Central Europe

adesso launches its new iGaming platform LotteryForce

Published

3 years ago

August 5, 2021

adesso launches its new iGaming platform LotteryForce

Reading Time: 3 minutes

With LotteryForce, the IT service provider adesso is releasing the latest generation of iGaming platform on the market. LotteryForce provides lottery companies around the world with the opportunity to manage a wide range of games on all channels – from classic lotto to keno, scratch cards or sports betting. Thanks to a modern player account management system, lotteries can always see what players are up to. Technically, LotteryForce can be integrated seamlessly into existing centralised systems using high-performance interfaces. Its cloud-based modular architecture is flexible and can be scaled up easily.

LotteryForce replaces in|FOCUS, adesso’s previous iGaming suite. The new platform places an even greater focus on customers. The LotteryForce Player Account Management (PAM) module records all gaming activities centrally and provides a 360-degree view of all customers. Smart identity management ensures that anonymous players become identifiable participants. This helps lottery operators to address their customers in a more effective way while complying with all data protection regulations and fulfilling their responsibility to protect players. For extra convenience when playing, LotteryForce PAM features an integrated e-wallet that can be used to make cashless deposits and withdrawals quickly and easily.

Addressing customers successfully, managing partners effectively

LotteryForce offers innovative Salesforce-based solutions for targeted marketing and sales activities. This makes it possible to address players personally across all service channels, whether by telephone, e-mail or social media. Itself suggests the optimal time and channel for this based on intelligent data analysis of gaming behaviour, making advertising and campaigns more efficient and successful.

LotteryForce provides functions along the entire process chain for the optimal management of sales partners in the retail sector, from onboarding and contract management, including e-signatures, to hardware history and case management. What is more, because LotteryForce automatically delivers reports and analyses of relevant performance indicators in graph form, lottery companies are provided with transparent information on their entire retail business at all times.

Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) and cloud capability

By using hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) as the basis for LotteryForce, adesso is taking the iGaming platform to a completely new technological level. Instead of having to run on customers’ own servers, operations can also be carried out via the cloud depending on their individual requirements. As a modular solution, LotteryForce can be scaled up quickly and easily. Integrating it into lottery companies’ existing IT systems is a breeze thanks to high-performance interfaces.

Sachsenlotto, WestLotto and Thüringer Staatslotterie count on LotteryForce

adesso’s team of experts drew on more than 20 years of experience in the lottery industry when designing the new platform. Several international customers have already decided in favour of LotteryForce. In Germany, three state-owned lottery companies – Sachsenlotto, WestLotto and the Thüringer Staatslotterie – have recently completed a successful launch of LotteryForce. “Thüringer Staatslotterie has been relying on the iGaming suite from adesso since 2013. We introduced the new platform, LotteryForce, this year. It is an extremely stable and reliable platform, which is connected at the back end to the central system of IGT. The coordinated and smooth cooperation of the software components have impressed us from day one,” says Jochen Staschewski, CEO Thüringer Staatslotterie, expressing his enthusiasm about the new solution from adesso.

Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Striemer, head of lottery business at adesso, is pleased about the successful launch of the iGaming platform: “LotteryForce is a modular product that draws on our long-standing experience in the industry and our comprehensive technological expertise. This iGaming platform provides lottery companies with a tool that meets the highest demands placed on a modern system while also offering benefits, especially for sales and marketing.”

adesso is a member of the World Lottery Association (WLA), organiser of the World Lottery Summit, as well as of the European Lotteries (EL) and the Asian-Pacific Lottery Association (APLA).

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Central Europe

Buying Games as Downloads is More Popular Than Ever in Germany

Published

1 month ago

August 2, 2024

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The share of PC and console games purchased as downloads in Germany climbed to 60% for the first time in 2023, meaning that download purchases have remained at the same high level they reached during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Back then, the share of downloads jumped from 45 to 58%. These figures were published by game – The German Games Industry Association, in cooperation with market research company CPS GfK. A closer look at the individual gaming platforms, though, shows there are huge differences between them. Download purchases are most popular among PC players; these days, they buy nearly all of their games – 98% – as downloads. Last year, that figure was already 97%. Consoles are a different story, though. Most console players prefer to buy games on physical media. The majority of console games – 60% – are still purchased as physical media, even though that figure has dropped by 3% points compared to last year.

The way in which video game players purchase games is also a question of age. The younger generation of players in Germany overwhelmingly opt for downloads. And this trend is particularly strong among players between the ages of 20 and 29: they buy more than 7 out of 10 PC or console games (71%) in this format. But these days, growing numbers of older players are starting to prefer downloads, as well. Among 50- to 59-year-olds, approximately 6 out of 10 games (59%) are purchased as downloads; last year, this group bought about 53% of their games on physical media. Physical copies are most popular among the over-60s. In 2023, they bought more than half their games (53%) on physical media. However, this figure also represented a decline of 12% points in sales of physical media among this group.

“We’re seeing a clear trend: downloads are becoming an established way of buying games, and their share of the games market is continually increasing, even though that growth has slowed a bit since the pandemic. For many people, downloads are a quick and convenient way to buy games. Last year, a number of big blockbuster games, like ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ and ‘Alan Wake II’, were initially released as digital exclusives. Plenty of successful indie games have been download-only for ages, as well. All these factors have given the popularity of downloads a massive boost. But how games are purchased still varies according to the age of the player and the type of platform. Video game players primarily buy their console games on physical media, to get the limited editions and fan merchandise that come with them, or to ensure that they always have a copy of the game in their collection,” Felix Falk, Managing Director of game, said.

Central Europe

Slower workforce growth and fewer new companies: the upward trend in the German games industry is weakening

Published

1 month ago

July 31, 2024

George Miller

Slower workforce growth and fewer new companies - the upward trend in the German games industry is weakening

Reading Time: 2 minutes

• Number of German game companies grows by 4 per cent in twelve months
• Slowed growth pace: employment figures at developers and publishers up 3.5 per cent
• German games industry plus extended game labour market provides more than 30,000 jobs

The strong upward trend seen in the German games industry in recent years is now weakening significantly. After registering 15 per cent growth a year ago, the number of game companies increased by just 4 per cent in the past twelve months, to a total of 948 companies developing and publishing computer and video games in Germany. This was announced today by game – The German Games Industry Association on the basis of data from gamesmap.de in cooperation with Goldmedia. In particular, the number of companies that exclusively develop games is rising, with 6 per cent growth in the past year bringing the figure to 477 currently. A further 52 companies in Germany specialise exclusively in publishing video games and 419 are active in both game development and publishing. This amounts to a 52 per cent overall increase in the number of game companies in Germany since 2020.

Employee numbers at German game companies showed continued growth, but at only half the pace of the previous year. The number of employees at game development studios and publishers rose to 12,408 over the past twelve months, up around 3.5 per cent from last year’s figure of 11,992. This compares with 7 per cent growth recorded from 2022 to 2023. At first glance, the weakened yet still positive trend appears contradictory against the backdrop of the current overall decline in investment momentum and major waves of consolidation in the international games industry. While the current consolidation wave has indeed affected German game companies, its impact here has been less pronounced than in general internationally. One reason for this is that many game companies in Germany are currently still in the midst of projects made possible by federal games funding, which has served as a stabilising factor for the industry as a whole. In addition to the workforce in publishing and development, an estimated further 20,000 people are employed in the area of games. The games industry thus provides jobs for over 30,000 people in Germany, including skilled professionals in educational institutions, the media and the public and commercial sectors.

‘Games funding plays a decisive role in this. Although the on-going application freeze for the federal games funding has hampered the development of new projects for over a year now, the fact that many German studios were still in the middle of federally funded projects gave them stability. However, if the German government doesn’t ensure funding budgets at an internationally comparable level soon, the prospects for game companies will be all the more unclear. Along with the consolidation wave,’ he continues, ‘the current unpredictable and non-competitive framework conditions in Germany have now slowed the strong growth of recent years. The German government must finally make the promised funds available and return to the path of an ambitious policy of single-source game funding, as it announced in its latest growth initiative.’

About the data:
The data is drawn from a survey carried out by Goldmedia on the basis of entries on gamesmap.de. It was conducted on behalf of game – The German Games Industry Association for the period ending on 14 June 2024.

Central Europe

MightyTips announces collaboration agreement with Merkur Bets

Published

2 months ago

July 24, 2024

George Miller

MightyTips announces collaboration agreement with Merkur Bets

Reading Time: 2 minutes

MightyTips has announced a brand-new partnership with Merkur Bets targeting German-speaking bettors across Germany.

The move aims to expand the customer base for Merkur Bets, which is striving to build its position as a leading player in several Central European countries.

The exclusive partnership with the MightyTips platform – a tips and predictions hub – is hoped to boost acquisition rates in the region ahead of what is likely to be a busy conclusion to the summer.

The Olympics, the new Bundesliga and Premier League season, and other major sporting events are to take centre stage, with more people than ever engaging with sports betting.

After ten years of operating as XTiP, a recent rebranding means it is now known as Merkur Bets. The sports betting experience has been modernised, as the website now provides an updated design, faster loading times, and enhanced user-friendly navigation.

The change was announced by operators Merkur Group earlier in the year and included a fresh logo and redesigned aesthetics across both its online and physical outlets.

Stefan Bruns, CEO of Online Gambling and Sports Betting at Merkur Group, cited it as a new beginning for the company: “The renaming of XTiP to Merkur Bets is not only a new beginning, it also offers the opportunity to establish a completely renewed approach to sports betting within the Merkur Group.”

Since 2013, Merkur Group has been one of the leading operators in Germany. Its origins stretch back to 1957, when it was founded as a family-owned business by Paul Gauselmann.

Eugene Ravdin, MightyTips Communications and Marketing Manager said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Merkur Bets. They are one of the biggest betting companies in Europe and our services can further solidify their reputation as a leading player in this sector.”

Martin Collins, Head of Affiliates at Merkur Group added: “We are very pleased to continue our work with the MightyTips team. Both sides bring great knowledge to the table for our core markets, and we look forward to a long-term beneficial partnership.”