Launches and sign-ups 02 May 2012
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (26 April to 02 May 2012).
Exclusive: Playtech to license social platforms to sportsbook, admits CEO
Mor Weizer says provider in discussions with “leading UK sportsbooks” to supply social gaming platform “ confirms acquisition of CTXM, Slots Farm and Viaden Gaming stake.
Playtech is in discussions to license its under-development social platform to leading UK sportsbook operators, chief executive Mor Weizer (pictured) has admitted to eGR after confirming it has purchased a 20% stake in Viaden Gaming and acquired games developer CTXM, developers of popular Facebook casino Slots Farm.
The Viaden, CTXM and Slots Farm acquisitions are the first stage in Playtech’s development of a B2B social gaming platform, Weizer admitted, which will feature free-play versions of the company’s core casino products. “The platform will allow us to upload content to Facebook as a fully integrated social gaming platform. We will also leverage what products we have internally to create a fully developed offering,” Weizer said.
He went on to reveal that the company is in discussions with a number of “leading UK sportsbook operators” interested in partnering with Playtech to create social games offerings “due to the quality of the product on offer”. However, Weizer declined to name the interested parties.
The social acquisitions, despite no details of when they will be put to a shareholder vote, were agreed ahead of the Playtech’s planned move from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to the full list later this year in order to “avoid a conflict of interest and market uncertainty,” Weizer told eGR, as the companies were formerly owned by the supplier’s founder and majority (48%) shareholder Teddy Sagi. “We wanted to ensure the deals gave us full access to the play-for-fun social gaming products,” he explained. Sagi will still retain an 80% stake in Viaden.
Exclusive: Slingo to launch real-money games in UK
Social gaming developer Slingo is to launch its first real-money online games in the UK this summer, the company’s chief executive has told eGaming Review.
Rich Roberts, speaking to eGR at the GiGse conference in San Francisco yesterday, said that the company is currently in talks with European partners including GTECH and Playtech to offer its popular slot games on consumer-facing platforms.
“Our slot games are popular in US casinos already,” said Roberts whose business has been developing games since 1985, adding that any partnerships will be non-exclusive. “We will choose the best games to translate into online games, which will be for real money wagering in the UK by July or August and for fun play in the US. Our games will have social components which do not detract from the gameplay, and we want to offer the games on mobile devices in the future too.”
Legal threat closes Purple Lounge
Media Corp has “temporarily suspended” online casino site Purple Lounge amid a potentially financially ruinous legal claim and in an attempt to stem losses from the ailing brand.
The online media business has blamed “negative press” and a five year-old legal claim for the Microgaming-powered site’s downturn in fortunes, adding that its shortfall is likely to lead to an overall loss for the company. It has yet to announce plans to repay player balances.
The negative publicity garnered by Purple Lounge has been blamed on a legal case brought against Search Focus Limited “ a subsidiary of Media Corp “ by CD Casino.com in February this year. The finite details of the case remain unclear, however CD Casino submitted a claim on February 15 this year for “in excess of £300,000″ relating to “an agreement dating back to February 2007″, according to Stockmarketwire.com. The only known director of CD Casino is named as a Michael Caselli, publisher and editor-in-chief of industry magazine iGaming Business. eGR has attempted to contact Caselli, however he is currently travelling.
William Hill Online launches VIP live dealer room
Live dealer technology provider Evolution Gaming has extended William Hill Online’s live casino offering with the launch of a dedicated VIP area.
Hosted at Evolution’s purpose-designed production studios in Riga, Latvia, the dedicated environment is designed and branded to William Hill Online specifications and seeks to replicate the look-and-feel of a VIP-focused land-based casino. William Hill was the first of Evolution’s clients to design and install a dedicated area for its live online dealer customers.
Customer service is also tailored to the needs of a VIP audience staffed by a team that includes native speaking English dealers English, Spanish and Cantonese VIP hosts all wearing William Hill corporate uniforms and supported by real-time customer relationship management tools.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
PokerStars expands mobile offering
PokerStars has launched a real-money poker mobile app in France, as well as a number of other countries catered to by its dot.eu site.
According to operator’s dot.fr site, the French-facing product has launched on both Apple and Android devices. Players are able to play up to five tables on iPads and up to four on other devices.
GameAccount takes Paddys deal into Italy
Skill games software provider GameAccount Network has extended its commercial partnership with Paddy Power to cover the regulated Italian market.
The multi-year extension of the deal – originally signed in 2004 – follows the extension of another Italian-facing partnership with Snai in March of this year.
WMS to work with Partouche in Belgium
US-based gaming machines supplier WMS Gaming has announced that its European subsidiary Jackpot Party will be responsible for Groupe Partouche’s Belgian-facing online casino offering.
A WMS-hosted casino site will be made available to Partouche’s players in Belgium, where the operator is one of just four to hold a top-level ‘A+’ licence.
Perform Group begins Facebook integration
Live streaming provider Perform Group has announced plans to launch 50 dedicated live sports streaming channels on Facebook.
The channels cover sports including tennis and rugby union, while one-off box office events will also be included for selected sports such as boxing.
Stars streamlines EPT schedule
The upcoming ninth season of the PokerStars-sponsored European Poker Tour (EPT) will only feature eight stops, five down on the number included in the current schedule.
Beginning with EPT Barcelona on 15 August this year, the eight events will all feature main event buy-ins of â¬5,000 or more.
WagerLogic signs Maxymiser deal
CryptoLogic subsidiary WagerLogic has signed a deal with CRM specialist Maxymiser to help increase registration and deposits for its Intercasino and VIP casino online brands.
Maxymiser, whose gaming clients include Betfair, bwin.party and Paddy Power alongside Hertz, Teleflora and Time Warner Cable, will provide a strategic testing programme to help optimise customer experience.
Microgaming has announced the release of six new Flash games, including Untamed – Bengal Tiger, a 5-reel video slot, which includes the Collect-A-Wild, Lucky Nudge and Your Gamble bonus features. It has been launched alongside Magic Boxes, Fat Lady Sings, Spin Magic, Around the World and Lost Princess Anastasia.
FlyCow Games has announced that its Facebook casino application CasinoZone has surpassed 200,000 player installations. CasinoZone, which has around 80,000 monthly active users according to AppData offers over 130 proprietary casino games on the platform. FlyCow president Christopher Kape commented: “At the present moment we are very pleased with our growth figures as the company is doubling both its player base and revenue monthly.
“We are well positioned to take advantage of this developing market and to increase our penetration rates substantially,” he said.