Launches and sign-ups 4 September 2013
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (29 August " 4 September 2013)
PartyPoker launch imminent
Bwin.party confirms its revamped poker product will be released in early September as the company looks to ramp up its mobile offering
bwin.party has revealed it will re-launch its new PartyPoker product in early September as the company also enters latter stages of overhauling its mobile channel.
Speaking last week following the announcement of disappointing H1 results which saw profits slump by 34%, CEO Norbert Teufelberger said the long-awaited partypoker update is due to be rolled-out in “the next two weeks”.
The product, he said, would be available through all channels and has been designed with the casual player in mind. Players will be rated after 20-100 hands so both novices and professionals are able to compete at a more competitive level.
A TV advertising campaign will take place alongside the re-launch and, with 888 recently reporting a 13% growth in its poker product, Teufelberger stated he was confident there was growth in the market.
William Hill complete Miapuesta takeover
William Hill has completed the acquisition of Sportingbet’s Spanish-facing business following the operator’s joint-buyout of the company earlier this year.
The takeover of Miapuesta’s customer database follows a deal agreed in May, when GVC Holdings and William Hill acquired Sportingbet for £454m. Hills took a call option on Sportingbet’s Spanish operations which could be exercised after a six-month period.
It is understood the delay in completing this part of the deal was due to structural reasons. Miapuesta sat on the same platform as other European Sportingbet businesses including Turkey, so time was needed to migrate the customer data before completing the transaction.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
BetVictor to launch in-house live casino
BetVictor is to launch an in-house live casino studio within its Gibraltar offices, through a new partnership with live casino software firm Medialive.
The company has teamed up with Medialive to launch the new offering, which represents the first time an egaming operator has set up its own studio rather than outsourcing it to a third party location.
BetVictor chairman Victor Chandler said the move was driven by the desire to offer a higher quality service and increase the appeal to VIP customers.
Sky Bet revamps poker product
eGaming Review operator of the year Sky Betting and Gaming has begun to roll out a major re-launch of its poker product after recently completing a ‘closed’ beta trial.
The redesigned Sky Poker site is currently available to all customers as an open beta product on the Texas Hold’em cash tables only but the Alderney-licensed operator has plans to roll out the changes across multi-table tournaments, single-table tournaments and Omaha variants in the coming weeks.
The new design will eventually see the full introduction of a new Sky Poker product version including a new front-end page with an updated design and improvements to overall gameplay for instant play and download software.
888 targets sportsbook growth with app launch
888 CEO Brian Mattingley has targeted growth in the company’s sportsbook business with the launch of its new mobile app.
Speaking to eGaming Review last week, Mattingley confirmed the launch of the new mobile sports betting app had been planned for the start of the English football season, however it had overrun by a couple of weeks.
It is the first 888sport-branded product to launch since the operator announced a deal with Unibet’s B2B subsidiary Kambi Sports Solutions for a fully-managed sportsbook service. Mattingley said the mobile app was now complete and ready for release.
Paddy Power beta-launches on Facebook
Paddy Power has beta-launched its real-money Facebook sports betting app, Paddy Power In Play, the first sports betting gambling app on the social network.
Paddy Power In Play allows users to log-in with their existing Paddy Power account as well as create a new account within the app and offers a large range of sports betting markets.
The beta launch also contains a number of social features including a news feed, achievements and a “Heat Index” allowing users to track their bets alongside their friends on the site.
Winner launches mobile poker client
Antigua and Barbuda-licensed egaming operator Winner has become one of the first operators on Playtech’s iPoker network to launch a mobile client.
The application is not yet available on Apple’s App Store or Android Market, but can be downloaded from the operator’s website.
The client is available on all smartphones and tablets through native iOS and Android platforms, as well as a HTML5 release. All speed poker games are currently hosted on the client, with popular cash games to follow at a later date.
BETTING’s launches Bitcoin sportsbetting platform
Swiss online gaming software provider BETTING’s has announced the launch of its new Bitcoin sports betting platform as it looks to take advantage of the digital currency’s growth in popularity.
According to Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, at least half of all Bitcoin transactions are now for online gambling.
The BETTING’s platform is built upon the supplier’s existing sportsbook software and allows online bookmakers to offer the crypto-currency alongside traditional currencies or as a single means of payment.
Williams Interactive to supply William Hill with online casino content
Online slots provider Williams Interactive has signed a deal with Gibraltar-based operator William Hill, providing access to the Williams Remote Game Server (RGS) suite of slots titles.
Hills will gain access to Williams’ portfolio of Las Vegas-styled games, with integration of the RGS due to complete by the end of the year. Games will be available on Hills’ Games and Vegas tabs after the integration is complete.
The slots titles will be available on desktop, mobile and tablet platforms, underlining the importance of ensuring a multi-format offering. Hills recently recorded significant growth in its mobile division with mobile net revenue increasing 198% for the first half of 2013.
Bet365 goes mobile on iPoker network
Gaming giant bet365 has become one of the first operators on Playtech’s iPoker network to launch a mobile client.
The Stoke-based operator last week soft launched its new mobile poker offering on iOS-supported devices through its poker.bet365.com domain. The mobile client is not available on Android as Playtech is yet to support the Linux-based operating system.
The company plans to fully release the product on its main domain later this week after encountering no technical problems thus far.
Microgaming releases latest Dark Knight slot
Microgaming has released a new video slot based on The Dark Knight Rises, its latest slot to be based on Christopher Nolan’s popular Batman trilogy.
A sequel to the software provider’s The Dark Knight game, The Dark Knight Rises is a five reel, 243 ways-to-win video slot, which is available with operators on the download, Flash and Quickfire platforms.
Microgaming originally signed a licensing deal with DC Entertainment earlier this year and CEO Roger Raatgever believes its latest game can be even more successful than its predecessor.