SBC CIS Weekly Digest: April, 17 — 21

SBC CIS Editorial Team is happy to present a quick recap of the gambling industry events, news, regulations and partnerships that happened last week. 

In Albania, the government is considering a bill to lift the ban on sports betting and gambling, which has been in force in the country for five years (since 2018). Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the ban would be lifted as the measure failed to help reduce organized crime. The bill, proposed by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, aims to create a regulated online gambling market, the services of which are provided by licensed companies that strictly comply with the anti-money laundering and customer service requirements.

Betlive, a sports betting operator, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Georgian Master League. The agreement entails the development of football in Tbilisi and the regions of the country, utilisation of all necessary resources for holding the amateur football championship, promotion of a healthy lifestyle, media support, as well as providing support for the Georgian sports in general. As part of the agreement, the tournament will change its name to Betlive Master League.

ProxyMeta, a game-dev company based in Georgia, announced its official entry into the Epic Games market with their latest game — Meta Nemesis. It is a unique, tactical first-person shooter. The game supports the use of blockchain, NFT technology and cryptocurrencies. All transactions and related activities, payment for the in-game purchases, refunds and customer support are handled by the publisher of this product. Meta Nemesis is a true free-to-play game where purchases do not affect the gameplay. 

Parimatch launched a major promotion in Kazakhstan with a total prize fund of 500 million tenge ($1M). Valuable prizes such as money, equipment and game consoles will be drawn from the total number of participants every week. But the bookmaker decided to go even further than that. Parimatch promises one unusual gift that tops all the others: a herd of horses.

Intralot released its financial performance data for the full 2022 year. The group’s turnover reached €392m, down 5.1% from 2021 (€414m). The decline in overall revenue is mainly due to the expiration of the Maltese Lottery (B2C) licence, which resulted in a loss of €50 million for the company. However, the company showed growth in several key regions — Argentina, Croatia and Australia. Moreover, growth in the B2B technology sector offset the negative impact of the loss of business in Malta. Despite lower revenues, Intralot’s EBITDA increased by 11.3% to €123 million in FY2022 (FY21: €111 million). In fiscal year 2022, operating cash flow was €96 million and net capital expenditure was €26.5 million; the company’s cash result at the end of 2022 was 102 million euros, and net debt was 490 million euros, which is 6.7 million euros less than in 21 years.

Bologna FC, Serie A veterans, are planning to use Stats Perform’s Opta Vision technology, which transmits accurate data enhanced by artificial intelligence. Opta Vision is setting up a new scouting and team analysis process management system, using computer vision and machine learning to capture player movement data. The Bologna FC recruiting team plans to embed Opta Vision’s data into their new internal data centre to analyse the contributions of players in different team formations, playing styles, situations and circumstances at certain points in a match.

BETER Live, a next-generation live casino content provider, announced the opening of two new studios in Romania — a European-style and an Indian-style ones. BETER Live Studio in Romania equipped with the latest technology. The provider made sure that clients in new studios can find a table that suits their preferences. From classic tables with a cinematic view of a land-based casino, to dark tables with LED lighting for a sporty atmosphere, to modern tables for the likes of the younger generation. The second studio in Romania is made in an Indian style with a collection of traditional Asian games. The studio was created in consultation with the local designers to reflect the cultural traditions of the Eastern region.

EvenBet Gaming, a leading provider of online poker solutions, launched an innovative B2B online poker solution that aims to revolutionise the way businesses interact with online poker. Dmitry Starostenkov, CEO of EvenBet Gaming, spoke about the important aspects of creating a successful online poker room. Operators make common mistakes by offering poor quality products or entering unprofitable markets. Starting something new, especially in the business of gambling, it is important to have a unique vision and a good understanding of the challenges that arise in everyday work. Read more about EvenBet’s tips for launching a successful poker offering on our website. 

REEVO, a B2B content aggregation platform, signed a major game integration deal with leading European operator Interwetten Group. The group will bring over the entire REEVO slot catalog, offering their players a selection of such fan favorites as Reel Fortune and Diamond Luck, as well as recent releases from Crazy Crocs and Wolf Wild and upcoming releases from Royal Bets and Mayan Magic Gold.

Yggdrasil, the leading iGaming publisher, teamed up with Bang Bang Games to create the innovative Shadow Raiders MultiMax™ game. This 5×3, 243-payline slot features pirates as main characters on the reels and includes the popular MultiMax Engagement Game (GEM) mechanics.

Wazdan, an innovative casino games provider, partnered with Palms Bet to expand its presence in Bulgaria. Palms Bet has been operating in Bulgaria for almost a decade. A total of 14 popular Wazdan games will be featured at the operator’s website — Larry the Leprechaun, 9 Lions, Great Book of Magic Deluxe, Sizzling 777 Deluxe, Magic Stars 9, Black Horse™ Deluxe, Fruit Mania Deluxe and Lucky Reels™. Palms Bet became the fourth Bulgarian operator partner for Wazdan after deals with INBET, Sesame and Alphawin.

CT Interactive certified over 190 games in Georgia. Local operators will gain access to an exclusive portfolio of world-class casino content. The company’s portfolio includes such games as Wild Clover, Win Storm, HOT 7s X 2, Bavarian Forest, Clover Party, Pot of Luck, Pot of Jewels, Lucky Clover, Purple Fruits, Big Joker and others. Over the years of its existence, the brand’s products have proven their quality and have helped more than 1,500 casinos around the world to improve quality of the customer service. 

BGaming, a fast growing online casino games provider, partnered with gaming content aggregator Geogrator. As part of the agreement, the BGaming portfolio will be offered to Georgian online casinos through local aggregators, expanding BGaming’s presence in Georgia. BGaming will complement Geogrator’s offering with a broad selection of slots and other online casino games, including popular titles with advanced math models, exceptional audio-visuals and a rich feature set.

PopOK Gaming, a modern iGaming content developer, announced the launch of its latest Instant Keno, an all-in-one solution for thrill-seekers. This simple and fun lottery style game offers players the chance to win big cash prizes at relatively low stakes by correctly picking lucky numbers ranging from 1 to 40. Instant Keno also offers four levels of risk to choose from: classic, low, medium and high. Each risk level offers different odds and payouts, so players will be able to choose the level that suits them best. 

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