Microgame strikes new bingo deal with Isis Lab
Isis Lab's bingo platform to be on offer to 125 Italian gaming sites following two-year contract
Italian software provider Microgame is to add Isis Lab’s bingo platform to its product portfolio of egaming products after signing a two-year deal with the Canada-based technology provider.
The contract will see Isis Lab launch its bingo gaming platform and related services on the Microgame platform, with up to 125 of the Italian firm’s existing operators expected to tap into the service.
According to Isis Lab, the platform will launch in the Italian market later this quarter, subject to approval from TSX Venture Exchange and Italian regulator AAMS.
“This agreement will create a large and immediate footprint for Isis in the Italian market and our partnership with Microgame confirms Isis as a strong technology provider in the gaming and social media arena,” Daniel Kajouie, chairman and CEO of ISIS, said.
Although regulated, bingo has struggled to take off in the country and the most recent figures released by AAMS reported bingo spend to have fallen 27.3% year-on-year for the three-month period between January and March 2013.
Detractors of the country’s tax rate “ an 11% turnover tax “ and licence fee have estimated standalone bingo operators require gross gaming revenue of at least 700,000 per month to break even in Italy, ruling many bingo operators out of the market.
Online bingo took an unconventional route towards regulation, having first been made legal in the country in December 2009. The vertical was then suspended in February 2010 after a Lazio administrative court ruled that the approval process had not been compliant with Italian law, a decision that was reversed just a month later.
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