Eurobet first to offer IGT online slots in Italy
Gala Coral's Italian-regulated arm becomes first operator to go live with IGT online slots through GameAccount platform and under Luxor casino tab.
Eurobet, Gala Coral’s Italian-regulated arm, has become the first operator to go live with IGT online slots in five year-old regulated market.
The first seven games approved by Italian regulator AAMS, or the Customs Authority since the merger between the two bodies, including titles such as Star Trek, Treasures of Troy, Garden Party and Pixies of the Forest, and two roulette games, were released on the Eurobet.it website on 11 January. The games are integrated on the Italian site through the GameAccount platform and offered under the Luxor casino tab. A number of other IGT games will go live in the near future as soon as they complete the Italian certification and approval process, a Eurobet spokesman told eGaming Review.
Online slots became a regulated product offering in Italy on licensed gaming sites on 3 December last year however Eurobet was arguably the first to offer slots there towards the end of September 2012 due to a loophole in the law allowing tumbling games via partner GameAccount.
Calling last year’s Eurobet deal “a huge milestone as we bring our first non-reels-based casino slot games to Italy”, GameAccount chief executive Dermot Smurfit and his company initially launched the Crown Jewels slot on an instant play, non-download basis only. It is part of a full suite of casino games along with blackjack and roulette on the operator’s website and became the first land-based slot to be translated into an online version in the dot.it market.
Barcrest, a subsidiary of SG Gaming, also signed a similar agreement with GameAccount Network in September.
Marco Trucco, head of gaming at Eurobet, said he was “proud” to be the first website to bring IGT slots to Italian customers. “With a portfolio of 36 slots, Eurobet offers the best and more comprehensive roster of titles available in Italy. Soon we’ll also launch the first batch of in-house developed slot machines, which completes a line-up of 12 games, including a roulette for Apple and Android, created by our own team and exclusive to Eurobet”.
In mid-December 2012 in its financial results for the year ended 29 September Gala Coral reported that it had seen significant growth from its dot.com and dot.it online offerings. Interactive gross profit was up 11.7% year-on-year to £76.1m, growing at a greater rate than that seen by the business’ larger land-based element, while gross profit from Italian activities rose 23.3% year-on-year to £23.3m.
The fourth quarter showed particularly strong growth, with the relaunched galacasino.com and galabingo.com websites helping contribute to gross profits rising 32% compared to the corresponding period in 2011.