Curaçao Court Upholds German Ruling Against NGame N.V.

The Joint Court of Justice of Curaçao has rejected an appeal from iGaming operator NGame N.V. and upheld a German court ruling ordering the operator to return €94,999.83 to a player. NGame N.V. operates under a sublicense from a Curaçao license holder and had sought to have the German decision declared unenforceable on the island, citing local rules that prohibit reclaiming voluntarily lost gambling funds.

The dispute originated when a German court ruled in favor of the player against NGame N.V., which had operated in Germany without a local license. The Baden-Baden Regional Court declared the operator's contracts with the player void in October 2023, and the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court rejected the operator's appeal in April 2024. Following that decision, NGame N.V. petitioned the Curaçao court to block recognition of the German ruling within the jurisdiction. The Curaçao court stated it evaluated the German decision against contemporary principles of local legal order and did not assess whether the German court had correctly resolved the underlying dispute.

The ruling reinforces the enforceability of European court decisions against Curaçao-licensed operators, even when local regulations diverge from the legal standards applied abroad, and may carry implications for other pending disputes involving operators sublicensed through the jurisdiction.