LAS VEGAS, July 2017 — Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS) (“Scientific Games” or the “Company”) today announced the appointment of Shawn G. Williams as Chief Human Resources Officer (“CHRO”), reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer Kevin Sheehan and effective immediately. Williams’ appointment comes as Gary Melampy, the Company’s current CHRO, has announced his retirement.

In this role, Williams will be responsible for developing and executing Scientific Games’ global human resource (“HR”) strategy in support of the Company’s long-term business strategies. His specific focus areas will be talent management, change management, organizational and performance management, training and development, compensation, succession planning, and culture.

Scientific Games Chief Executive Officer Kevin Sheehan said, “Shawn brings over two decades of experience and proven success driving performance and results in global organizations in the technology sector, with a focus on HR, operations, corporate strategy and business transformation. Our shared passion for entrepreneurship and organizational development will serve us well as we continue to grow our business, hire and develop the best people, and drive a high-performance culture.”

Williams joins Scientific Games after serving in a number of high-level executive roles. Most recently, he served as co-founder of Defi LLC, a consulting firm for technology start-ups providing business strategy, operations, marketing, investment capital, and financial management expertise.

Trading to boost ACC’s profile, liquidity

GUIYANG CITY, Guizhou, China — Asset Collection Chain, an open source blockchain and decentralized-asset-digitization platform, is pleased to announce that its digital coin, ACC, has begun trading on the NERAEX cryptocurrency exchange.

Trading of the ACC coin on Fukuoka, Japan-based NERAEX follows ACChain’s successful sale of the equivalent of U.S. $50 million worth of digital currency in a crowdsale that concluded in early June.

“We’re excited about ACC trading on NERAEX and we’re hopeful of partnering with other exchanges in Asia and North America very soon,” said Ms. Wan Jia, ACChain’s founder. “This is a very positive development.”

Playson games to be distributed to operators through Pariplay’s FUSION content network

July 2017 – Pariplay Ltd., a gaming technology company serving iGaming operators, land-based casinos and iLotteries, has announced a strategic partnership with Playson, the leading Malta-based iGaming content provider. Under the new agreement, Playson’s entire portfolio of casino games will integrate with Pariplay’s FUSION content network.

Launched in Q1 2016, Pariplay’s FUSION content network provides iGaming operators with access to the real-money games of some of the industry’s leading software providers in a single one-time integration. This is in addition to the cutting-edge titles developed by Pariplay’s own development studio that include exclusive branded content from Atari, NBC Universal Studios, C3 Entertainment, and Valiant Comics.

Pariplay’s FUSION hub currently has over 15 integrated software providers, including Evolution Gaming, Microgaming, iSoftBet, NetEnt, Scientific Games, and Bally Wulff. Additional vendor integrations are planned for H2 of 2017.

LAS VEGAS, July 12, 2017 –AGS (“the Company”) announced today that it has promoted Andrew Burke to the position of Senior Vice President, Slot Products. In his new role, Burke will continue to lead AGS’ slot product management, including responsibility for product life-cycle management for the Company’s slot games portfolio in domestic and international markets.

“Under Andrew’s strategic guidance and product management, the ICON™ cabinet has become the most successful product in AGS’ history, marking our official entry into the Class III marketplace and amassing more than 2,500 placements across the globe. This is just one of many examples of Andrew’s contributions to AGS’ tremendous growth and renewed product focus over the past few years,” said Matt Reback, Executive Vice President of AGS. “Just as importantly, Andrew is a respected leader with a passion and personality that both defines and helps cultivate our unique corporate culture and operational style.”

Burke began working with AGS in 2008, and he was instrumental in the success of the Colossal Gaming and Cadillac Jack acquisitions, helping ensure a smooth integration of both companies into AGS. With his contributions, the momentum of the newly launched OrionSM premium cabinet has been the strongest in AGS’ history.

In his new role, Burke will continue reporting directly to Reback with a focused effort on strengthening AGS’ slot product strategy and operations to ensure output supports the rapidly growing demand in Class II and Class III markets. He continues to manage a skilled product management team responsible for developing and managing product road maps as well as positioning AGS slot products to support new and existing markets.

Leading game provider Betsoft Gaming have announced that they have signed a partnership deal with HBG On Line Gaming, one of the largest operators in Italy’s strongly regulated gaming market.

HBG On Line Gaming, will be serving Betsoft’s collection of AAMS-approved Slots3™ games, including perennial favourites ALKEMOR’S TOWER and SUGAR POP, to their large player base.

The operator opted for a direct integration into QuiGioco.it portal, the platform for HBG Online Gaming end-users, to be able to fully utilise Betsoft’s comprehensive back office which includes detailed Per Session KPIs and a collection of in-game promotional tools, DRIVE™.

“We are pleased to be offering our AAMS-approved games to HBG On Line Gaming’s players,” said Francesca Raniolo of Betsoft. “They have fifteen years of experience in the strict Italian market, which says a lot about the strength of their organisation. They have a great record of giving their players high levels of customer service and are committed to transparency at every level.”

NetEnt, the leading provider of digital gaming solutions, has enjoyed impressive interaction across its social media channels and website thanks to its reality TV-style campaign, The Challenge. 

The Employer Branding campaign, which was designed to cement NetEnt’s reputation as a top-tech employer in the highly competitive gaming industry, has helped NetEnt scale new heights in terms of awareness and recruitment.

The reality TV-style web episodes have been seen 1.4m times since May’s launch, with job applications up by 86% and traffic from social channels to netent.com up by 325%.

More than 900 employees at seven global locations took part in The Challenge, which saw four members of the NetEnt team, climb one of the European Alps’ tallest mountains with support from colleagues in-house.

Turnkey platform provider UltraPlay signed deal with Bet Arena Interactive, the digital arm of BetArena, a Romanian sportsbetting and casino operator part of Superbet Group, to provide its advanced sports betting solutions. Firmly established on the Romanian market with more than 200 betting shops, Bet Arena is expected to catch the attention of the online punters on the back of a comprehensive betting offer already available into its shops.

UltraPlay’s sportsbook software is specially tailored to iGaming professionals ready to step their own sportsbook on the next level. The easy and flexible system meets the ever-changing requirements of the market and becomes valuable asset for the highly competitive online operators.

“We are thrilled to welcome to UltraPlay’s family our new business partner Bet Arena Interactive”, commented Dariy Margaritov, CEO of UltraPlay. “With their strong positions and expertise on the Romanian gambling market and our mission to provide highest quality products and services, we believe in our successful partnership.”

“When launching new product, you have to choose the best possible options on the market in order to become players’ first choice for the recreational punter. We definitely recognize as best UltraPlay’s sports betting options”, said Tudor Iliescu, Bet Arena Interactive’s CEO. “We are also confident that Bet Arena will become very popular among players pretty soon.”

Peter Hannibal, Chief Executive of the Gambling Business Group

Strategic body, the Gambling Business Group (GBG), whose members account for the majority of Gross Gaming Yield in the UK, is complying with a Freedom Of Information request which has been forwarded by HM Treasury. The request relates to the GBG’s response to the 4th Anti Money Laundering Directive consultation which it submitted in September 2016.

The GBG was at the forefront of the debate which resulted in the Treasury opting to maintain the status quo and exclude all gambling sectors from the 4th AMLD that were not already included. Peter Hannibal, Chief Executive of the GBG said: “As we write our submissions in the expectation that they will be made public we have no issue with this. However, whilst we were delighted with the Treasury’s conclusion it is interesting to now learn that someone is looking into the background to their decision to maintain the status quo with regard to regulated gambling sectors.”

He added: “We were happy to be able to assist the industry and in 2015 issued an open invitation to the Treasury to visit venues run by GBG member companies, to meet with staff and to witness at first hand the relationship which exists with customers. I was delighted the  key people at the Treasury and DCMS were able to take me up on the invitation and spend time in a number of Cashino AGCs, at Wimbledon Stadium, The Hippodrome Casino as well as the Beacon Bingo Club in Cricklewood. Seeing the industry at first hand, talking direct with operators and learning more about the systems and processes that are in place to detect any changes in behaviour or suspicious activities, certainly contributed positively to the debate.”

UltraPlay has recently added the super popular Chinese dedicated game King of Glory to its rich eSports portfolio and becomes the first provider to offer real time live betting of Heroes of the Storm.

King of Glory, released for Android and iOS, quickly became a hit title around the Chinese fans and game’s followers. The game promptly reached over 100 million downloads after its launch at the end of 2015. With its fascinating characters inspired by Chinese culture and history, King of Glory is ranked at #1 of top 20 Android games in China rank list.

Following the trend, UltraPlay started offering a standard package of pre-match markets of the MOBA game – match winner, map winner, totals. The company is planning to add more markets in the near future. With the Asian trend of playing more and more on mobile devices, the company has chosen King of Glory as its new add-on.

Peter Ivanov, Head of eSports trading department at UltraPlay commented: “Even though the game is still new and its eSports scene needs further development, we expect it to become more popular and be ranked soon in top 5 games with highest turnover.”