Launches and sign-ups 1 October 2014
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (25 September to 1 October 2014)
Bwin.party’s social sportsbook launches on Facebook
Free-to-play Sportster – Bet and Win was developed in partnership between Nordeus and bwin.party’s social games division Win
Bwin.party’s social sports betting product Sportster – Bet and Win launched on Facebook this week after being in closed-beta testing since February.
The free-to-play Facebook app was developed by Top Eleven publisher Nordeus in collaboration with bwin.party’s social gaming division Win and allows players to place virtual currency bets on real and virtual matches.
Win CEO Barak Rabinowitz told eGR the closed-beta testing had sought to address a number of issues which publishers of previous social sports betting products had struggled with.
“One was instant gratification which social gamers expected but couldn’t get in social sports betting because they were waiting so long for an event,” he said. “The second was just a liquidity problem and to create an environment where sports fans can place bets, banter and challenge each other.”
William Hill seals four-year Playtech bingo contract extension
UK bookmaker William Hill has struck a new four-year deal with Playtech bingo to remain on the software supplier’s Virtue Fusion network until 2018.
The deal, which follows a 6% year-on-year fall in H1 2014 bingo revenues for William Hill, will see the operator remain on Playtech’s bingo network as well as using its mobile and tablet products and cross-platform slots content.
A bingo contract was first signed between the two companies in 2007.
“We’re very pleased to have renewed our bingo agreement with Playtech and the highly experienced team there,” James Curwen, director of gaming at William Hill, said. “We look forward to working together to grow the business even further.”
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
OPAP wins Greek horse race betting tender
Greek monopoly OPAP has won the exclusive right to operate horse race betting in the country following a competitive tender process managed by the country’s privatisation agency.
The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) confirmed that OPAP had won the tender by submitting the highest offer at just over 40.5m, more than the undisclosed sum rival bidder Intralot submitted.
Intralot had been the only interested party in a previous tender, however its bid of 5.2m and a percentage of future profits was dismissed by the HRADF as being unsatisfactory and the tender relaunched, which enabled OPAP to enter the race.
Mybet finalises sale of Italian business
German operator mybet has completed the sale of its Italy-facing business mybet Italia for an undisclosed fee as the company continues its business-wide restructure.
Mybet confirmed the disposal of the business unit last week and said it had struck a deal to sell it to current mybet Italia managing director Gianluca Torricelli.
Torricelli has served as manager director of Modena-based mybet Italia since December 2010.
GameAccount makes Australia play as revenues drop 54%
GameAccount Network is to ramp up its simulated gaming offering including a launch in Australia after a poorly performing US real-money gambling market led to a 54% fall in revenues during H1 2014.
The company posted net revenues of just £4.2m for the six months ended 30 June 2014, down from £9.1m in 2013, and an EBITDA loss of £0.4m for the period.
Chief executive Dermot Smurfit said the company would now increase its focus on the simulated gaming market in the US as well as launching a new simulated gaming venture in Australia.
The Games Company launches third slots title
The Games Company, established by former bwin.party developers Hans Winklemann and Ian Matthews, has launched its third slots title with the new game available in both Flash and HTML5 simultaneously.
Monster Mash is available in Flash via Playtech-owned Gaming Technology Solutions (GTS) and HTML5 via Odobo, and is already live with bet365 and Gala, with more operators planning to launch in the coming weeks.
“We are pushing HTML5 to the limit and believe that it will be hard for players or operators to identify the difference between HTML5 and Flash.” Winkelmann told eGR.