Exclusive: Skybet launches HTML5 casino portal
Sky Vegas Mobile Casino goes live featuring content from the likes of OpenBet and Endemol Games.
Sky Betting & Gaming has launched its HTML5 mobile casino portal Sky Vegas Mobile Casino, eGaming Review can exclusively reveal.
The product has been developed in-house using OpenBet’s mobile backend solution and will feature content supplied by a number of software providers. These include OpenBet’s blackjack and roulette games; Endemol Games’ Deal or No Deal (pictured); Fremantlemedia’s X Factor: Steps to Stardom slot; and a slot game based on the adult comic Viz, developed by Blueprint Gaming. Another two games will be added to the portal before the end of the year.
Discussing the development of Sky Vegas Mobile Casino, head of platform and product Gary Wimbridge explained that it has been designed in order to automatically optimise for any device users are playing on: “We’ve utilised HTML5 so we can go cross-browser and cross-platform. It will launch initially on iOS platform, followed by Android in Q1 ’13. We’ve developed the portal in such a way that it uses responsive design to adapt to the device which you are using.
“We deliver images smartly by only giving you the images you need. For example, on a standard iPhone you’ll just get normal-sized images; if you’re using a retina display screen we’ll give you higher-res images for that device. With that it also gives us the flexibility to wrap this up in a native hybrid app that will work on all devices,” he said.
Wimbridge said Skybet had decided to create an HTML5 offering rather than native Android or iOS variants.
Because of the restrictions placed on the app marketplaces we decided to go down the HTML5 route as we felt it would be a quicker route to market.” he added.
The release will be supported by the launch of a new welcome bonus and by cross-selling to mobile sportsbook customers. The scheme gives players a free £10 bonus on signing up with the choice of an additional free £5 each week for four weeks, or the option of a 200% matched deposit bonus up to £1,000.
“We see the Mobile Portal initially growling incrementally from our current offering with further growth in the new year once the new devices have bedded in. We hope our Vegas mobile portal will see the same growth patterns as our mobile sportsbook” Wimbridge concluded.
The launch comes at the end of a stellar year for Skybet in which the company has seen revenues rise 43% to £113m for the year ending 30 June 2012 and has begun to extend its geographic reach by applying for an Italian licence for all products.
This continuing growth has seen the business break into the top 10 of the eGR Power 50 rankings for the first time in the list’s history, and take home the operator of the year trophy at this year’s eGR Operator Awards.