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The game content aggregation software has passed a technical and security certification to offer services in the regulated market of Spain.

Press release.- After having passed a technical and security certification, SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator will be able to offer its services in the Spanish regulated market.

The Game Aggregator went through a security audit conducted by Asensi Technologies, a DGOJ-accredited testing company, and certification laboratory. As part of the audit, Asensi tested each individual technical integration with a game provider entity.

Certification by Asensi and the DGOJ (Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego), Spain’s main regulatory authority for land-based and online gambling, means that the Game Aggregator can now offer services to licensed gaming entities in Spain.

For local operators in Spain, an integration with a game developer or studio normally means passing a similar security audit and acquiring certification. Therefore the more game providers the operator wishes to add, the more time and resources they have to spend on every single integration.

With the latest certification, the Game Aggregator will be able to offer all gaming content as part of a single integration, where the local operator only needs to secure one certificate – between their online gaming entity and the Game Aggregator.

“The move towards regulated markets has been on our radar for a while. The Game Aggregator already offers games for regulated markets Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and international ones such as Curacao, Isle of Man, and Malta. We are pleased to be adding Spain to that list. Spain is known as a very demanding market from the point of view of its regulatory framework, both for operators and software suppliers like ourselves. What we want to do is make the lives of operators easier by getting all gaming content from one game hub” said Tatyana Kaminskaya, Head of Game Aggregator at SOFTSWISS.

The Game Aggregator will soon be sharing more news about the first client to go live on the regulated gaming market of Spain

Revenue was down against 2021, but stakes were 25 per cent higher.

Spain.- The Spanish gambling regulator, the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), has published gaming revenue and stakes figures for 2021, showing a decline in online gambling revenue despite a rise in stakes. Online gaming revenue fell 4.2 per cent year-on-year to €815m but stakes were up across all verticals.

There may have been concern that a decline in revenue was related to Spain’s new advertising restrictions, but with stakes up by 25 per cent and deposits up 216 per cent at €2.77bn, it appears to be more a result of trading.

Online casino overtakes sports betting in Spain
Online casino overtook sports betting for the first time with revenue rising by 16 per cent to €407.1m. Slots accounted for €241.4m (up 23 per cent) live roulette revenue €120.6m (up 18.6 per cent), blackjack €23.2m (down 5.7 per cent) and RNG roulette €22m (down 27.2 per cent). Total casino stakes rose by 50 per cent year-on-year to €13.6bn.

Online betting revenue fell to €305.9m, a drop of 16.2 per cent and the lowest total since 2016. In-play sports betting accounted for €192.2m (from €5.81bn staked), live sports betting €114.9m (stakes of €4.65bn) and horse racing bets actually generated negative revenue of €355.1m. Finally, poker revenue was €85.4m, down 22.7 per cent, despite stakes rising by 8.8% to €2.4bn.

Spanish gambling marketing spend down slightly
Operators marketing spend fell by just 0.9 per cent in a year that saw the introduction of new advertising restrictions for gambling operators in Spain. Football sponsorship was banned as of the start of the current season and TV and radio advertising was limited to between 1am and 5am.

Sponsorship spending dropped by 29.3 per cent to €19m. Advertising spend actually increased slightly to €205m while bonus spending slipped 1.1 per cent to €195m.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, casino revenue for February reached $1.1bn, up 44 per cent comparedyear-on-year.

US.- Nevada casinos generated revenue of more than $1bn for the 12th consecutive month in February. Casinos generated $1.1bn, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. It marks a new record for the state and topped the winnings for January, despite February having only 28 days.

February 2022’s revenue represents a 44 per cent year-over-year increase from February 2021, when casinos won $772.4m. It was also up 7 per cent against February 2020 and 10 per cent on February 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The rise is attributed to bets placed on sporting events such as the Super Bowl and a high number of concert performances in Las Vegas in February. The city hosted the NFL Pro Bowl and NHL All-Star Game on the same weekend, and the state saw nearly $180m wagered on pro football’s championship game.

Clark County led the way with nearly $950m in gaming win. Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip recorded $599.1m, while in downtown Las Vegas the gaming win was $69.2m. According to the Gaming Control Board, the state has collected $58.9m in percentage fees based on taxable revenue generated in February.

For Michael Lawton, senior research analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the streak will inevitably slump because of factors such as rising petrol costs and inflation caused by the aftereffects of Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine.

He said: “Our comparisons are going to become extremely difficult in the upcoming months and we are optimistic that this level of gaming win will continue.

“However, as you are aware there is a great deal of macro-economic and geopolitical events that are happening in real-time, which are concerning and it is unknown how it could impact the trends we have been witnessing for the past year.”

However, MGM Resorts’ director of trading, Jeff Stonebeck, is confident of high sports betting numbers for the NCAA College Basketball Tournament (March Madness).

Stonebeck said: “We get the same people who come out every single year for it. It’s an annual ritual for a group that will get four, five, or six guys who come out every year. A lot of people don’t pay attention to college basketball until the tournament.”

The Malta Gaming Authority has granted a licence to Pinnacle’s B2B arm.

Malta.- Pinnacle Solution, the B2B arm of Curaçao-based sportsbook operator Pinnacle Sports, has gained a licence from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). The licence will allow it to provide services to sportsbook partners within the MGA’s jurisdiction.

Pinnacle said it was seeking partnerships in various new territories, particularly Europe and Latin America. It currently services more than 50 sports betting operators.

Chief executive Paris Smith said: “We’ve made great efforts to ensure our trading practices and technology stack can be scaled quickly, openly, and transparently in order to give our sportsbook partners a first-class service that delivers the enhanced hold and revenue performance they’re after.

“Obtaining the MGA licence is proof that our expert teams have developed products that meet the market’s demands and high standards, and we’re now looking forward to servicing new partners in more markets.”

In the last month, the MGA has also granted licences to Stakelogic Live and Delasport.

For the moment, the international anti-money laundering (AML) body, The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has decided to keep Malta on its grey list of untrustworthy jurisdictions. However, it has suggested that the country is close to coming off the list.

It recognised that Malta had made significant reforms through its action plan after it was grey listed last year and had increased its use of the Financial Intelligence Unit’s (FIU) services to pursue money laundering and criminal tax cases.

Meanwhile, the MGA has advised gambling operators licensed in Malta that the sanctions imposed on Russia require them to undertake new screening on business relationships and background checks on customers.

A House panel has given its approval to legislation that would ask Georgia voters to choose whether they want to legalise sports betting and other forms of gambling in the state.

US.- Voters in Georgia would be able decide if they want to allow betting on sports and horse racing, as well casino gambling, under a proposed constitutional amendment moving forward in the state House. The House Economic Development and Tourism Committee has green lighted a pair of bills that seek to put the legalisation of betting to voters in November.

The committee voted in favor of an amended version of Senate Resolution 135, as well as Senate Bill 142, which would legalise sports betting on college and pro sports. The constitutional amendment must pass both the House and the Senate with a two-thirds majority.

Rep. Ron Stephens, a longtime proponent of expanding gambling, said consumers are already placing bets offshore and it’s time for Georgia to join the roughly 30 states that have legalised sports betting.

The House proposal would tax sports betting proceeds at 20 per cent, double the amount the Senate had previously proposed. Bettors would have to be 21, and betting on high school games would not be allowed.

The constitutional amendment says half of any proceeds from casinos and horse race betting would go for health care programmes. Of the remainder, 20 per cent would go to economic development in economically distressed parts of the state, 15 per cent to prekindergarten subsidies and 15 per cent to college tuition for people making below the median income.

Stephens wants to see proceeds from gaming used to provide more funding for college scholarships: “With this being the 30th anniversary of the lottery vote creating the HOPE Scholarship, more than 2 million Georgians have lifted themselves up through a higher education and technical college careers,” wrote the author of the amendments. “More than 1.6 million families received pre-K head starts. We will take up sports gaming in the days to come to close the gap with HOPE and pre-K.”

The amendment would also direct some sports betting licensing fees to a fund to attract sports events and some casino and horse race betting licensing fees to a fund to subsidize arts venues.

Those who oppose the proposal say state-sponsored gambling encourages addiction and other social harms. Rep Randy Nix said: “This is not something that the state of Georgia wants to its stamp of approval on,” and he added: “This is what people do that are desperate, and this state is doing extremely well.”

The state Senate passed a constitutional amendment last March calling for a statewide referendum on the legalisation of sports betting. While Senate Resolution 135 failed to reach the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives, it marked the first time a gambling bill had made it through either legislative chamber.

Professional sports teams in Atlanta have announced their support. Some of them include Atlanta United, the Braves, Falcons, and Hawks. They have said that sports betting would boost fan engagement and make sporting events more enjoyable for viewers.

The new German gambling regulator will review current player protection rules and create a platform for complaints and whistleblowing.

Germany. Members of the board at Germany’s new national gambling regulator, die Glücksspielbehörde (GGL), have given the first details of plans to strengthen player protection measures in the country. They plan to carry out a “data-based evaluation” of the country’s current rules.

The new regulator is expected to be up and running to launch on January 1, 2023. However, board member Ronald Benter has said that it is already looking at strengthening player protection measures.

He said it would create a system to allow the data-based evaluation of existing player protection measures contained in the Fourth State Treaty on Gambling, which came into force last July. The current rules include a €1 spin cap for online slots. The regulator said it would propose changes to legislators if it deemed them necessary.

Benter said: “Our objective is an internal evaluation system to measure the effect of the player protection measures of the treaty.”

Complaints and whistle-blower system for online gambling
The regulator also plans to devise an early detection system for gambling harm and to create a centralised complaints and whistleblowing system that the public will be able to use to report ‘irregularities’ with licensed gambling operators, advertising violations and suspicions of illegal gambling.

It aims to develop an automated process “to quickly initiate appropriate measures and to receive automated evaluation options about the frequency of complaints on specific topics or providers.”

Benjamin Schwanke, another board member, said: “We will approach relevant experts and institutions in the area of ​​provider-related early detection systems for gambling addiction, because we need further development of common, cross-provider scientific standards for early detection of gambling addiction.”

He said the regulator was talking with industry associations about free gambling harm services available on the national public health hotline Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA).

The GGL, which is being hosted by the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, launched its website last month. It says that 110 staff will be required by the agency before it becomes fully operational on January 1.

Until then, the executive of Hesse remains the temporary body for German sports betting licences while Saxony-Anhalt is responsible for online casino and poker licences. The north-eastern state was chosen to host the federal gaming supervisor in 2020 as part of the development of the new federal treaty on gambling, which established a federal regulated online gambling market from last July.

Bundestag representative Anne Poggemann is serving as the state’s first gambling minister and overseeing the creation of the GGL, which will have its headquarters in Halle in the south of Saxony Anhalt. Ronald Benter and Benjamin Schwanke will lead the regulator as joint chief executives.

As well as licensing, the GGL will be responsible for maintaining databases monitoring player engagements and operator activities.

The latest feature from SOFTSWISS online casino platform grants players with balances in crypto the opportunity to play games that do not natively support cryptocurrencies.

Press release.- The SOFTSWISS Online Casino Platform has recently revealed its latest crypto-centric feature – the in-game currency exchange. The newest feature grants players with balances in crypto the opportunity to play games that do not natively support cryptocurrencies.

Previously, players who had registered at a casino with crypto as their primary currency would have access only to games that supported cryptocurrency denominations in-game. This meant that if the game provider had not enabled cryptocurrencies, such as mBTC or mETH, as supported currencies, players would have to create a fiat balance in order to open the game. According to due diligence procedures, players with a fiat balance must disclose more personal information, such as full name, date of birth, and address.

Once players open a game with their crypto balance selected, they will be able to select a fiat currency to which their active balance is converted via the rates of CoinMarketCap. Therefore, in-game bets will register as those made in a fiat currency in the player’s betting history. All winnings, bonuses, and balance changes will be reflected in the base crypto currency. The player’s will see the exchange rate and their active balance in the game currency as they play, while their base balance will be recalculated after they close the game window.

With the launch of the currency exchange feature, players no longer need to register a fiat balance and make a deposit to play their favourite slots, table games, or live dealer titles. They will now be able to make bets across all available games and game providers offered at the casino. If previously the list of crypto-friendly game providers counted 40+ game studios, today players will be able to enjoy game titles from across all 170+ game providers available through the SOFTSWISS Casino Platform.

Upon release, all bets made in crypto will be registered as USD bets, with more fiat currency pairs to be added later.

Andrey Starovoitov, COO at SOFTSWISS had this to say, “I am pleased to share that we are moving forward in making more games available to our operators’ players. A currency exchange feature has long been associated with crypto dice brands, which have amassed a big audience for classic casino content. With the latest innovation in the form of the currency exchange feature, we are opening up our entire game portfolio for crypto players and operators. We are also simplifying the entire player journey and gameplay experience. SOFTSWISS has always been associated as a crypto-fist brand, and we are happy to reaffirm that position yet again.”

Crypto-casinos powered by the SOFTSWISS Online Casino Platform will no longer be limited in the number of game providers available and will be able to increase their game offering. Curacao-licensed casinos will also be able to take advantage of the currency exchange feature.

In dialogue with Focus Gaming News, the CEO at EGT Interactive explained the company’s strategy through its transformation to Amusnet Interactive.

Exclusive interview.- After six years in the market, EGT Interactive became Amusnet Interactive. In this framework, in a one-on-one with Focus Gaming News, Ivo Georgiev, CEO at (now) Amusnet Interactive, explained the keys to the process. He stressed that the new name brings together the best of the past and the future: it combines the excellence of its already established products and the inclination towards innovation.

What was the driving force that pushed the company to change its name to Amusnet Interactive, after six years in the market?

Yes, for the past six years, we have grown immensely in terms of products, clients’ portfolio, markets presence and business. And most importantly, while we were growing, the team kept the same values and quality of the products and services.

We decided to initiate the change of our name to Amusnet Interactive because we are changing along with the iGaming industry. The new name marks a milestone in our company development. It is a simple way to communicate our brand positioning much clearer, and it is based on our constant desire for innovation.

How does the new name reflect the company’s approach and positioning?

We are proud of where we came from and how much we have accomplished for the past six years. We are the same team striving for excellence with the same mission – deliver the best products and services to the online casino market. 

The new name reflects only on our product development and follows the strategy of combining the classics with the latest industry trends. It will not affect our core beliefs, fantastic products and services we provide. We will just further improve!

What did the process look like?

It’s been a very smooth process since its beginning. Nevertheless, it isn’t over yet because the team continues to execute the transition of changing our name.

The whole process is complex. Many factors have to be taken into consideration. But we overcome it with perfect planning, clear deadlines and responsibilities. As a result, the team and I feel confident and aware of what is coming next.

What can we expect from Amusnet Interactive in terms of new products and markets?

Amusnet Interactive is determent to grow and develop. In terms of products, we will continue to deliver our emblematic EGT Interactive slots but also enrich the portfolio with new product verticals. Great products are coming next in the pipeline as we already began with Live Casino, Amusnet Slots, Keno and Lotto.

Also, we are constantly investigating the possibilities to enter new markets as the regulations are changing rapidly. We are a leading provider on numerous markets, and our Business Development team makes sure we continue strengthening our position.

How has the new name been received by your partners?

We are incredibly pleased with how well the transition goes and the response we receive. Our partners are excited just like us and support the change. We are making sure to answer all questions and share our positioning.

We appreciate their trust and the determination to join us in this exciting journey!

Focusgn.com

The new EGBA group aims to share information to track and resolve cyber security incidents in the gaming sector.

Belgium.- The European Gaming and Betting Association has created a new expert group on cyber security to facilitate information sharing on cyber threats and attacks among its members and to promote cooperation to track and resolve incidents and identify and solve security vulnerabilities.

The group will comprise cyber security experts from EGBA member operators, with a Memorandum of Understanding to allow for data sharing between the different operators. Participation will be open to all members. The group will also seek to research and implement best practices on cyber security.

EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer said: “We have launched this expert group to encourage and establish a much-needed platform for cross-industry cooperation on cybersecurity issues.

“Cyber criminals are increasingly determined and sophisticated in their efforts to try to hack into gambling websites to steal customer data and money. Cyber threats tend to be cross-border in nature, affect operators in the same ways, and are a common threat to the industry.

“That’s why it is crucially important that operators work closer together to strengthen cyber security protocols and procedures, find common solutions to the latest threats and security vulnerabilities, and implement the highest security standards.”

As examples of cyber security threats that could affect the betting and gaming sector, the EGBA listed distributed denial-of-service (DDoSs) attacks, which use artificial traffic to bombard a website and slow it down, and account takeovers (ATO), where bots mimic legitimate login activity to access player accounts.

It also mentioned odds and price scraping, in which bots scrape odds from multiple websites to make betting decisions; credit card fraud and promotion abuse where bots are used for mass account creation to use promotional offers.

The EGBA said cyber security threats tended to increase during major sporting events, with a 96% year-on-year rise in attacks during Euro 2020, particularly targeting British and German sites.

The EGBA has been supporting the European Union’s plan for a harmonised European Digital Identity (E-ID). The digital ID system will allow EU citizens to guard a range of data, such as name, date of birth, bank account numbers, driving licences and proof of Covid-19 vaccination status in a single electronic wallet.

The EGBA has long pushed for more standardised regulation of consumer protection rules across the European Union, noting the great disparity in online gambling regulation across the bloc.

The company presented a new slot inspired by the Mexican series.

Press release.- All the thrills and drama of the global hit TV series has entered the slot world with Red Tiger’s Narcos Mexico slot. Bringing players a world of fast money and dangerous vices, players have the chance to experience rival bosses and notorious gangsters like never before – the battle is on!

This new game boasts a high volatility where players can take on the cartels with Cartel Wars. Mystery Symbols trigger a battle when landing adjacent to two or more rival territories and the leader with the biggest territory wins the clash and acquires the territory, while the loser falls in a hail of bullets.

Each Marked Territory symbol will increase a global stake multiplier. And the maximum possible total multiplier available stands at 10,500x – and winning just got a whole lot more exciting.

When players win 100x their stake or more, they have the option to exchange 100x their stake for three Cartel Spins with Win Exchange. The chance of winning the gamble is shown through a spinning wheel – the bigger the green segments, the higher their chance to win.

Todd Haushalter, Chief Product Officer at Evolution said: “This is our second Narcos game, with the first one being done by the team at NetEnt. We have had a lot of success sharing IP between NetEnt and Red Tiger, for example with Gonzo’s Quest and Piggy Riches. It’s always exciting working with branded games, and we’ve been part of some brilliant partnerships.”

And he added: “This new Narcos Mexico Slot is a great example of this and it’s going to attract new and casual players in a big way. Narcos Mexico Slot gives players the chance to enter this fast money world in a completely fresh way and we can’t wait to see what players think of it.”

Focusgn.com