Month: July 2022

Mesenschi talks to iGB about crypto gambling and how it is going to develop in the future. With crypto being a hot topic at this year’s iGB, Mesenschi highlights the need for affiliates to maintain the top audiences in the gambling space in order to compete.

iGB’s Zak Thomas-Akoo talks to Smart about frictionless payments in the gambling industry. With Emerchantpay having a strong focus on expansion, Smart talks to iGB about the Latam market and how e-wallets are targeting emerging markets.

Deshmukh talks to iGB about the new rules on slots in regulated markets, and how stake limits and high taxes are likely going to change gameplay for players. With jurisdictions increasing regulations on the games, will this lead to a rise in more interesting products or will it simply force slots into the black market?

Melanie Ellis, partner at Northridge Law, talks to iGB about how the Gambling Act review may impact the industry. Ellis discusses topics such as gambling safety and safeguarding, and the clarity – or lack thereof – in the review on these topics.

Rusimova speaks to iGB about the new markets Amusnet is targeting and how iGB Live! has helped prepare the business for the coming year. Post-covid, in-person events have bounced back. “The industry is clearly very willing to go back to their old selves, and everyone is very much enjoying the show,” she said.

The business announced the proposed name change in a statement to investors, in which it said that it hoped the new name could bring “a new atmosphere to the company’s corporate image and identity.”

In its reasons for the new name, the business said it was principally involved with four resort operations. Junkets in Macau had previously been its main business channel, but a combination of scandals directly related to the business, the market situation in Macau and general crackdowns on the junket sector had led to de-emphasis of this area.

Unmentioned was the March posting of a HK$646.2m (£62.8m/€74.0m/US$82.6m) 2021 pre-tax net loss for the company, or the arrest of Alvin Chau, the majority shareholder and former chairman accused of running an illegal gambling business.

The arrest was the catalyst for Suncity closing its VIP rooms that it operated at all six of the Macau concessionaries and sub-concessionaries.

These adverse events led to Suncity stating in its report that “these conditions indicate the existence of material uncertainties which may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

The loss in revenue came, in part, from the collapse of Suncity’s core junket business which fell HK$123.8m in revenue in 2020 – itself a steep decline from 2019, due to the covid pandemic – to HK$42.8m in 2021. The company totally discontinued the business from 1 December following Chau’s arrest.

In April, with the business facing existential questions, the board announced a plan to survive:

“The board has also ordered the company to consolidate all resources to focus on survival. Intense cash preservation is the group’s highest priority.”

“The group is now implementing the most uncompromising cost-cutting programme ever. Non-core businesses have been sold and will continue to be sold, such as the disposal of the mainland Chinese property business and the aircraft in 2021.”

“As the group continues to transform into a pan-Asian integrated resort operator, the Group will be targeting all traditional gaming business segments, including VIP, premium mass, mass, slots and non-gaming businesses.”

The name change still must be approved by the shareholders and the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands.

Pan-European advertising body the European Advertising Standards Alliance, with the assistance of media analytics business Nielsen, monitored 1240 adverts from EGBA members in order to determine the success of EGBA’s responsible advertising code. The monitoring took place during Euro 2020 and covered four countries: Greece, Romania, Ireland and Sweden.

EGBA’s code was introduced in 2020, and includes specific measures on how gambling advertising should look, protection of minors through measures such as not broadcasting ads during programming directed at minors and age-gating on the social media profiles. In addition, the code says that operators should not sponsor activities which have a predominant appeal to minors, and offers guidance for responsible gambling messaging and campaigns.

Based on its monitoring, the EASA found that the code was a “solid basis for responsible advertising”, and noted that EGBA members already keep to most of the measures contained in the code. EGBA noted, though, that these results do not necessarily mean that EGBA endorses the code.

However, it did also call for certain improvements. In particular, it said more clarity could be provided in the requirement to include a responsible gamling message within ads.

“We’re pleased with the monitoring results and the progress our members are making in promoting responsible advertising,” EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer said. “We thank EASA for their critical but constructive approach. Advertising is an essential tool to inform the public of which gambling operators are licensed and regulated – and it can be done responsibly. 

“We encourage other operators to sign up to the code and join our efforts to raise responsible advertising standards. The industry must get serious about responsible and measured advertising, especially with the World Cup coming up later this year, otherwise the pressure of advertising restrictions will continue to pile on.”

At a meeting on July 13, DC council chairperson Kenyan McDuffie said that Gambet’s issues were present from the time of launch.

“Since its launch in 2020, DC’s sports wagering program has experienced repeated operational challenges,” said McDuffie. “The challenges directly contributed to delays in getting retail locations up  and running, as well as the inability to generate a robust customer base for the district’s mobile app, Gambet DC.”

Read the full story on iGB North America.

In the report, the board of directors of Macau Legend said there were not any major risks that would bring the future of the business into question.

“The directors are not aware of any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the board said.

However, the independent auditor’s report by Ernst & Young contradicted the directors remarks in part after listing the size of the current debt obligations the business faces.

“These conditions, together with other matters set out in note 2.1 to the consolidated financial statements, indicate the existence of material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the auditors said.

They note that the continuance of the company would rest on the creditors agreeing to amend the loan terms or otherwise agree to an extension of the current waiver on the loan covenants.

Macau Legends has been struck by a succession of crises, notably in January of this year when Chan Weng Lin, the company’s former chief executive officer, was arrested and accused of running a “Triad organisation”.

The report also spoke of large losses, even during a period when Macau was not under lockdown. While adjusted EBITDA for the year was a loss of HK$300.3 million, as compared to loss of approximately HK$429.3 million last year – this was during a period without lockdowns in Macau.

With casinos in the special administrative region set to be closed for the foreseeable future, losses are almost certain to increase.

DCMS in 2020 launched a for evidence on loot boxes, an in-game feature where players can purchase a box with real money which allows them to receive random items such as power-ups to help a player compete better in the game, as well as cosmetic items including virtual clothing.

However, concerns have been raised over these features and their potential similarity with gambling, with players risking real money without knowing what they will receive in return.

The call for evidence found that players who have purchased loot boxes may be more likely to experience gambling, mental health, financial and problem gaming-related harms, with this risk higher for children and young people. 

DCMS noted some game developers and platforms such as Xbox have already taken steps to improve protections, such as including options that require parental permission for under-18s to spend money within games. 

However, the department said it now wants to build on this with stronger protections for children across the entire games industry and could consider new legislation if developers do not bring in sufficient measures to keep players safe.  

The government department will urge games companies and platforms to provide spending controls and transparent information to all players, with the protections supporting the minority of players who spend a disproportionate amount of money on loot boxes and as such may be at greater risk.

To support this, DCMS plans to form a new working group featuring games developers, platforms and regulatory bodies to develop industry-led measures to protect players and reduce the risk of harm. Potential measures could include parental controls and making transparent information available to all players. 

The body added that its call for evidence also uncovered a need for better evidence to improve understanding of the positive and negative impacts of video games, and as such will launch a Video Games Research Framework to support this.

“We want to stop children going on spending sprees online without parental consent, spurred on by in-game purchases like loot-boxes,” Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said. “Games companies and platforms need to do more to ensure that controls and age-restrictions are applied so that players are protected from the risk of gambling harms. 

“Children should be free to enjoy gaming safely, whilst giving parents and guardians the peace of mind they need.”

Jo Twist, chief executive of the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment, said that she welcomed the proposal, saying she was keen to work with the government to ensure greater protection for video players.

“As a responsible industry, we have committed to exploring additional ways to support players and parents to build on our existing work developing and raising awareness of parental controls,” Twist said.

“We look forward to engaging closely with the government and other organisations in the working group and on the Video Games Research Framework.”

Richard Wilson, chief executive of TIGA, a non-profit trade association representing the UK’s games industry, added: “TIGA believes that games businesses should aim to ensure that games are safe to use for all players. In 2020, TIGA formally adopted its Five Principles for Safeguarding Players, designed to embody the spirit of the approach that games companies should adopt in operating their businesses within the UK. 

“Children and young people should not be able to buy ‘loot boxes’ in video games without parental consent. TIGA also believes that vulnerable adults need to be protected against potential harms arising from loot boxes. 

“TIGA looks forward to contributing to DCMS’s planned working group to advance measures to protect players from potential harms.”