Gold Rush Express from Area Vegas slipped outside the top 20 so there was just the one new entry, Cat Clans 2 from Snowborn Games which gave some balance to the shoal fest.

Top 20 games by distribution

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Making brief week-long visits to the charts recently were: Fish Em Up (Snowborn Games), Lobster Bob’s Crazy Crab Shack (Pragmatic Play), Fishing Deeper Floats Of Cash (Gold Coin Studios) and the Amazing Catch (Just For The Win).

July 2023 presents a curious convergence of themes that stretches beyond the reels. Among the ranks, the feline intrigue of “Cat Clans 2: Mad Cats” by Snowborn Games adds an enchanting contrast to the piscine dominance.

With 11 of the top 20 games globally and four of these members of the Big Bass family, Pragmatic Play has the mystery baitbox that they’re all trying to steal.

One can’t help but notice the presence of not one, not two, but four games casting their lines into the gaming waters that feature the iconic bass fish. Is there something inherently captivating about the bass fish that resonates with both players and creators alike?

There have been 11 variations on Big Bass Bonanza since 2020 and a good handful are always in the top 40 spots globally. Meanwhile, Blueprint Gaming, arguably the originators of the fishy franchise, are clearly not content with the 20 variations on their own Fishin’ Frenzy family – including a very recent Even Bigger Catch Jackpot King version. Yes…, they too Brutus, have gone species-specific. Big Catch Bass Fishing Jackpot King by Blueprint Gaming is on the fish stall. So what is it about fish, or bass in particular, that seems to reel in the punters?

Perhaps these games capture the essence of angling adventures, where the anticipation of a big catch mirrors the thrill of hitting a jackpot. Or maybe, in a world filled with diverse themes, the bass fish lends a touch of whimsy and familiarity that players find endearing.

Remember the launches last year of Bass Boss by Red Tiger, Wild Wild Bass from Hurricane Games and 9 Bass from Oros Gaming? Well, they’re all still performing remarkably well. Much more recently Big Bass Adventure was launched by Max Win Gaming and Fishing Fever Bass King was launched by Aurum Signature Studios. Even more brazen and also successful were Big Money Bass from Raw Igaming and just last week, its own sequel, Bigger Money Bass – it doesn’t get more reminiscent than that.

Game developers create a bridge between the familiar and the novel by crafting games that share a name yet possess distinct identities. This strategy resonates with players who are drawn to the familiar aspects while being enticed by the promise of fresh experiences – the desire to unearth new treasures within the familiar terrain.

Perhaps some customers are lured in by a lookalike, mistaking it for the original. Or perhaps they know it to be a copy but are keen to see how it stacks up to the genuine article – who knows? One thing is for sure, it seems that the closer you get to the actual title of a hit game, the more chance it has of success.

However, this approach also requires finesse. Striking the right balance between resemblance and innovation is crucial. Too much similarity might lead to stagnation, while too much deviation could alienate those seeking a certain familiarity. Game developers walk this tightrope, crafting a delicate equilibrium.

Again there’s no judgment here – if it works and doesn’t infringe, then why on earth not? In the context of shorter game lifecycles, reflected glory is just another edge that you can exploit. Besides, it wasn’t that long ago that Pragmatic Play themselves were the challengers, touting their versions of Rainbow Riches and the like!

Biggest studio dealmakers

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Leading the charge in the realm of studio partnerships is 7777gaming, forging connections with an impressive tally of six aggregators. Endorphina follows closely with five partnerships, showcasing their commitment to expanding reach.

As the gaming landscape evolves, these studio-to-aggregator connections may hold the key to prolonged relevance in a world of game proliferation and rapidly changing market trends. Time will tell how these partnerships resonate in the future, and whether some of them shape the industry’s next big hits, much like the “lucky tap” instant variation eagerly awaited for Fluffy Favourites.

Biggest aggregator dealmakers

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Comparing aggregators this month, both Slotegrator and Lucky/Reevo continue to integrate yet more studios, but have some distance yet to cover, given that the likes of EveryMatrix have 300+ studio partners and still continue to plug more in.

That’s all from DALE-1 for this week but a last word or two from DALL-E 2 plus GPT4, my verbose but clever new friends …

Kevin Dale is the co-founder of eGaming Monitor. He was previously CEO of Gameaccount (now GAN plc) and CMO at Eurobet, Sportingbet and Betfair. Egamingmonitor.com is an advisory firm to the gambling industry, with proprietary data covering all suppliers, operators and products in the casino, bingo and lottery sectors.

Blue text in the article above was trimmed yet is otherwise unedited copy generated by Chat GPT4. It is based on feeding the AI a) one sample from June of what a Casino Dashboard looks/sounds like and b) two small tables of chart style data showing how games performed last month and which studios or aggregators were busiest in signing up new partners. Similarly, the chat copy with GPT4 at the end is trimmed but not changed in substance.

*Please note these are live charts that update every month so please ensure the month of July 2023 is selected in the drop-downs to match the analysis.

**The interactive games chart at the top excludes live games and table games. Game rankings are determined by the number of game appearances on the casino homepages of more than 2,500 casino sites. To access many other charts including game rankings, live and table games, positions on subpages or to filter game performance by game theme, game feature, market or operator, please get in touch with our partner, Egamingmonitor.com. Egamingmonitor covers 50,000 games, 1,500 suppliers and 2,500+ operators. 

***Data on deals by month was collected from April 2020 onwards and the rolling chart reflects current dealmaking performance, i.e. how many deals were signed over the last six months. Note that only deals either a) on company websites or b) in the gaming press or c) reported to us by studios and aggregators, are collated. Deals between studios & aggregators (and aggregators & operators) from all time are available via Egamingmonitor.com.

Cash Gaming is headquartered in the municipality of Bistriÿa. Its slot machine licence was originally valid between 2021 and 2031.

The decision to revoke Cash Gaming’s licence was decided upon by the National Gambling Office Supervisory Committee.

The discrepancy came to light after Cash Gaming’s tax calculations for the first quarter of 2023 showed it had not paid its full authorisation fee or vice tax.

The fee for the quarter totalled at RON1.6m, but Cash Gaming paid only RON371,039 of this. Similarly, tax for the period was calculated at RON179,325 but Cash Gaming paid RON40,330.

Decision to revoke

Cash Gaming did not pay its full authorisation fee or tax within 30 days. Due to this, the Committee concluded that it had violated article 17, paragraph 2a of Romania’s Government Emergency Ordinance (GEO).

This section of the GEO outlines that the Committee can revoke gambling licences if obligated payments are not paid in full within 30 days of their due date.

In its decision, the Committee reiterated that Cash Gaming is still obligated to pay the outstanding fees.

Earlier this month, ONJN revoked Betting Frenzy’s online gaming licence after it did not declare RON3.2m in gambling taxes.

Entain CEE’s tender offer, announced in June, sees the joint venture pay PLN24.80 per STS share for an equity value of £750m, and an enterprise value of approximately £690m.

With STS chief executive Mateusz Juroszek and his father Zbigiew signing a binding agreement to accept the offer, there was already majority support for the deal. The Juroszeks hold around 70% of the operator’s share capital.

Now, Entain says that STS shareholders holding 155,591,656 in STS shares have agreed to the deal, accounting for 99.3% of the total issued share capital. Settlement of the shares tendered through the offer, and its completion, is expected on 24 August.

Entain will instigate “compulsory acquisition proceedings” to acquire the remaining shares. In the meantime, STS will begin to de-list from the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

More to follow…

Excluding US operations, revenue was €374.0m for the quarter, a rise of 16.0% and a record for Super Group.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was €70.0m, up by 32.6% year-on-year. Excluding the US, this was €82.6m, up 54.2%.

On Super Group’s Q2 earnings call Alinda van Wyk, chief financial officer highlighted Super Group’s new quarterly records, which included an all-time monthly high of 3.9 million active customers in April.

“We set multiple new records, including our highest EBITDA total revenue in a quarter,” she said. “Our customer numbers are stronger than ever and will be a key driver of future growth in our business.”

Neal Menashe, chief executive of Super Group said there had been steady quarter-on-quarter growth, particularly in its customer base.

“We experienced continued growth of our customer base with strong momentum continuing on from where quarter one left off,” he said. “April was really good, with a new monthly record of 3.9 million active customers in the month.

“For the quarter, we achieved a new record of 3.7 million average active customers per month, compared to 2.7 million in the prior year quarter, a 40% increase.”

Menashe also pointed to “consistent investment” in new customer acquisition as a point of strength.

Betway African and Middle Eastern performance boosts overall revenue

Looking at Super Group’s two businesses, Betway and Spin, Betway accounted for €228.9m of the total revenue. This was a rise of 28.1%. Spin made up the remaining €151.8m, ticking up by 6.8%.

When considering the revenue by location, much of it – €110.3m – came from operations in Africa and the Middle East. Betway accounted for €110.0m of this alone. In the report, Super Group noted that growth in the Africa and Middle East segment aided the overall revenue.

Menashe declared that Africa continued to be a “strong performer” during the quarter, “despite some adverse currency fluctuations”.

The second-highest revenue contributor came from Super Group’s North America operations, at €137.1m.

Q2 net profit dives €271.0m comparably

Direct and marketing expenses for the quarter totalled at €277.3m, up by 22.8% yearly. General and administrative expenses were €37.8m, while depreciation and amortisation expenses were €20.3m.

After factoring in other operating income at €1.0m, the operating profit for the quarter was €46.3m, up by 3.2%.

Other costs, consisting of finance expenses and change in fair value of option, totaled at €6.6m. Finance income at €2.0m offset this slightly, bringing the pre-tax profit to €41.7m.

In Q2 2022, Super Group recorded €219.3m in change in fair value of earnout liability. This boosted the pre-tax profit for that period to €304.1m, resulting in a major difference of €262.4m when compared to Q2 2023.

Super Group paid €14.2m in tax during the quarter, bringing the total net profit to €27.5m for Q2. This was a drop of €271.0m.

North American operations improve half-year revenue

Turning to the six months to 30 June, revenue stood at €719.3m, up by 9.7% yearly.

Betway accounted for €427.2m of this while Spin made up €292.0m.

While Africa and the Middle East beat out North America as the highest revenue contributor in Q2, this is a different story when considering H1 as a whole. North America accounted for €267.3m of the total revenue during the six months, while Africa and the Middle East generated €198.2m.

In January, Super Group acquired Digital Gaming Corporation, the online sports betting business that owns Betway in the US. At the time, Super Group said this would allow it to launch in the US.

Following expenses – the highest of which was direct and marketing expenses at €553.0m – the operating profit was €52.3m, down 24.0%.

Finance income at €3.2m was affected slightly by €1.0m in finance expense. After €8.2m in change in fair value of option, the pre-tax profit was €46.2m.

In total, Super Group paid €20.6m in tax during the quarter. This left the net profit at €25.6m, declining by 81.0%

The regulator has alleged that the operators, which were given licences during the previous administration, have not paid their licence fees for more than a year. This, Pagcor said, is in breach of Section 4.C of the Offshore Gaming Regulatory Manual.

Pagcor said that the operators in question have not responded to its requests to submit the required regulatory fees. It also acknowledges that five of the licensees have closed down.

Pagcor chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said refusal to abide by Philippine laws and pay fees left the regulator with no choice but to pursue legal action.

“Because of this situation, we are duty-bound to take a legal course of action,” Tengco said. “We are now in the process of gathering pertinent information to file appropriate cases against them,” he said.

“Pagcor will continue to ensure that all our regulated gaming entities – including offshore gaming operators and service providers – will abide by our regulatory policies, including proper payment of fees and taxes,” he said.

Pagcor’s new regulatory framework

The news comes after Pagcor earlier this month announced a new regulatory framework for offshore gaming licensees. The framework came into effect in July and is part of inter-agency efforts to tackle illegal offshore activities in the country. 

The stand-out measure is that all licensees and service providers are declared probationary. They must re-apply for approval from Pagcor before a cut-off date of 17 September in order to continuing operating in the country. 

Operators and providers that have been operating illegally will not be considered for a new licence.

Tackling illegal gambling in the Philippines

Pagcor has launched a series of initiatives in recent months to address illegal offshore gambling in the country.

The regulator has been working with other government and law enforcement agencies to set up offices inside an accredited hub. It also launched reforms to impose stricter sanctions on licensees that breach the rules.

Meanwhile, operators now face increased inspection of compliance, as well as submit reports to enforcement agencies for further investigation. In addition, Pagcor pledged to issue heavy penalties to operators that do not comply with regulations.

Pagcor makes the move to online

Amid this action, Pagcor last month also set out plans to launch its own online casino. Due to launch in Q1 2024, Casinofilipino.com will allow consumers to legally gamble online through Pagcor.

At the time, Pagcor said the online casino launch forms part of its wider modernisation plan. This also covers its established land-based activities across the country.

Making a like-for-like comparison on Women’s World Cup betting is particularly tricky for LiveScore Bet. The 2019 tournament in France took place almost two years before LiveScore Group added its namesake betting product to its ecosystem, alongside its sports media app.

It was up and running for last summer’s European Championships, where the Lionesses triumphed over Germany in the final. That victory, sportsbook director James McKay explains, played a huge role in bringing a wider audience in the UK. 

“The audience is there even if the England team hadn’t made the knockout stages in Australia and New Zealand,” McKay says. 

Following their 3-1 victory over Australia, the team are preparing for their first Fifa Women’s World Cup final against Spain this Sunday (20 August). 

In the UK, “the Lionesses winning helps”, McKay admits. “After the Euros, they became overnight heroes almost,” he says. “They’ve got an opportunity to influence a generation and that brings football fans across from enjoying the men’s game to the women’s game. I think they’re also attracting a different type of person.”

Others are saying the same. Recent figures from Entain, released this week, revealed women have placed 21% of all bets on the tournament so far, compared with 17% in the 2022 Euros, and 13% during the 2019 World Cup. 

Treating Women’s World Cup betting as a top-tier event for the industry

This growing interest from a diverse base means the Women’s World Cup is a tier-one event, McKay says. LiveScore Bet puts in the same level of preparation as it does for the men’s tournament. 

“We’ve looked to adapt everything we’ve used in the months leading up [to the World Cup]. We’ve developed our free-to-play in-app promotion LiveScore 6, giving users the chance to pick six results from the Women’s World Cup. We’ve also done the exact same for our award-winning Squads feature.”

Engagement with the World Cup-themed versions of these games is strong. McKay argues players are as happy to draw Alessia Russo as they are Erling Haaland for their Squads. 

“We’ve just shown it the respect it deserves,” he says of the Women’s World Cup. “We’ve treated it exactly the same as we would a men’s World Cup.

“That includes all of the new markets that have obviously grown over the last year. Bet builders, bet boosts, specials, everything you would likely see if you came on a Premier League Saturday.”

Broadcasting on terrestrial TV helps bring the tournament to an even bigger audience. With Women’s Super League games on Sky Sports, McKay expects women’s football to become a key component of LiveScore Bet’s marketing and operational teams’ considerations throughout the football season. 

Building a sporting ecosystem

Thanks to the 50 million monthly actives on the LiveScore media app, the business finds itself in a unique position in that it owns an ecosystem that powers LiveScore Bet. The core app provides news, huge troves of data on player and team performance, and live score updates for leagues and competitions around the globe. 

The challenge for McKay, on the betting side, is to provide a route from the app to the sportsbook. “It’s our job to create a frictionless journey between the two,” he explains, “So it feels like using one app. That’s where our work is really just starting. 

“We are always concentrating on how to make it feel very natural and very simple.”

Ahead of the tournament, the media app unveiled Fara Williams as a brand ambassador. The former England international – “a legend of the game,” McKay says – joins the likes of Eni Aluko and Alex Scott in moving into punditry. He’s confident more will follow. 

LiveScore’s feedback loop

It also scratches an itch for fans accustomed to deep-dive statistics on football. A majority of app users (57%) believe the level of analysis and detail around the women’s game doesn’t compare to that offered on the men’s game. 

28% of LiveScore users would be more interested in following the Women’s World Cup if there was a higher level of analysis and understanding.

That feedback loop is crucial to LiveScore Group, McKay says. It runs lot of surveys, both from the media perspective and from the betting perspective. 

“We also have customer focus groups to make sure we show ideation before it goes out and early stage demos to gather feedback.

“We look at a lot of the feedback that we get through app store reviews and customer service, to then go back to the product team to make sure we’re designing better, to see what the real frictions are. And I guess that’s always a work in progress for everybody.”

Looking ahead to the Women’s World Cup final 

Amid the uncertainty of tournament football, a run to the final leads to a major uptick in betting volumes and the Lionesses have the nation’s backing, McKay says. 

LiveScore Bet is running additional specials and boosts for the betting on the Women’s World Cup final, including a Betbuilder Bet and Get, its fastest growing market. McKay is confident the operator will hit a new record with Sunday’s game. 

“We saw an increase of around 15% versus the previous round where England played Nigeria, which was the biggest turnover game so far,” he says. “We are expecting this number to be easily beaten when they play the Spanish on Sunday and hopefully bring the trophy home.”

So what does he want to see from the team at the Accor Stadium on the day? “I think what’s most important is for them to keep the tempo up throughout the game and go for the jugular when they are winning,” McKay says. 

“We saw in the semi, that after they scored, they sat back, and it took the equaliser for them to refocus and get on the front foot. I get reminded when the men’s team went 1-0 up against Italy and sat back. 

“However, the Lionesses have already proved that they can get over the line and I am fully behind them doing it again.”

Women’s World Cup trophy image by Ank Kumar, distributed via CC BY-SA 4.0

The searches, conducted in several different districts in Kyiv, saw police confiscate computer monitors, televisions, mobile phones and other technical equipment.

The police estimated the total value of the seized property comprised over UAH4m (£85,240/ €99,730/ $108,340).

According to the ESBU, the establishments offered patrons gambling services without the appropriate licences or permits.

The underground gambling houses allowed patrons to play casino games using the computer equipment, including slots and roulette.

The inter-agency operation also involved the Territorial Department of the Security Intelligence Service. It also included the Main Directorate of the National Police and received operational support from the National Police of Ukraine.

In the first half of 2023, the ESBU estimated activities from underground gambling houses cost the state budget over UAH30m in lost revenue.

Police investigating individuals connected to ring

Following the raids, the police said they are in the process of establishing a full list of the individuals involved.

They are also conducting a pre-trial investigation into the scheme, on the grounds of Part 1 of Art. 203-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal activities of organizing or conducting gambling games, lotteries).

The investigation will be carried out under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Kyiv City Prosecutors Office.

Raids mark latest bust for ESBU

The raids are the latest bust against Kyiv’s underground gambling scene, with the ESBU having announced the completion of a similar operation earlier in the month.

On that occasion, the police said they shut down four illegal establishments in the Shevchenkivskyi, Solomyanskyi and Svyatoshynskyi districts of Capital.

After the raids, the police announced they had confiscated 120 pieces of computer equipment with a market value of UAH1.5m.

Musialek, who reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 255 in 2015, had initially denied all charges. However, an investigation uncovered his involvement in fixing nine tennis matches between 2016 and 2018.

Among the offences were contriving the outcome of matches and receiving money, benefit or consideration to carry this out. The 35-year-old also facilitated other players not to use their best efforts and failed to co-operate with an ITIA investigation by withholding evidence.

In total, Musialek was ruled to have breached the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) on 39 occasions.

The ruling means Musialek is prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis. Musialek has also been fined $50,000 (£39,293/€46,008).

Musialek ban linked to Belgian case

The ITIA said the case related to an ongoing joint effort with law enforcement in Belgium to tackle fixing. 

This has uncovered several incidents of match-fixing across tennis, with a number of players having been implicated. Grigor Sargsyan, the leader of the scheme, has also been jailed for five years.

In Musialek’s case, the ITIA said evidence from Belgian proceedings supported intelligence gathered through ITIA investigations and industry betting alerts. 

ITIA continues to tackle match fixing in tennis

The joint effort with Belgian authorities forms part of the ITIA’s wider efforts to clamp down on match fixing.

Earlier this month, the ITIA provisionally suspended Timur Khabibulin, Sanjar Fayziev and Igor Smilansky for match fixing. All players were ruled to have breached the TACP on a number of occasions.

In June, the ITIA also handed lifetime bans to Nastja Kolar and Alexandra Riley for multiple breaches of its TACP. The offences, all of which were related to match fixing, took place between 2015 and 2020. 

The ITIA said efforts to address match fixing in tennis will continue.

In April, Scout Gaming launched a daily fantasy sports product in Brazil in partnership with Cartola Express.

Following the quarter’s end, Scout completed a restructuring process. The process saw Scout divest its Scout Gaming AS Norwegian subsidiary to its management.

Its employee headcount was also reduced. At the time Scout did not disclose how many staff remained, but CEO Niklas Jönsson confirmed in the Q2 report that this number is 35.

“After the end of the quarter the group announced the reorganisation which has resulted in a reduction in employees to 35 and retaining a partnership with the Norwegian company which has been divested,” said Jönsson.

“The financial outcome from the reorganisation will be fully visible from Q4 this year.”

“Major reorganisation” at Scout

Scout has underwent a number of significant changes since the beginning of 2022. In March of that year, former CEO Andreas Ternström instigated a cost review off the back of Scout’s Q4 2021 results.

Following Ternström’s departure during Q2 2022, chairman Niklas Braathen noted that a “major reorganisation and transformation” of Scout lay ahead.

In the Q2 2023 report, Jönsson highlighted the events of the last 18 months, stating that management has a positive outlook on future operations.

“During the last 18 months the group has gone through a lot of changes,” he said. “Me and the rest of management are now at the point of that the work will start to pay off and we move to a more stable and positive future.”

Lessened operating expenses don’t aid net loss

Expenses lessened year-on-year during the second quarter. Personnel expenses totalled at SEK8.7m, compared to SEK12.1m in Q2 2022.

Other external expenses fell by SEK8.8m to SEK6.6m. Depreciation, amortisation and impairment of property, plant and equipment (PPE) was SEK43,000.

Total operating expenses for the quarter hit SEK15.5m, an improvement of SEK12.2m. This brought the total operating loss to SEK6.0m.

Investments in group companies incurred a SEK42m cost. Financial items – which included the sale of Scout’s Norwegian business – totalled at SEK10.8m.

In total, the net loss for the period was SEK37.3m, SEK13.2m more than the SEK24.1m incurred in Q2 2022.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was SEK6.0m.

Half-year performance steady

Turning to Scout’s half-year performance, total revenue was SEK16.0m, up by 46.5%.

Total operating expenses for the six months came to SEK31.9m, a decrease of 44.9%. Personnel expenses accounted for more than half of the overall operating expenses, at SEK18.3m. Other external expenses were SEK13.4m, while depreciation, amortisation and impairment of PPE was SEK93,000.

After considering the operating expenses, the total operating loss for the period was SEK15.9m. This was further affected by SEK42.1m in costs in investments in group companies. However, this was offset in part by SEK27.7m in financial items.

In total, the loss for the six months was SEK30.2m, an improvement of SEK14.8m.

EBITDA for the half-year was SEK15.8m.

Italy iGaming Dashboard

Presenting iGB’s Italy dashboard with data provided by Ficom Leisure. Track all the movements in Italy’s online market since 2019, as well as the shifting revenue shares over the period.