Microgaming Software Systems Ltd. has emerged the buyer of Playwize's three-dimensional poker technology, and the Isle of Man company told IGamingNews that a number of its 47 poker licensees have expressed interest in the software.
"Players are increasingly tech-savvy and they expect more from Internet gaming," Janine Woodford, marketing director of Microgaming, said in an e-mail. "The Playwize software will allow Microgaming operators to attract a growing segment that want an interactive, 3-D poker experience."
Playwize, formerly known as Bits Corp, got its start in the 1990's developing video game software for the likes of Sony Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and Nintendo Company Ltd. It floated on London's Alternative Investment Market in 2000 and joined the Internet gambling scene in 2005.
In a stock exchange statement last month, Playwize, headed by Fouad Mir Al Katan, announced it would be terminating all staff. It also said it would be selling off its assets and software technology in an attempt to repay its creditors.
During the company's brief run in the I-gaming space, Mr. Katan, a gaming developer since 1984, had inked a deal with France's Groupe Partouche and operated an own-brand poker room on the Microgaming network called Pokerwize. Playwize also white-labeled its three-dimensional poker software to its first and only licensee, Ladbrokes.
Ladbrokes currently runs a standalone poker network on Microgaming software but announced in August that it would merge with Microgaming's network from 2009.
With competition in the two-dimensional poker market fiercer than ever -- this according to nearly every I-gaming chief executive in the City -- the possibility exists for Microgaming to establish itself in the nascent three-dimensional market, over which PKR currently presides.
"The acquisition of Playwize will undoubtedly enable our poker licensees to attract a new genre of player," Ms. Woodford said.
Warwick Bartlett, the owner of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, suggested recently to IGN that three-dimensional poker products could do particularly well with the younger generation of Asian gamblers, for whom visually rich console gaming on Xbox and Playstation is the norm.
"In Asia this style of entertainment gaming is really popular -- in fact, it is one of the main social pastimes," he said.
Malcolm Graham, the chief executive of PKR, said at last month's World Poker Congress that his company is set to launch the second generation of its software platform in the first half of 2009, and that a three-dimensional casino and sports book are in the concept stage.
While Microgaming has not explicitly stated how it intends to leverage the Playwize technology, a boost in liquidity from Ladbrokes and a large number of licensees could make Microgaming PKR's first serious competitor, after the likes of Yatahay Ltd. and Designed Quality Entertainment -- also three-dimensional poker operators -- have failed to keep pace.
Chris Krafcik is the editor of IGamingNews. He lives in St. Louis, Mo.