The gaming industry gather on Åland

The gaming industry came to Mariehamn for Spelakademin (The Gambling Academy) on Wednesday 11 September. Spelakademin is Sweden’s most established industry forum that was first held in 1992. This year’s Spelakademin was organised by the gaming industry’s national organisation Sper (The Swedish Gambling Association) in collaboration with Paf on Åland and about 100 attendees gathered in Mariehamn.

The Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen)

Camilla Rosenberg, Director General of the Swedish Gambling Association, presented the latest news from their perspective. In her presentation she revealed, among other things, that over 40,000 people now have used Spelpaus – the authority’s national self-exclusion system – to shut themselves away from games and direct game advertising. This was a significant number that most of the delegates praised as a positive effect of the new legislation. In the following panel discussion all the participants agreed that gaming advertising in Sweden is now greatly reduced and that in general gaming responsibility is emphasised much more strongly than in the past.

Sustainability in the gaming industry

Speaker Erik Elvingsson Hedén, CEO of SB Insight, compared the gaming industry’s position in a sustainability index with several other key industries.

“The gaming industry has such a bad reputation in Sweden right now, that there is really nowhere to go downwards anymore. So as an industry you are now in a position to try anything you like to attempt to improve your standing,” said Erik Elvingsson Hedén.

In the panel debate that followed Paf’s Deputy CEO Daniela Johansson offered a proposal for how the industry could improve its reputation in Sweden.

“A general loss limit that applies to all gaming companies – like the one we have at Paf – would surely reignite a feeling of confidence about the gaming industry,” said Daniela Johansson.

See more pictures from Spelakademin (The Gambling Academy) here.