Tag: Industry News

According to an annual report on gaming compiled by industry association Cejuego with the University Carlos III of Madrid, gambling revenue in Spain has dropped by 50% year-on-year.

The report shows gross revenue for all products and channels was €4.35bn for the period up until the end of October, down 50% compared to the same ten months in 2019.

Of the revenue reported so far this year, private companies generated €2.45bn while the state-owned Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE) and Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE) generated €1.9bn.

“Despite the fact the drop in income from gaming companies is higher than that recorded in other sectors such as fashion, automobiles or in-store sales in department stores, we have managed to reduce ERTES [temporary layoffs or reductions in hours] to 15 per cent of the workforce, so that 85 per cent of employees in the sector are working at the moment,” Alejandro Landaluce, CEO of Cejuegos, said.

Scientific Games Corporation has integrated BlueRibbon’s customisable jackpot solution into its OpenGaming platform.

This new partnership strengthens Scientific Games’ OpenGaming, providing partners across regulated markets with the ability to create bespoke jackpots within games via BlueRibbon’s software.

Kaizen Gaming brand Stoiximan has become the first OpenGaming customer of Scientific Games to utilise the marketing tool following this new agreement, with the software to be rolled out with all the Company’s customers in the coming months.

“The unprecedented global reach that Scientific Games possesses with its OGS platform ensures that this new partnership is hugely significant to us. Integrating our software will open the door to many new opportunities. We’re excited to bring our highly effective solution to even more operators across the globe,” Amir Askarov, Co-Founder & CEO of BlueRibbon, said.

“Providing an innovative and wide product range has been our priority, and we wanted to include the customizable jackpot software that BlueRibbon provides into our offering. Following a seamless integration through Scientific Games’ OpenGaming, we’ve been in a position to produce a campaign that matches our needs and brand identity. The initial results demonstrate that we are heading to the right direction, with players appreciating the way in which we’ve delivered an improved user experience,” Dimokratis Papadimos, RNG Casino Manager at Kaizen Gaming, said.

“We’re excited to bring BlueRibbon’s innovative marketing and jackpot products to the OGS. Players are constantly looking for something new from their gaming sessions, and by bringing together our gamification technology with BlueRibbon’s software, it’s the perfect match to deliver an exciting new experience. Our philosophy is all about bringing cutting-edge innovation to our leading global network, and this new partnership delivers on that promise,” Dylan Slaney, SVP Gaming, Digital at Scientific Games, said.

Kindred Group has agreed a community initiative with Middlesbrough FC to promote responsible gambling message to the club’s foundation and supporters.

Kindred Group is committed to promoting responsible gambling messaging via the front of shirt logo and any LED and digital advertising or marketing and their commitment to the community is expanding with this initiative.

Kindred Group has already donated their naming rights for the club’s third kit to MFC Foundation and that relationship will be further strengthened with the players wearing Foundation warm-up t-shirts for a further three games this season.

A percentage of advertising rights are being donated to the Foundation and there is an increased commitment to supporting community-based initiatives.

Kindred has also pledged to donate a percentage of their hospitality and merchandising rights to the club’s fans and this will be available via competitions and giveaways.

Boro head of commercial Lee Fryett said: “We’re delighted in agreeing this MOU. This will offer increased opportunities for both our Foundation and our fans and is also a commitment to responsible gambling messaging. The three key pillars of the MOU and are community, supporters, and marketing and Kindred Group have made a real commitment to show their support for this.”

Neil Banbury, General Manager of Kindred Group UK, said: “We are proud of this ground-breaking agreement reached with Middlesbrough Football Club. It is another example of our deep commitment to developing a new model for football club sponsorship.

“The agreement acts as a baseline for our collective work in ensuring our sponsorship benefits both the club and its communities. Kindred Group is leading the industry on this approach – and we are excited to see the partnership continue to develop in the coming months.”

Helena Bowman, Head of MFC Foundation, said: “We are delighted with the ongoing commitment from Kindred to our local community. At MFC Foundation we aim to make a difference by using the power of the football club badge to raise aspirations and positively change lives.

“Kindred’s dedication to supporting our community initiatives will help enhance the work of the Foundation and allow us to reach even more people through our programmes.”

Rank Group has announced the successful migration of its Bella Casino brand onto its proprietary technology platform.

The proprietary platform, gained through the acquisition of Stride Gaming in 2019, offers improved product development capabilities and the ability to respond more swiftly to market and regulatory change, and will also host Rank’s other gaming brands in the future.

“We’re delighted to have achieved what we set out to do last year, on time and on budget, and we are very proud to have successfully delivered the migration of the Bella Casino brand in line with our acquisition plan,” Ian Smith, chief technology officer of Rank Interactive, said.

“Our customers will now benefit from a constantly changing and exciting proposition that is underwritten by a thorough safer gambling experience and lends itself to enhanced customer experience and personalisation,” Ian Smith added.

Gaming content provider SYNOT Games has integrated its full suite of slot titles with online gambling operator LeoVegas.

Players on LeoVegas brands will now be able to access the complete slot suite of SYNOT Games, which includes its recent releases Rock´N´Roll Rooster and Jack & The Mystery Monsters.

“We are ecstatic to have partnered with LeoVegas, a company with almost a decade of industry experience and an acclaimed product suite enjoyed by players all over the world. We have no doubt that our games will be well received across all their extensive network” Priscilla Gatt, Head of Business Development at SYNOT Games.

“SYNOT Games prides itself on providing high caliber slots, so we are thrilled to have signed with a provider that is everyday gaining more and more reputation with the creation of their top-tier casino games. Introducing SYNOT Games’ fresh portfolio will be a very exciting prospect. We are confident that this partnership will thrive over time,” Johan Ekberg, Casino Operations Manager at LeoVegas.

GVC Holdings has appointed online gambling addiction specialist Dr. Mark Griffiths as a special adviser on player protection and safer gambling issues.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Distinguished Professor of Behavioural Addiction and Psychology at Nottingham Trent University, will audit GVC’s policies and processes on responsible gaming and suggest improvements. He was a part of the World Health Organisation working party that formally recognised “gaming disorder” as a psychological condition last year.

Last week, GVC’s CEO Shay Segev set out his direction for the Group, focusing on two strategic pillars of sustainability and growth, underpinned by the Group’s industry-leading proprietary technology. This included a commitment, under the new Sustainability Charter, to continue to lead the industry on responsible gambling.

A core part of this is the launch of the Advanced Responsibility & Care (ARC) programme. The ARC programme encompasses scientific analysis of player behaviour to inform the enhancement of player protections. GVC’s data scientists then derive predictive models and analytics to score players for potential indicators of protection. Each player has a dynamic risk rating aligned to their play patterns and other criteria to enable real-time monitoring and analysis tools to enable early interventions to improve player protection.

Professor Griffiths’ work will be instrumental in delivering ARC. He will work with the business to apply findings from the behaviours of over 160 million players on GVC’s global database to help develop stronger rules, measures and interventions. He will also draw on GVC’s existing multi-million-dollar partnership with Harvard Medical School, now two years into a five-year study into addiction.

Mikel Arana, Director-General of Spain’s DGOJ, has confirmed that the regulatory agency has requested the government to introduce changes to the “Gaming Law” in order to reclassify “loot boxes as games of chance.”

The DGOJ’s leader urged Congress to support the initiative, stating that the government will launch a public consultation before the end of the year, aiming for new regulations to come into force by the second half of 2021.

Furthermore, Arana supported the directive to Spain’s joint commission on the “Study of Addiction Behaviours,” whilst further advising the “Responsible Gaming Advisory Council” to support its review, to amend the current Law and establish loot boxes as gambling components.

The DGOJ is reported to seek guarantees that loot box laws and gaming protections will be included in the next phase of federal gambling reforms sanctioned by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

The Government will draft the final text of the Law during the consultation period, which aims to be published by mid-2021, focusing amendments on aligning responsible gambling standards and consumer safeguards across Spain’s seventeen autonomous communities.

Consumer laws and safeties related to loot boxes have become a prominent topic amongst EU member states, due to the lack of transparent regulation governing in-game mechanics.

Gambling technology company Playtech has integrated Affordability UK into its IMS platform as its latest move to support operators in meeting regulatory requirements. Affordability UK can accurately and reliably identify customers whose gambling spend may be unsustainable.

Affordability UK is provided by eKYC and fraud detection specialists TruNarrative, extending the company’s partnership with Playtech to deliver a leading range of player onboarding and verification services.

“As regulatory requirements around the sustainability and affordability of gambling become ever-more stringent, we want to ensure we can empower operators to meet these requirements and protect their players. TruNarrative’s specialist safer gambling services have quickly made them a core partner for Playtech – and now, with Affordability UK, we can offer a sophisticated, market-leading solution, backed by some of the most comprehensive data available. Backed by IMS integration, it can deliver a seamless experience for operators,” Ian Ince, Chief Compliance Officer of Playtech, said.

“Since partnering with Playtech earlier this year, we’ve been able to bring a vast array of specialist services to their customers, and we’re delighted to be adding Affordability UK to that list. Affordability UK offers unique insight into a player’s ability to afford their bets, as well minimising the requirement for physical payslips and document submissions, creating a low-friction experience. We’re confident it will become a vital part of any operator’s toolset in their drive to meet and exceed UKGC expectations around safer gambling,” John Lord, CEO of TruNarrative, said.