NetEnt has shut its Maltese live casino studio, resulting in “hundreds” of job losses, following its acquisition by Evolution.

According to local media, yesterday morning employees were sent home and told to wait for an email from their employer. Though NetEnt has not officially revealed how many jobs will be lost, the Times of Malta has quoted an unnamed source as saying “a few hundred” employees will be made redundant in the island country. 

Evolution has confirmed that the Qormi studio has been shut, and the formal redundancy process has been initiated for workers. 

Though Evolutions’s acquisition of NetEnt, which valued the company at over €2 billion, had been expected to result in some job losses, the number of redundancies has shocked many. Indeed, just a few months ago, NetEnt had announced plans to extend its Qormi live casino studio to meet increasing demand. 

Given the scale of the expected job losses relative to the tiny country, the government has set up a special helpline for affected staff. The Maltese Economy Ministry is also said to be in talks with relevant entities to help employees transition. Affected NetEnt staff are being urged to register with JobsPlus and call the helpline on 22201251.

The Gaming Malta Foundation is also now talking with other Malta-based operators to help workers find other job opportunities. 

AYO.NEWS says:

What can we say? Given the fact that Evolution already has such an extensive live casino infrastructure including its own studios in Malta, Latvia, Georgia, Romania, Canada, the United States, Belgium, and Spain, and NetEnt’s value really lies in its industry-leading slot games, its Maltese live operation was always likely to be culled. 

Of course, for workers losing their jobs at the height of an unprecedented COVID-driven employment crisis, and just weeks before Christmas, this will be a very uncomfortable time, so we hope other operators will be able to offer opportunities where they can. 

And, as for NetEnt itself… well, axing jobs immediately before Christmas is nothing new. In December 2018, the company axed 55 jobs just days prior to the holiday. 

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