Launches and sign-ups extra 13 February 2015

Live dealer provider Evolution Gaming has unveiled a new live casino environtment for UK bookmaker William Hill at Evolution’s Riga-based studio.

The new environment went live on 9 February and will initially feature live roulette and live blackjack tables on the William Hill Vegas brand.

“This is a natural next step for us, as we continue to tailor our online services to different customer segments,” Kevin Kilminster, head of live casino and Vegas at William Hill, said.

“Our Vegas brand has a softer, more casual feel and offers an exciting selection of Vegas-inspired online slots and other games,” he added.

NYX Gaming Group has sealed an agreement with Novomatic Group subsidiary Extreme Live Gaming to supply its live dealer platform into NYX OGS.

Extreme Live Gaming live dealer offering includes blackjack, roulette and baccarat based out of its London-based art studio and is available on desktop, TV, and mobile devices.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Extreme Live Gaming which will be available to our NYX OGS™ partners,” David Johnson, commercial director at NYX Gaming Group, said.

“This new product stream will enable our partners to leverage a further lucrative vertical via their single remote gaming server integration, which already provides Operators the very best in premium slots content,” he added.

EveryMatrix has this week signed a deal with online casino operator Yako Casino as the software supplier expands its client base further.

“I’m extremely impressed with Yako Casino’s impressive skill set and experience and strongly believe that this new partnership will bring EveryMatrix one step further towards reaching its full potential,” Ebbe Groes, chief executive officer of EveryMatrix, said.

“As our platform continues to grow and our client base keeps on expanding, we’re more confident than ever that we’re doing things right,” he added.

Malta-based online gaming provider World Match has unveiled five new slots titles after recently securing a UK licence from the Gambling Commission.

Slots launches by the games supplier include 3D Farm HD, Monte Carlo Jewels HD, Fruits Evolution HD, Aztec Moon HD and Carnival Bonus HD.

The new releases see World Match’s number of top over 100, in addition to over 50 mobile games on native iOS and Android.

Bitcoin provider Coingaming.io has this week become the first licensed Bitcoin only gaming platform to offer Microgaming Quickfire titles.

Operators using the Coingaming Bitcoin platform will now gain access to over 400 Quickfire games such as The Dark Knight and Thunderstruck II.

“Coingaming is focused on providing the best gaming experience to the rapidly growing Bitcoin casino player community,” Mark McGuinness, communications director of Coingaming, said.

“Our agreement with Quickfire, powered by Microgaming, shall see Bitcasino.io our biggest B2B partner going live first, shortly followed be our full network of online operators allowing player’s access to the finest and most exhilarating games possible,” he added.

GTECH has moved one step closer to completing its US$6.4bn acquisition of International Game Technology (IGT) after the latter’s shareholders unanimously approved the deal at a special meeting in Las Vegas this week.

More than 99% of votes represented and cast at the meeting, or around 72% of the total eligible votes, were in favour of the merger which is expected to complete in the first half of the year.

GTECH also revealed the time period provided by the Italian Civil Code to enable creditors to oppose the merger had expired in January.

MGM Resorts International has selected GeoComply to provide a location-tracking tool for its on-property mobile gaming and sportsbook products, which the casino group plans to launch in the coming months.

Last week MGM announced it would launch a GTECH-powered mobile sportsbook and casino platform across its 10 Nevada properties.

GeoComply’s geolocation software will be integrated into selected apps to verify a player’s location before they play, in order to ensure compliance with various federal and state regulations which require a user to be on the casino property to place a bet.

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator DraftKings is thought to be closing in on a major partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to become its exclusive fantasy sports provider.

The deal has yet to be officially announced, but terms are believed to include DraftKings signage appearing at UFC events, online, and through major broadcast features, according to reports in the New York Business Journal.

If DraftKings can get the deal signed, the UFC will join an ever-growing roster of partners that includes the NHL, MLB, and a number of individual teams and athletes.

Bash Gaming has this week unveiled its first branded Wheel of Fortune title as the social bingo developer looks to leverage parent company GSN Games’ branded content.

A bingo game based on the popular TV game show was launched within Bingo Bash and is available across all mobile devices, GSN.com and its Facebook app.

The Wheel of Fortune bingo room is the first in-game licensed content to appear on Bingo Bash and features the game show’s famous stage, theme music, sound effects and puzzle board bingo cards.

Unibet has taken full ownership of real-money social gambling operator Bonza Gaming which will be integrated into Unibet’s UK business during 2015.

The Stockholm-listed operator made the announcement during Wednesday’s financial results presentation and will see Unibet take full control by acquiring Plumbee’s 50% stake in the firm.

Bonza Gaming was formed in December 2012 following a joint venture between Mirrorball Slots publisher Plumbee and egaming operator Sportingbet, which later sold its 50% stake to Unibet.