Day One: iGaming Germany 2026 Gathered the Community Behind Gaming Evolution

The 6th Annual iGaming Germany 2026 opened today at the NOVOTEL München Messe in Munich, bringing together operators, legal experts, compliance specialists, and technology leaders for a day centred entirely on the question the market cannot avoid: how do you grow responsibly in a regulatory environment that is still finding its shape?

Under the event theme Pioneering the Next Wave of iGaming, Chairperson Jan Feuerhake of Taylor Wessing opened proceedings and set a tone that held throughout the day: practical, frank, and forward-looking.

The morning moved quickly into substance. The opening panel, Navigating the Regulatory Landscape, examined what compliance looks like across both online and retail channels as Germany's framework continues to mature.

The session’s moderator, Margarita Cruz (Diamond28 Consulting Limited), commented:

“The German gaming market remains one of the most complex, yet still highly competitive, within
Europe. Continued dialogue with regulators is essential to ensure the framework evolves in a
more practical and sustainable direction, as some of the current requirements create
unnecessary operational challenges for the industry.”

The pre-lunch panel, The DACH Digital Divide: Regulatory Rigidity vs. The Innovation Mandate, was among the day's most animated discussions. Moderated by Claus Hambach of Hambach & Hambach Rechtsanwälte, it brought together Prof. Dr. Christian Piska (University of Vienna), Frank Schwarz (Sächsische Spielbanken GmbH & Co. KG), Johannes Brecher (Tipico), Dr. Lennart Brüggemann (HLB Schumacher Hallermann), and Simon Priglinger-Simader (OVWG) to debate whether the DACH region's regulatory architecture is built for the market it governs, or working against it.

Prof. Dr. Christian Piska later reflected:

“Regulatory strategies in the field of iGaming tend to be unconstitutional to a large extent; the
principle of proportionality is often overlooked.

In an online world, as we are experiencing it now, regulation overreach causes nothing but
de-industrialisation and forces operators, and especially innovative startups, to move away from
the European market.”

Devon Dalbock, Vice President of Government & Regulatory Affairs at Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), then made the case for independent test laboratories as a structural component of Germany's next Interstate Treaty, outlining how scalable, objective technical oversight can strengthen regulatory credibility rather than slow it down.

The afternoon opened with a keynote from Christian Heins, Director iGaming at Tipico, on how regulation, enforcement, and product strategy can work together to protect the regulated ecosystem from black market activity. An open conversation then zoomed out, putting Germany's regulatory journey in a broader European context by drawing on experiences from Central Europe, the Nordics, and the Baltics.

The day's closing keynote came from Dr. Damir Böhm, CEO of Tipwin, who addressed the operational realities of scaling an omnichannel model inside Germany's current regulatory environment, and why integrity and commercial ambition are not as incompatible as they might seem.

Networking drinks followed, with conversations continuing well past the formal close.

Daniela Lanzolla, CPO of OpenSlots, commented on her experience at iGaming Germany:

“I thought the level and the tone of the panels were was very elevated. Congratulations on curating the
speakers and these topics.”

Day One made clear that Germany's gaming market is not short of ambition. The harder question, which the industry is only beginning to answer collectively, is whether the regulatory infrastructure can keep up.

Catch more highlights and key moments from the event on the official website:https://www.eventus-international.com/igg