Launches and sign-ups 06 June 2012
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (31 May to 06 June 2012).
Bwin.party reveals social gaming strategy
Formation of social gaming division Win Interactive announced “ Operator to invest up to 40m in social over next two years.
Bwin.party has announced details of its social gaming strategy, setting up Win Interactive, a dedicated, Gibraltar- and Ukraine-based development studio as part of an investment of up to 40m in the vertical over the next two years, with the first apps developed by the new subsidiary to go live this summer.
The news comes ahead of an analyst presentation discussing the company’s social plans, to be held in London this morning at 11am. This follows eGaming Review exclusively revealing yesterday that bwin.party would acquire Ukraine development studio Orneon Limited as part of its entry into the social space.
The operator today confirmed the deal, and revealed that it would acquire a number of assets from Velasco Services Incorporated – a holding company – for a fee of up to 18m in cash, of which 14m has already been paid. These assets, from both companies, include a number of existing B2B social gaming contracts and software engineering resources.
While there has not been official confirmation of whom these contracts are with, eGR understands that Orneon was involved in the development of Mytopia’s Bingo Island as a ‘hidden object developer’, meaning that it worked on elements of the game’s design without owning the IP of its work.
Exclusive: Codere injunction to delay Sportingbet dot.es launch
Sportingbet’s Miapuesta brand could miss out on as much as two weeks of revenues from the Spanish market as the effects of March’s injunction imposed by Madrid’s Commercial Court lingers on.
While the operator does not expect to have any issues in having the injunction eventually overturned, it still needs to secure a court date upon which the judge responsible for imposing the shutdown can lift it.
Consequently Miapuesta could miss out on as much as two weeks of revenues following the issue of licences on Friday, including the first week of games at the Euro 2012 football championships.
Purple Lounge to enter liquidation
Beleaguered poker and casino business Purple Lounge is to be placed into liquidation by Media Corporation, its parent company revealed today in a trading update.
All staff within the division have been made redundant with a statement from MediaCorp explaining: “It has become clear during the review that the financial and trading position of the Purple Lounge division is no longer tenable due to historic operational and financial failings within the business.
“The board announces that it…will be instructing lawyers to file the relevant documentation to put the relevant companies into liquidation. The Board will specifically request that the appointed liquidators look into the financial arrangements within the Purple Lounge group of companies and to review the position as to player funds,” the statement continues.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups
Bwin.party acquires Orneon as part of social gaming push
bwin.party is to acquire social games developer Orneon in a deal thought to be worth US$15m, eGaming Review can exclusively reveal.
Based in Vinnystia in the Ukraine Orneon acts as an outsource developer for other social operators without owning the intellectual property to any of the games. It was reportedly involved in the development of 888’s recently resurrected social gaming subsidiary Mytopia’s core Bingo Island brand, and is understood to have worked on mobile versions of Playtika’s Solotomania product.
Rank partners with Cozy for mobile
Cozy Games has agreed a deal to supply Rank Interactive with its Cozy Connect mobile platform, with seventeen games set to go live as part of the launch package.
Cozy Connect allows operators to integrate third-party gaming content onto the platform alongside Cozy’s own products, sharing liquidity between online and mobile devices. The company also provides an integrated payments solution, meaning players can make deposits via their phone provider account.
Netplay ad banned for linking social success to gambling
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a TV advertisement for Netplay TV’s Supercasino.com brand, describing the ad having “linked gambling with recognition, admiration and enhanced attractiveness,” and being in breach of the Advertising Standards Code.
The ad showed an individual walking down a street with a group of friends, glancing at a female acquaintance, then entering an exclusive club and exchanging looks with a number of other women as he sat at a roulette table.