International Game Technology PLC has announced that its subsidiary, IGT Global Solutions Corporation, has signed a new instant ticket services contract with Westdeutsche Lotterie GmbH & Co. OHG (WestLotto).

Under the terms of the agreement, IGT will provide a range of instant ticket production and services for WestLotto with unlimited potential. The Lottery will gain additional marketing support from IGT’s Instant Advantage programme that includes portfolio planning, game development, analytics, distribution and retail execution to provide the best player experience.

“WestLotto has worked with IGT on instant ticket production to grow our instants business responsibly. IGT provides top-level service and support for the development of each instant ticket game in the portfolio, and we are looking forward to continuing our successful partnership,” Andreas Kötter, CEO of WestLotto, said.

“As WestLotto’s instant ticket supplier of choice, IGT is committed to supporting a strategic, innovation-rich game portfolio that meets the needs of the Lottery’s players. With IGT’s Instant Advantage program we draw upon global and market-specific deep-dive analytics, benchmarks and databases to support continuous growth for WestLotto instant ticket sales and contributions to good causes,” Jay Gendron, IGT’s Chief Operating Officer for global lottery operations, said.

An Austrian Senate ruling has concluded that two ads from Austrian Lotteries and Casino Austria breached the Austrian press code of honour after it was discovered that promotional content was not marked as such.

The columns, written as editorial adverts, were published in Austrian newspapers Kronen Zeitung on 24 March and Kurier on 26 March 2021.

Whilst the two companies did label an editorial advert as such in Der Standard a few days previously, the Kronen Zeitung and Kurier stories were ruled to be identical but did not feature any such labels.

Under Austrian legislation, all advertised content must be pointed out to readers, however, Austrian Lotteries and Casino Austria covertly advertised their brands.

The articles were judged to be in breach of points three and four of the Austrian press code of honour, which calls for distinctness and impartiality in editorial content.

The content of the advertisements promoted charity work in Austria which is being supported by the two gambling companies, which includes support for the homeless.

The Senate concluded that the articles should have been marked as advertisements and that readers were misled by the articles’ presentation as editorial content. It also called upon the publications to acknowledge this decision.

Greentube, the NOVOMATIC Interactive division, has partnered with German operator Jokerstar in a deal that will see the supplier‘s content available to a new audience in the country.

Titles including Diamond Link™: Mighty Emperor, Fruit King, Apollo God of Sun™ and Captain Venture™: Treasures of the Sea, are available to Jokerstar German customers. The games will be distributed via Pragmatic Solutions’ platform.

Greentube’s content has proven success in the German land-based sector and the supplier has launched its portfolio with a number of online operators since new legislation came into force on 1^st July, permitting nationwide online gaming.

Jokerstar is the brand of prominent operator Kling Automaten GmbH. Founded in 1954, Kling is a third-generation family-run casino operator with 165 Joker Casino arcades across Germany.

Julia Schagerl, Key Account Manager Germany at Greentube, said: “Kling Automaten GmbH is an operator with great experience in the German market and we are thrilled to be part of their expansion into the online sector. We see great potential in the German online market and our strategy is to partner with the country’s leading operators. Together with Jokerstar we will further enhance the reach of our content and bring premium entertainment to local players.”

Jürgen Kling, CEO of Jokerstar Casino, said: “We have ambitious plans for our online brand and it is key that we offer our customers the best available content. Greentube is a leading supplier with titles that are loved by global slot fans. Through this partnership, we will significantly strengthen our offering and further position ourselves as a top-tier operator in the regulated German market.”