Month: February 2023

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Elys said the integration of the Engage team within its business would strengthen in-house engineering capabilities and address an increase in demand for its offering.

Elys said the acquisition would also support the development of its US product offerings, including both retail opportunities and mobile solutions, as well as its global virtual gaming platform and global mobile solutions.

Founded in 2016 and based in Italy, Engage develops sportsbook and gaming applications for cloud, web, and mobile platforms, user experience development, customised business intelligence, digital transformation consulting, end-to-end project and product management, Microsoft solutions, and other engineering and development projects.

Engage previously provided contract services to Elys, supporting the development of the Elys Gameboard sportsbook technology and player account management platform (PAM).

As per terms of the deal, Engage will now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Elys , while the current Engage and Elys leadership and management team will remain in their current roles.

“With the acquisition of Engage we fulfil our strategy of creating a prominent in-house engineering base for the group,” Elys executive chairman Michele Ciavarella said. 

“Prior to the acquisition of Engage, our global team of strategists, designers, and technologists had worked almost exclusively with Engage to create powerful digital experiences for users and platforms that were designed to facilitate rapid development and delivery of customised sportsbook applications. 

“We believe that, after the close collaboration that we have had with the Engage team, that this acquisition was a natural progression for Elys in its journey to become a leading provider of end-to-end sportsbook solutions for both B2B and B2C customers.”

The operator has strengthened its digital offering in recent years to support its traditional land-based offering, and in November last year completed the acquisition of igaming software and services supplier Pala Interactive to further expand this division.

Last year, Boyd also widened its sports betting partnership with FanDuel, going live with both online and retail in Kansas and Ohio. The latest two launches mean the partnership is live in all but one state in Boyd’s Midwest and South region.

Read the full story one iGB North America.

Under the agreement, GiG will provide its platform, sportsbook and omni-channel solution to the operator, the identity of which was not disclosed at the time of the original announcement.

GiG said Casino Time is expected to go live with its technologies during the second half of the year and will mark its fifth operator partner in Ontario since the Canadian province opened its regulated igaming market last year.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

ProhiBet will become the first offering to launch from the new Secure Sports Solutions (S3) joint venture, with the two parties saying it will offer the only prohibited bettor solution in sports wagering.

The ProhiBet solution will offer the industry a tool for monitoring compliance with state-by-state regulatory requirements in the US via an encrypted decentralised cross-monitoring and notification platform.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Insight Tech Services has been launched as a complement to Sportradar’s Managed Trading Services (MTS), and features trading, risk management and marketing tools.

It has been designed to allow operators to optimise performance and achieve a deeper understanding of their business and their customers through AI solutions.

“In the hyper-competitive betting market, sportsbook operators are under pressure to improve performance and engage more deeply with their customers,” said Paolo Personeni, managing director of managed betting services at Sportradar. “By combining Sportradar’s market leading artificial intelligence and impressive depth of betting industry data, Insight Tech Services provides operators with the tools they need to manage an efficient sportsbook in-house and directly engage with bettors, delivering a service that’s tailored to the interests and preferences of individual customers.”

In terms of trading, the service generates tailored betting odds designed to offer more accurate prices. It also offers bespoke betting markets to increase sportsbook margins and enhance customer experience.

The risk management tools process an enhanced level of betting ticket information enabling operators to examine the risk associated with a specific player account, bet or sports event, limiting the financial exposure of a sportsbook operator.

Insight Tech Services also offers automated player categorising which allows operators to personalise the sports betting experience for its customers.

Last year, Sportradar launched Orako, its new all-in-one sportsbook solution for betting operators. Orako offers technology, products and tools for operators looking to establish an omnichannel sports betting service for customers.

Under the agreement, Napoleon Sports and Casino will roll out a selection of Bragg igaming content, with players in the country able to access a range of titles and games.

Napoleon Sports and Casino operates as part of Superbet Group, having been acquired by the Romania-headquartered business in July 2021.

“It’s always exciting to go live in a new jurisdiction, and particularly so when it’s with a market leader like Napoleon Sports and Casino,” Bragg president and chief operating officer Lara Falzon said.

“We’re proud to continue to deliver on our new market expansion strategy, and it is a testament to the hard work of our teams and the quality of our product offering that we can align with so many at the forefront of the industry.”

Napoleon Sports and Casino chief product officer Philippe Joos added: “Bragg’s reputation in iGaming is renowned and its provision goes from strength to strength, so this partnership is a natural fit for an innovative and forward-looking operator like Napoleon Sports and Casino.”

“We are on a mission to provide our players with the most thrilling and responsible entertainment in a safe and protected environment. This collaboration fits perfectly with that goal as we’ll be able to provide titles that speak for themselves in terms of quality and we’re confident our players will see that too.”

The launch comes after Bragg this week entered into a partnership with affiliate marketing specialist First Look Games.

Under the deal, First Look Games will support Bragg with affiliate and B2C game promotion for its in-house studios such as Atomic Slot Lab and Indigo Magic, as well as selected partner studios.

Based in Tel Aviv, Israel and reporting directly to founder and chief executive Andrew Pascal, Sonnino will have operational responsibility for studios in the Americas, Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Sonnino joins PlayStudios after most recently working as senior vice president of strategic communication at Playtika. She spent over seven-and-a-half years at Playtika, also serving as general manager for Slotomania and vice president of marketing and monetisation for Slotoman and director of monetisation for Slotoman.

Prior to this, Sonnino was senior brand manager for Revlon, first in New York and later in London, while she also had spells as senior brand manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb and as a software developer for QXL.

“The playAWARDS platform is an innovative player retention tool for the gaming industry and offers rewards partners access to a highly motivated and unusually focused audience of players who in turn can enjoy rewards from some of the world’s best-known brands,” Sonnino said.

“Gaming lies at the intersection of entertainment and media, and I believe PlayStudios is uniquely positioned to exploit its unique position and rapidly growing potential. I am excited to contribute and help guide the company during this dynamic stage in its evolution,”

PlayStudios CEO Pascal added: “Mickey Sonnino’s breadth and depth of experience in both gaming and consumer marketing will bolster our company’s operating performance and further establish PlayStudios as an innovator in the gaming industry.

“Her background and sensibilities make her ideally suited to further advance our unique position as the leaders in rewarded play.”

In his new role, Aiyadurai will oversee the research and development department at the studio, as well as continue to develop and expand the provider’s IT infrastructure and lead market planning and trends.

Aiyadurai joins Wizard Games after a spell as head of software engineering leads at Bigbank, prior to which he worked in a number of roles across several divisions of Derivco, part of the Microgaming Group that is now part of Games Global.

His other professional roles included lead software developer and Easy Computers, as well as software developer at both Commit Information Technology and Infosoft Baroda.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Wizard Games as it continues to make huge leaps in the industry,” Aiyadurai said. “With a fantastic roadmap of content, and countless new partnerships on the horizon, it is an exciting time to be joining the team, and I look forward to helping us take the next step.”

Wizard Games managing director Joey Hurtado added: “We are delighted to welcome Yoganand to the growing team here at Wizard Games. We’re continuing to go from strength to strength, and someone of his calibre will allow us to scale new heights.

“We’re always striving to hire the best talent to join our team, and this reaffirms our commitment to excellence, which can be found at every layer of our business.”

The appointment comes after Wizard Games, in November, also appointed Simon Jagdhar as its new director of game studio.

The new multi-year deal builds on a longstanding relationship between the supplier and Flutter Entertainment-owned operator, which dates back more than 10 years.

As part of the new deal, Playtech will remain the exclusive provider of Self Service Betting Terminals (SSBTs) for Paddy Power in both the UK and Ireland.

Playtech said the new deal comes amid a period of growing popularity for sports betting terminals in retail shops, which was in evidence during the recent FIFA World Cup. It has recently rolled out new features such as the improved Betbuilder and Player Props. 

Shimon Akad, chief operating officer at Playtech, said: “Paddy Power has grown into a leading force since its inception over 30 years ago, and we look forward to building on our successful partnership with them. Our software performance has made this ongoing collaboration possible, and we are set on progressing plans to provide a customer-centric roadmap for the years ahead as we continue to develop new technologies aimed at digitising the retail space.”

David Newton, chief operating officer at Paddy Power, said: “We are pleased to continue our strategically important relationship with industry leader Playtech. Playtech terminals are integral to our retail offer and a crucial part of the future strategy of our shops. We look forward to expanding this even further in the coming years.

“The future of our partnership is bright as we leverage Flutter’s market leading pricing capabilities to deliver new markets and betting opportunities for Paddy Power customers using the Playtech terminals. We are focused on delivering a fantastic omni channel and betting experience to even more players.”

Playtech announced last week that it expects its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the 2022 financial year to reach at least €400.0m (£352.1m/$436.0m).

In a trading update, Playtech said the business continued to perform strongly since posting “strong” first-half results in September last year.

The owner of Wildz, Wheelz, Caxino and the streaming brand Spinz is now operational in Canada just weeks after launching in Germany. The four casino brands all run off the Rootz proprietary platform utilising a single account structure.

“Increasing our footprint within regulated markets is in line with a dynamic strategy that seeks to provide innovative gaming solutions to players around the world,” Lasse Rantala, Rootz’s chief executive, said. “Ontario is an important market for us, and we welcome the opportunity provided by AGCO to become a licensed operator and to enter into an operational agreement with iGO.”

“Full credit goes to our first-rate teams for the Ontario licencing achievement: as an operator, we prioritise the need for safe, secure and fair play; the strict compliance requirements within regulated markets such as Ontario and Germany will provide peace of mind to our customers that they are enjoying play experiences with a licensed provider.”

Rootz, which is also licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority, launched its first casino, Wildz, in July 2019.

Rootz obtained its German licence from the Sachsen-Anhalt state administration office in September 2022 and went live in November.