Malta: The Rising Capital of Game Development

There is a conversation happening right now in game studios and boardrooms from Toronto to Tokyo, from Stockholm to Seoul. It is a conversation about where to base the next chapter of a company's growth. Where the talent pipeline is strong, the regulatory environment is clear, the tax framework is competitive, and the quality of life is the kind that keeps a creative team motivated, energised and present. For a growing number of the world's most serious game development companies, that conversation keeps arriving at the same answer: Malta.

I have spent twenty-three years working in and around the gaming industry, and I can say with confidence that what is happening in Malta right now is not a moment. It is a movement. The island has made a deliberate, sustained and well-resourced decision to become one of the world's premier destinations for game development, and it is working.

A Government That Actually Means It

One of the first questions any serious company asks when considering a new jurisdiction is whether the government's support is genuine or simply a brochure. In Malta, the answer is unambiguously genuine. Under the leadership of Minister for the Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects Silvio Schembri, Malta has made game development and esports a central pillar of its national economic strategy, anchored in the Malta Vision 2050 framework.

This is not lip service. Minister Schembri launched Malta's formal Vision for Video Games Development and Esports with a clear numerical commitment: to grow the industry's contribution from 0.1 percent of GDP to 1 percent within ten years, and to create up to 3,000 new high-quality jobs in the process. A government that sets targets like that and puts structures in place to meet them is a government you can build a business around.

The most visible expression of that commitment is GamingMalta, the government-backed foundation that has become one of the most proactive and effective gaming industry bodies in Europe. GamingMalta does not just wave a flag. It connects studios with investors, links companies to talent pipelines, runs accelerator programmes, facilitates introductions across the ecosystem, and works hand in hand with private sector partners to ensure that companies arriving in Malta land well and scale effectively. Under the leadership of CEO Ivan Filletti, GamingMalta has built a reputation as an organisation that actually picks up the phone and helps.

Malta is not trying to be a gaming jurisdiction. It already is one. The question is how quickly your studio wants to be part of that story.

The government has also introduced a suite of tangible incentives that go far beyond rhetoric. Malta Enterprise, the national development agency, operates grant schemes specifically targeted at game development companies, including support of up to 30 percent of qualifying development costs for studios working on games with cultural content, with cash grants available upfront. Investment tax credits on qualifying capital and wage expenditure can reduce a studio's effective corporate tax burden dramatically. The standard corporate tax rate of 35 percent is, through Malta's dividend refund mechanism, reducible to an effective rate of as low as 5 percent, one of the lowest in the European Union. For gaming professionals and qualifying employees, flat personal tax rate arrangements make Malta genuinely attractive for the kind of senior talent that studios need to attract and retain.

More recently, the government has introduced an Esports Athlete Visa, making it easier for international competitive gaming talent to base themselves in Malta. These are not generic business incentives dressed up in gaming language. They are sector-specific tools designed by people who understand what game development companies actually need.

Companies That Have Already Made Their Choice

The best evidence for any jurisdiction's proposition is the calibre and commitment of the companies that have already arrived. In Malta's case, that evidence is compelling.

4A Games, the studio behind the critically acclaimed Metro series, including Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, relocated its headquarters from Kyiv to Sliema, Malta in 2014, moving over fifty team members and their families to the island. The studio now employs over two hundred people and continues to produce internationally recognised AAA titles from its Maltese base. For a studio of that quality to choose Malta and to build there for over a decade speaks volumes about what the jurisdiction delivers in practice, not just in theory.

Playcon, Malta's flagship game development and esports expo, now in its fifth edition, attracted over 25,000 attendees, more than 60 exhibitors and generated over 24 million online impressions in its most recent iteration. International publishers including Ubisoft and Kwalee have been among the exhibitors, and the event has become a genuine meeting point for the global industry. Two new gaming studios announced their arrival in Malta at the 2025 edition: Feenix, a studio already collaborating with platforms including Roblox and Paddington Bear, with plans to employ 30 professionals locally; and a further studio bringing additional high-quality roles to the island.

In the esports space, Brazil's Esports Imperial, one of Latin America's most prominent competitive organisations, chose Malta for its main European headquarters. BLAST TV, one of the world's most ambitious esports broadcasters with a target audience of 3.2 billion, completed its Malta registration and committed a EUR 10 million investment over three years to operate and host events from the island. Unity, the engine that powers a significant proportion of the world's games, has maintained an active partnership with GamingMalta and the University of Malta, investing in education and training programmes that are producing a new generation of Maltese game development professionals.

ESL Gaming, one of the world's largest esports organisations, signed a multi-year partnership with GamingMalta that brought the ESL Pro League to the island. Gentoo Media committed EUR 1.2 million to upgraded facilities and plans to expand its Malta team from 70 to 130 staff. Clever announced EUR 6 million in new offices in Gzira and channelled a further EUR 1.5 million into a video gaming venture. Prism Studio, a Malta-based game development studio, has been building its international profile from the island and participated in Gamescom 2025.

In November 2025, eight companies announced new investment commitments in Malta's gaming and esports sector totalling EUR 60 million and 1,300 new jobs. That is not a trickle. That is a wave.

Why Malta Specifically

The companies choosing Malta are not doing so by accident or default. They are making an informed decision based on a combination of factors that are genuinely hard to replicate elsewhere.

The EU membership is fundamental. Malta has been a full member of the European Union since 2004 and is part of the Schengen Area. For a game development studio, this means operating with full access to the EU single market, the freedom to hire talent from across twenty-seven member states without work permit friction, and the credibility that comes with being based in a well-regulated European jurisdiction. For studios dealing with publishing partners, platform holders or investors in Europe, being an EU-based entity matters enormously.

The English language advantage is something that simply cannot be overstated. English is a co-official language of Malta and the language of business, law, government and daily professional life. A studio relocating from North America, the UK, Australia or any English-speaking market can set up, operate, hire and communicate without any language transition whatsoever. Documentation, contracts, regulatory filings, banking, employment law: all of it in English, all of it immediately accessible.

The talent pipeline has been a deliberate investment. The University of Malta offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Digital Games using the Unity engine, and that course is now ranked in the top 20 Digital Games courses worldwide. GamingMalta runs apprenticeship programmes and industry partnerships specifically designed to feed skilled, industry-ready talent into studios operating on the island. A studio that arrives in Malta is not starting from scratch on talent. It is joining an ecosystem that is actively growing the pool.

Safety is a dimension of Malta's proposition that does not always make it into the headline numbers but matters enormously to founders, studio heads, and the families of employees they are asking to relocate. Malta consistently ranks among the safest countries in the world. Crime rates are among the lowest in Europe. The political environment is stable and the rule of law is robust. For a creative team with families, for senior executives weighing up a relocation, and for founders thinking about where they want to build something for the long term, safety is not a minor consideration. It is often the one that closes the decision.

A studio is only as good as its team. And a team stays only where it feels safe, valued, and able to build a life. Malta delivers on all three.

The Mediterranean quality of life is a genuine retention tool. Over three hundred days of sunshine. A food culture that is exceptional. Short commutes. A strong international community with a well-established expatriate network across the gaming, iGaming and technology sectors. Private healthcare that is affordable and high quality. International schools. Easy access to the rest of Europe. These are not soft benefits. For any studio that has lost senior talent to quality-of-life reasons, as most have, they are strategic advantages.

The connectivity is excellent. Malta International Airport offers direct connections to most major European hubs, and the island's position at the centre of the Mediterranean means that reaching London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan or Barcelona is a matter of a few hours. For studios that need to maintain relationships with publishers, investors and platform holders across Europe, the connectivity works.

How CSB Group Makes It Happen

Knowing that Malta is the right choice is one thing. Getting there efficiently, compliantly and without losing months of runway to bureaucratic friction is another. This is precisely where CSB Group comes in, and precisely why the studios and founders I have worked with over the past twenty-three years come to us.

CSB Group is one of Malta's most established and comprehensive professional services firms, with deep expertise across corporate services, tax advisory, regulatory compliance, employment law, and the full range of requirements that a game development company encounters when establishing or expanding its Maltese operations. We are not a generalist firm that has added gaming to a list of sectors. Gaming is in our DNA. I have been working in and around this industry for over two decades, and the CSB Group team understands its rhythms, its pressures, and its specific needs in a way that makes a genuine difference.

Our one-stop-shop model is not a marketing phrase. It is the way we actually operate. From the first conversation about whether Malta is the right fit, through company incorporation, tax structuring, banking introductions, employment contracts, regulatory filings, IP ownership structures, grant applications and ongoing compliance, we handle it. A studio founder should be thinking about their game, their team, and their roadmap. Not about whether their corporate documents are in order or whether their tax position is optimised. We take that off the table.

We do not just set you up and wish you luck. We stay. We are the team you call when something needs to happen, when a question arises, or when you are ready for the next stage of growth.

One of the most consistent pain points we hear from studios considering Malta is the practical question of physical space, particularly for startups and early-stage teams who are not yet ready to commit to a long-term office lease. This is why our partnership with Regus Malta, through regus.com.mt, is such a valuable part of what we offer. Through this partnership, we can connect arriving studios with flexible, professional co-working and private office solutions in some of Malta's best business locations, from day-ready desks for a founding team of three to private offices for a growing studio of thirty. Startups can land, get to work immediately, and scale their space as their team grows, without the capital commitment of a dedicated fit-out or the inflexibility of a long commercial lease. The space question, which can be a genuine obstacle for an early-stage team, becomes a solved problem from day one.

We also assist with the personal side of the relocation equation. For founders and senior team members moving to Malta, whether from Europe, North America or further afield, questions about residency, tax status, property acquisition and family logistics are as important as the corporate setup. Through our broader advisory services and our partnership with Malta Sotheby's International Realty, we are able to guide individuals and families through every aspect of establishing themselves in Malta, not just their company. This joined-up approach is what genuine hand-holding looks like, and it is what our clients consistently tell us made the difference.

We work closely with GamingMalta and are well-connected across the government bodies, development agencies and regulatory authorities that a game development company will interact with in Malta. When a client needs an introduction, a conversation with the right person, or an accelerated path through a process, those relationships matter. We have spent years building them.

The Moment to Move Is Now

The game development industry moves fast. Jurisdictions that are building genuine ecosystems for it move fast too, and the window for being an early mover in a thriving ecosystem is not open indefinitely. Malta is at an inflection point. The foundations are in place, the companies are arriving, the talent pipeline is producing, and the government's commitment has been demonstrated not just in words but in EUR 60 million of announced investment and 1,300 jobs created in a single announcement cycle.

Studios that arrive in Malta now are not pioneers in an untested environment. They are joining a proven ecosystem with strong institutional support, a growing peer community, and a government that is actively invested in their success. The combination of EU access, English-language operations, competitive tax incentives, a growing talent base, safety, quality of life, and the operational support of a firm like CSB Group makes the decision, once you look at it clearly, a straightforward one.

If you are a studio founder, a COO evaluating your next base of operations, or an investor looking at where the next generation of game development companies will be built, I would welcome the opportunity to have that conversation with you. Malta has a story worth hearing, and CSB Group is the team that can make it a story worth being part of.

About the Author

Roger A. Strickland Jr. is a Director at CSB Group, with specific responsibility for Gaming and Corporate Services. He has spent twenty-three years working in and around the gaming industry, advising studios, founders and investors on everything from initial market entry to complex corporate structuring and growth strategy. He has seen the industry from multiple angles and across multiple jurisdictions, and brings that perspective directly to bear in his work with clients.

Based in Malta and deeply embedded in its business community, Roger understands the island not as an abstract jurisdiction but as a living ecosystem that he navigates daily. His approach to client work is built around relationships, not transactions. He takes the time to understand what a studio actually needs, what its pressures are, what its ambitions look like, and then works to make those ambitions achievable in Malta in the most efficient and effective way possible.

He is a known figure in the international gaming and investment migration conference circuit, representing CSB Group at events across Europe and Asia, and building the personal relationships that underpin the introductions and connections his clients benefit from. For a studio considering Malta, Roger is the first call, the ongoing relationship, and the person who ensures that when something needs to happen, it does.

Get in touch: www.csbgroup.com/contact-us/