Monthly Archives: January 2018

Swedish media got a lot fatter off gambling ad revenue in 2017

Swedish media outlets got a whole lot fatter on unauthorized online gambling advertising cash last year, despite efforts by regulators to clamp down on the activity.

Sifo Advertising Measurements and Dagens Media recently released a new analysis of gambling advertising spending in Sweden, which showed overall spending of SEK 5.5b (US$684.5m) in 2017, up significantly from 2016’s SEK 3.8b and a new market record.

Kindred Group and its flagship Unibet brand led all operators with total ad spending of SEK 442m last year, 12% higher than the company spent in 2016. Online casino operator LeoVegas ranked second with SEK 313m, up a hefty 83% year-on-year.

Lennart Käll, CEO of state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel, struck his reliably irascible tone, saying the figures supported his long-held view that Sweden’s gambling environment was “the wild west right now.”

Kiron Interactive partners with at The Races

Multi-year distribution deal includes virtual racing and football

London – Virtual games specialist Kiron Interactive has struck a deal with UK racing broadcaster At The Races to supply its leading portfolio of virtual gaming content to licenced betting operators in the United Kingdom.

The multi-year commercial partnership will see ATR distribute Kiron’s virtual horse racing and greyhound racing products, as well as virtual football via Kiron’s association with VSoftCo, to its online bookmaker customers.

Kiron’s virtual games will be made available via At The Races’ wholly owned streaming platform, Sport Mediastream with data being disseminated through the Press Association’s feed. A generic service will be available, as well bespoke streams to operators on request.

iGB Affiliate announces networking schedule for LAC 2018

22nd January, 2018 (London) – iGB Affiliate, the leading information provider for the iGaming affiliate industry, has announced the networking schedule for next month’s London Affiliate Conference (LAC).

Delegates will be provided with an action-packed schedule giving them an opportunity to network with colleagues in the trendy east side of London.

Among the highlights are the official opening party at Trade Union, an official UPAYCARD networking party at Tropicana Beach Club and the unwind session at the Draft House.

iGaming Business’ head of operations, Shona ODonnell, commented “This is traditionally the busiest time of the year for our industry, but we can’t wait for the London Affiliate Conference to get underway next month.

Mississippi 2017 casino revenues slip to $2.08B

Casino revenues across Mississippi dropped by 2 percent in 2017, after 16 river casinos extended its losing streak last year.

The Clarion-Ledger reported that the statewide casino revenue dropped to $2.08 billion from $2.12 billion after seeing profit decline across its 16 river casinos.

Data from the State Revenue Department showed that revenues for the 16 river casinos dipped to $885 million, while casinos revenue in Tunica County and Lula were hit by increasing competition from two Arkansas racetrack casinos.

The only silver lining for Mississippi were the 12 coastal casinos, which eked a 1 percent revenue gain or $1.19 billion. This was the fourth consecutive gain for the coastal casinos.

500.com punts $1.5B on Hokkaido integrated resort

Chinese online sports lottery operator 500.com is wagering a total of $1.5 billion to bring an integrated resort to Hokkaido, Japan.

500.com is the latest gaming operator to express interest in Japan’s casino market as everyone awaits for the Japanese Parliament to pass the pending Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill (IR Bill).

Asia Gaming Brief reported that 500.com CEO Zhengming Pan and other investors were in Hokkaido to discuss the possibility of opening an integrated resort in Hokkaido’s Rusutsu village, as well as tour the nearby attractions in the area.

The company, which seeks to diversify is business amid the ongoing suspension of online lottery sales in China, has reportedly invested US$1.5 billion in a consortium it established with Japanese tourism company Kamori Kanko.

Tony Ure: Governments must have framework to protect players

In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Becky Liggero, Isle of Man eGaming chief Tony Ure shares what is it like working for the government after decades of serving in the private sector.

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Kiron Interactive partners with At The Races

Multi-year distribution deal includes virtual racing and football

London – Virtual games specialist Kiron Interactive has struck a deal with UK racing broadcaster At The Races to supply its leading portfolio of virtual gaming content to licenced betting operators in the United Kingdom.

The multi-year commercial partnership will see ATR distribute Kiron’s virtual horse racing and greyhound racing products, as well as virtual football via Kiron’s association with VSoftCo, to its online bookmaker customers.

Kiron’s virtual games will be made available via At The Races’ wholly owned streaming platform, Sport Mediastream with data being disseminated through the Press Association’s feed. A generic service will be available, as well bespoke streams to operators on request.

Zach Piester: There are many talented and motivated entrepreneurs in SE Asia that are doing amazing things

Zach Piester: We’re finding some great social enterprises coming through in Middle East and especially Africa

Zach Piester: Singapore has become a hub for ICOs

Zach Piester, a co-founder of Intrepid Ventures, works in the Central Asia and refers this part of the world to a center of the universe for him and his colleagues. During the interview with the media office of Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Philippines, he described the region in terms of the growth of blockchain companies there and revealed why investments in cryptocurrencies and blockchain would be a prerogative of major investors soon.

Interviewer: Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Philippines (BCP)

Betsoft brings hot new innovations and a sweet release for ICE 2018

Betsoft Gaming will be using the 2018 ICE Totally Gaming Trade Expo to reveal their most ground-breaking year to date. A quick trip to their stand will demonstrate just a taste of what Betsoft has in store for the upcoming year. Utilising their SHIFT platform to its full potential, Betsoft continues to deliver captivating 3D animations, while introducing some innovations that could redefine the online landscape.

During the show, Betsoft will be showcasing their most recent success – LEGEND OF THE NILE. This game is a great example of how form and function work hand in hand. Beautifully rendered scenery captures the serene essence of Egypt whilst revolutionary game mechanics keep players engaged. The newly introduced “trail system”, designed to take advantage of the SHIFT platform, allows players to collect certain Gods during play, and to earn special rewards for doing so. The dynamic Ra trail offers significant wins in a single turn, while the static Isis and Anubis trails allow players to collect symbols from spin to spin, meaning that players are rewarded the longer they play.

In a glimpse of what the future has to offer, Betsoft is unveiling the much-anticipated sequel to the fan-favorite Sugar Pop.  The follow up, dubbed SUGARPOP 2: DOUBLE DIPPED, will be packed with fun new features, Sugar Pop 2 will incorporate Free Spins and Wilds, with new events like a Candy Bomb, and special effect candies including a Jelly Bean Cannon and Sweet Hammer. It’s a fast-paced feast for the eyes and a rewarding slot from start to finish. Dan Cooper, Betsoft’s CTO, summarizes the careful planning and thorough consideration that go into every Betsoft title:

“Betsoft believes in a game’s flow: the way the mathematics function, the sounds and animations, the speed in which things happen and the order in which things happen. All of these various elements play a synergistic part in the creation of a game… the closer to perfection each element becomes, the better the resulting game performance can be.”

“Zombie Escape VR” to be revealed by Join Games at ICE 2018 on Stand N4-320

Join Games is proud to showcase their unique cutting-edge product “Zombie Escape VR” at ICE Totally Gaming event in London. At ICE 2017 the reveal of the World First Mobile VR iGame “Kleopatra VR” caused a show sensation with the Join Game’s stand delivering over 450 demonstrations across the three days. “Zombie Escape VR” is a fast-moving iGame with unprecedented multi-level, multi-character immersive play.

The game delivers non-stop action with an exciting storyline and realistic highly detailed environments with stunning visual effects and atmospheric soundtracks. It is like being inside a movie. The player has an opportunity to choose his survival partner and a weapon to kill all the zombies across interactive bonus levels that includes a short car-chase with everything being for real-money casino play.

Join Games VR has again raised the benchmark for player experiences by developing and delivering a unique 3D ‘Heads Up Display’. The HUD provides the player with Omni-directional constant game information including winnings, clock, time elapsed since start of play, warning system for enemies approaching out of line of sight (e.g. behind the player), etc.

“Zombie Escape VR takes Join Games’ initial groundbreaking VR iGame product design to an entirely new level of Virtual Reality gameplay. In addition to the best in class VR user experiences, a key objective for Join Games is delivering VR game products that add valuable revenue streams for our Operator clients.” said Martin McDonald, Chief Commercial Officer, Join Games. “This is the reason we chose the more difficult Mobile VR development route, because that is where the market is. We make high quality games that players will love and want to play and play, and for which they have no financial or technical barriers to entry. Every eligible player has a smartphone in their pocket and VR headsets are easily affordable from as little as £15 online with next day delivery. Zombie Escape sets the VR bar extremely high and we intend to keep pushing the limits of what is possible in our pursuit of the very best VR iGaming experiences.”

21Bet launch their World Cup Bank Builder promotion

It may be just over 20 weeks away to the biggest World Cup in history but punters can already start building a juicy betting bankroll in time for the big kick off in Russia on 14th June.

Rapidly expanding bookmaker, 21Bet, have launched a great new promotion offering the opportunity for customers to bolster their World Cup kitties with their latest promotion ‘World Cup Bank Builder’.

This is the first major promotion from any Sportsbook ahead of the World Cup can give smart punters a head start ahead of the 46 games.

Richard Hogg, CEO of 21Bet, explained the idea: “There’s an understandable buzz before any World Cup, and we wanted to add that extra bit of excitement for our customers by rewarding them with lots of free bets before the first game kicks off. We’ve made the process as simple as possible – bet £20 on a footie match and get £1 added to your free bet bank.  The bonuses will automatically accumulate so most of our clients will have a healthy World Cup Bank simply by placing their everyday football bets on our web, mobile or IOS sites.”

It’s better live! Join us for the 2nd Annual Live Gaming Summit @Casino Barcelona on 26 April, 2018

Since its modest and pioneering start ten years ago, live casino gaming has become a key income generator for the remote gaming industry. In 2014, almost a third of online casino GGR in EU regulated markets was already generated by live gaming, according to data provided by H2 Gambling Capital.

Live gaming GGR in regulated EU markets is estimated to increase to 50% by 2020.

Because of these market developments, the Live Gaming Summit is bringing together, for the second time, providers, operators, experts, and other stakeholders to discuss the latest developments in the live gaming industry.

An international event

“Driving the change from the top” and Great Women of Gaming Awards

This year’s Global Gaming Women (“GGW”) ICE session will take place on Wednesday 7 February 2018 at 2pm in South Gallery Rooms 13 & 14.  The event is being organised by Bahar Alaeddini of Harris Hagan, who sits on GGW’s Events Committee and Great Women of Gaming Committee, and is leading GGW’s initiative across Europe, and run in partnership with Clarion and its Diversity & Inclusion in Gaming seminar.

Sarah Harrison, CEO of the British Gambling Commission, will deliver GGW’s keynote speech on the benefits of diversity, driving the change from the top and the importance from the Commission’s perspective.  The keynote will be followed by a leadership panel with senior executives from the land-based and online gambling industry across Europe.  The panel will discuss the state of the industry, lack of women at senior management level, the benefits of gender diversity, commercial drivers, the impact on corporate governance, changing recruitment approaches, new initiatives and joining forces.

The panellists will include:

• Tracy Damestani, CEO of the National Casino Forum and Vice-Chair of the European Casino Association