French Gaming Regulator Hopes to Expand Online Gaming to Other Countries
June 18th, 2013 by Site Admin
Online poker has been legal in France since 2010. However, gaming providers have almost exclusively focused on reaching the French gaming market. Jean-Francois Vilotte, the head of the French gaming regulator ARJEL, said that should change in the future.
Vilotte said that the government has passed strict regulations to fight illegal gambling. He feels those regulations have accomplished that goal. However, he also stated that the xenophobic attitude towards online gaming has not benefited gaming providers or players and has reduced tax revenues. He believes that the government can come up with a new approach that would benefit everyone.
Vilotte pointed out that the market for online gaming has taken a hit in recent years. The market for online poker has decreased 13% over the past year. The recession of online gambling has been discouraging to gaming providers, but the regulator is optimistic that they will be able to reverse it.
Vilotte said that the online gaming market was much more profitable when the industry was still new. He believes that the industry could recover if they were able to add some more original services to draw more players to the table. The online gaming market has also been hit by the global economic crisis and frustrations among players in other countries. Some of these problems are outside the government’s control, but they can still take the necessary steps to fix some of the problems they are facing.
ARJEL also recently stated that the government may need to change the tax code to help increase revenues from online gaming providers. They are still working out the details and plan to release them in the coming months.
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