Industry News
Evolution Gaming unveils new Deal or No Deal Live game, among its 10 new games showcased at London Event
Evolution Gaming, leading provider of Live Casino solutions, will showcase 10 new games at ICE 2019 (stand N2-230, 5-7 February at ExCeL London), including Deal or No Deal Live, Lightning Dice, Free Bet Blackjack, and one secret game that will be revealed during the show.
According to Todd Haushalter, Evolution’s Chief Product Officer, “This really is the start of a new era where entertainment is at the core of the new games we are making. Netflix, YouTube and video games are the alternative to online gaming, so games need to be both great gaming experiences and entertaining.”
Based on the hit TV show, Deal or No Deal Live is the world’s first 24/7 game show allowing players to play along from the comfort of their own home.
Haushalter added, “We wanted to stay true to the game show that people know and love, retaining the engaging presenter and the thrill of awaiting the offer from the banker but all the while making it compatible for online players as a live game. With that in mind, we embarked upon what has been the most complex studio that Evolution has ever built to date. The game has a mix of RNG elements allowing players the chance to win big, as well as the universally recognisable studio set design and rich sound effects for UI actions recreating the atmosphere of the hit TV show and bringing that to online gaming.”
In addition to Deal or No Deal Live, nine other new games are showcased at ICE:
- One secret game that will be revealed during the exhibition in collaboration with one of the world’s best-loved game brands;
- Lightning Dice, with multipliers of up to 1000x, and the latest member of Evolution’s Lightning family following the runaway success of Lightning Roulette, which won three Game of the Year awards in 2018;
- Free Bet Blackjack, the most popular Blackjack variation in land-based casinos;
- Super Sic Bo, a new take on the favourite dice game, supercharged with random multipliers of up to 1000x;
- Side Bet City, a fast, simple poker game with big pay-outs and wrapped in a 1980’s theme;
- Two new RNG games that further extend Evolution’s First Person Gaming range with First Person Dream Catcher and First Person Lightning Roulette;
- 2 Hand Casino Hold’em, offering two separate hands in each round of our most popular Poker game
- Infinite Blackjack, which allows an unlimited number of players to sit on one table and make independent decisions.This game recently went live and is already the most popular Blackjack table in the world by player counts.
Redefining Live Casino entertainment is a key theme for Evolution at ICE 2019. Like the secret game to be revealed during ICE, Evolution’s Deal or No Deal Live has the profile to attract new player types to Live Casino. It is the world’s first 24/7 game show and Haushalter says that Evolution is aiming really high with this title: “We want to reach an entertainment standard so high that people would want to watch the progress of the game even if they weren’t players in it, just as they would watch the TV show.”
Haushalter added, “We have never introduced so many games at one time. Following our successes with Lightning Roulette, we naturally feel pressure to deliver more truly unique games that not only engage today’s players but also provide new levels of entertainment and immersion. There is a real buzz around the company because we are confident we have met that challenge with this stellar line-up of new games. We are so very proud to be working with such a landmark famous name as Deal or No Deal, as well as showcasing incredible specialty games — all developed in-house by our immensely strong and talented team. Come by our stand at ICE to see all of the above and the unveiling of our secret additional game.”
Industry News
Maximising Your Cross-Market Appeal
With Bitblox introducing an entirely new breed of crypto-based price prediction games to the iGaming industry, we talked to CEO, Brandt Page, to discover how combining elements of both chance and skill with lightning-fast betting rounds has helped improve their cross-market appeal.
When Bitblox was first established, our core concept was relatively simple; we didn’t just want to provide players with a new twist on an existing format like slots or casino games, but instead sought to create an entirely new vertical that combined elements of chance and elements of skill.
One of the main drivers behind this decision was the fact that we wanted our releases to appeal to as broad an audience as possible – and I think from the figures we’ve seen so far, we’ve already had some notable success on that front in terms of the players that are engaging with our games.
Funnily enough, I was recently talking to the Head of Marketing from one of the operators that we work with and they told me they were struggling to place our games optimally. Initially, they’d put them in with crash and instant win content, but they soon discovered a lot of their in-game traffic was coming from sports bettors. A move to the sports betting tab followed, but the exact same-thing happened with casino players, leading to the games eventually winding up on the front page.
As this was going on, our games were continuing to post solid numbers with the customers who bet on both sports and casino – and all of this engagement was coming without there being any additional promotion from us or the operator. So why was it that our games were performing so well across these different player segments? I believe there are a number of contributing factors.
First and foremost, having this hybrid model of games of chance and games of skill that I’ve already mentioned has placed us in a fairly unique position within the iGaming industry. On the one hand, the simple premise of our Bitcoin-based titles – coupled with their attractive designs and intuitive UI – makes them highly accessible to casino players who are just looking to have fun.
On the other, the fact that Bitblox games aren’t based on RNG and are instead pinned to the real-time movements of the Bitcoin market certainly resonates with a sports betting audience. As they have the ability to follow the charts and use this information to inform their decisions, they definitely feel they have more control over the outcome than if they were playing a traditional slot.
Another key aspect of our cross-market appeal is the fast-paced nature of all Bitblox releases. With casino players being accustomed to the quick wins and instant gratification of slots and crash games and sports bettors also showing a growing preference for in-play wagering, we’ve ensured each game round is resolved quickly and that there are multiple opportunities for betting.
When we first launched Up or Down?, which features one-minute betting rounds, we soon learned that even this timeframe is too long for some players. This resulted in us developing Up or Down? Turbo – a game which kept the same mechanics as its predecessor but reduced the betting window to 20 seconds – and this has gone on to become one of our most successful titles.
Keeping all this in mind, one of the things I’m most excited about is the upcoming release of our latest game, 3 in a Row, as I think this is a title that really ties everything I’ve talked about so far together. Designed to look like a slot machine, 3 in a Row challenges players to correctly predict how the Bitcoin price will move over three separate 20-second windows for even bigger payouts.
Intended to appeal to casual users and serious sports bettors alike, players can elect to either spin the reels for fun and select a random price sequence or use the bet builder feature to put together their own custom prediction. With the latter essentially functioning like an accumulator bet, players can select up to three possible combinations – i.e. Up/Up/Up, Up/Up/Down etc – and only one result needs to land for them to win, ensuring they stay engaged until the final seconds.
I believe that 3 in a Row can help build on the strong foundations we’ve laid down with casino and sports bettors and provide operators with another popular option that offers significant cross-market appeal. Based on what we’ve seen from previous Bitblox releases, the audience for titles that combine elements of chance and elements of skill is definitely out there – and I’m looking forward to our unique brand of crypto-based games being enjoyed by even more players in future.
Industry News
Gaming Corps to launch with lotteries in the USA via EQL games deal
In-demand content provider extends reach into largest iGaming market in the world with its full suite of games made available via iLottery aggregation platform
Gaming Corps, a publicly-listed game studio based in Sweden renowned for creating industry-leading games, has made its debut in the US market through a breakthrough agreement with leading lottery provider, EQL Games.
The distribution agreement will see Gaming Corps’ full suite of games made available to EQL Games’ powerful iLottery Aggregation Platform, developed to provide lottery operators across America with direct access to a portfolio of proprietary and third-party games.
Following the integration, EQL Games’ lottery operator partners will be offered proven Slots, Table Games, Multiplier Games, Mine Games and Plinko Games, as well as titles under Gaming Corps’ innovative and trademarked Smash4Cash™ series.
The deal and integration come at a time of growing demand among online lottery operators in the US for non-traditional content, a format that Gaming Corps has excelled in, especially with its Smash4Cash™ games, which have been a hit with players in global markets.
EQL’s aggregation platform has been developed to allow online lottery operators to quickly and easily access content from multiple game studios simultaneously through one integration and one commercial agreement.
Its iLottery Aggregation platform simplifies the process of adding new games to an online lottery brand across regulated states. In addition to the third-party content provided via its aggregator platform, EQL Games has a portfolio of in-house titles.
This includes games produced under licence with Team USA which were rolled out by several state lotteries for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this year, with new titles being planned ahead of the Winter Games in Milan (2026) and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles (2028).
Juha Kauppinen, CEO of Gaming Corps, said: “The USA has always been somewhat of the holy grail for game developers like us, which has been further emphasised as markets in several states have become regulated. The potential in the American market is enormous, and the impact for us is a bit difficult to assess, but we have great hopes for the collaboration with EQL Games, which has an impressive platform towards U.S. lotteries.
“We believe it will have a significantly positive impact on our revenues. I would like to personally take the opportunity to thank EQL Games and Brad Cummings for the collaboration, and we are now working hard to complete the integration so that all our games will be offered to EQL’s customers via their platform.”
Brad Cummings, CEO of EQL Games, added: “Including Gaming Corps as a supplier to the EQL Games iLottery Aggregator is an exciting step forward in our mission to offer unique, high-quality content to state lotteries. Gaming Corps’ expertise in iGaming, along with their unique game portfolio, fits perfectly with our vision of enhancing the lottery experience through dynamic and engaging content.”
Industry News
Public Voting Starts for Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0
The highly anticipated Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0 has officially entered the public voting phase as submissions are closed.
More than 70 game providers have turned in over 160 submissions, including Tom Horn Gaming, Pragmatic Play and RubyPlay. Public voting involves enthusiasts casting their votes to pick the winner of the Game of Public Choice category.
The Public voting phase ends on December 1st 23:59 GMT+4.
Concurrent to public voting, the first phase of private voting also starts during which all participants who have submitted entries get the chance to vote for one favourite in each category. An international auditing company oversees this phase to eliminate duplicate votes and self-votes. This phase ends on November 19, 23:59 GMT+4.
The second phase of private voting will also take place with a jury of industry experts making their decisions based on the shortlist picked by participants during the first phase.
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