NEW MALTA LICENSEE
On Thursday,
Everest Gaming Ltd. said it has obtained a remote gaming license from the Maltese government.
The operator, which owns the brands Everest Poker and Everest Casino, said that the license will open up more opportunities for partnerships in European markets.
MISSING OUT
If the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is repealed, the United States could see a $52 billion revenue bump in the next ten years, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
A study, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd. for UC Group, an online payment processor, found that by taxing online gambling instead of prohibiting it could be financially beneficial for the country.
According to Reuters, this new figure is up by 22 percent when compared to 2007 because of online gambling’s growing popularity in the United States.
RECRUITING
Evolution Gaming has appointed Fredrik Bjurle, a former product manager for Boss Media A.B., as director of product development in what the company calls its first step in becoming a full-suite software provider.
“Evolution has recruited Fredrik as the first step towards becoming a full-suite software provider by 2010,” said Jens von Bahr, chief executive of Evolution Gaming. “His years of experience at Boss Media will help us achieve our goal of becoming more than a market leading niche gaming business.”
REPORTING
For the year, Rank Group, which owns Mecca Bingo and Blue Square, posted a £9.1 million loss -- down from a £23.1 profit in 2007.
Despite the loss and a year-over-year revenue decline of 2.2 percent, the Financial Times said that Rank Group’s earnings surpassed some analysts’ forecasts.
“2008 was a year of stabilization for Rank -- following a period of significant upheaval in the gaming industry in 2007,” said Ian Burke, chief executive of Rank Group, in a company statement. “The group ended 2008 in significantly better shape than it had started the year.”
Adjusted pre-tax profit fell by £5.7 million to £40.5 million, and Rank Group’s net debt decreased by £90.4 million to £226.5 million in 2008.
PARTNER UP
Italian Fueps, an online game company jointly owned by RCS and Digital Bros, has signed a long-term service partnership with Jadestone Networks.
Jadestone will offer its GamArena suite to Fueps’ players in Italy and Spain. Jadestone said in a statement that the new offering is days away from launching.
“We were looking for great skill games for our Fueps.com game site,” said Francesco Gaziano, the general director at Fueps, in the statement. “With Jadestone, we got gorgeous looking games.”
’GREASE’-ING THE WHEELS
Probability is using Danny, Sandy and all the familiar tunes from the 1978 musical “Grease” in its new mobile slot game that goes by the same title.
In an exclusive licensing contract with Paramount Pictures, Probability announced on Thursday that “Grease” will be a three-reel, 17-pay line slot with a bonus mini-game where players can bet between 10 pence to £1 on each pay line. The slot game also features a bonus round based on the movie’s “Shake Shack.”
Probability’s chief executive, Charles P. Cohen, said in a statement that the new game uses a new slots engine, which has been in development by the mobile games company for six months.
LAUNCHING
Scratch2Cash has combined the high-low game with scratch cards in a new online game called “Hi Lo 54.”
The new game, which launched on Thursday, allows players to bet on whether the next number is higher or lower than the number displayed.
Scratch2cash.com is owned and operated by Malta-based NG International Ltd. and NeoGames Network Ltd. , subsidiaries of NeoPoint Technologies.
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