-odds betting, Type 3 poker and exchanges where you take commission, Type 4 controlled skill games. You apply for the ones you run, and each has its own compliance-contribution floor and ceiling.
From 1 October 2026 it is 15% on Type 1 and 10% on Types 2, 3 and 4, charged only on revenue from players located in Malta. For most operators that is a small share of the book.
Yes. A company and an office, and six key function holders certified by the MGA and based on the island. This is the single largest recurring cost of the regime.
Open the MGA licensee register directly, match the company name, check which game types are covered and confirm the domain is listed. The seal on a licensed site links back to the authority.
If you sell into Europe, raise money or plan to be acquired, yes — the recognition is the product. If you sell into Latin America, Asia or Africa, Curaçao does the same job for a similar first-year cost and a third of the effort.
The same recognition for half the first-year cost, and a duty that falls to 0.1% at scale.
≈€49,000 · 5–9 monthsSimilar money, a third of the effort, and no European access.
≈€97,000 · 6–8 monthsA 2025 regime with a public register, at a third of the price and a tenth of the paperwork.
≈€31,000 · 8–12 weeks