Like any e-commerce industry, the interactive gaming
market seems to be flooded with new products and services geared for
operators and ancillary providers. To help make sense of all the various
options available for the industry, IGN offers its weekly Product
Spotlight to give a detailed look at one such product or company that is
targeting the interactive gaming community. Each week the spotlight will
touch on the company that created the service, the technical specs of
the service and what lies ahead for both the service and the company.
The Company
Formed in 2001, Integrated Games licenses a complete
no-download software solution for casino and sports book operations on
the Internet and in networked environments. It licenses its software for
deployment only in jurisdictions that license and regulate online
gaming. The company is uniquely designed to focus on gaming software
development, while leaving the hosting and management of gaming Web sites
to clients who host their own sites and to a growing list of value-added
resellers. Such resellers license, host and provide all the services necessary to furnish a turnkey casino and sports book solution to operators.
Integrated Games is located in San Francisco, Calif.
It got its start by acquiring online gaming software that
enabled the company to quickly add new products, tools and features to
provide an alternative to the current software providers.
Its CEO, John Ford, has the benefit of having come
from the regulated gaming industry. He spent twelve years working with
the gaming division of Hilton Group plc, where he was involved in the
launch of Ladbrokes' online gaming operation in the United States in 1997. He has
experience in regulated gaming in the United States, Canada and England.
The Product
The Integrated Custom Casino provides a large
selection of the most popular casino games, including Blackjack, Video
Poker, Roulette, Keno and a variety of single-line, five-line and
nine-line slots, all with progressive jackpot capabilities. The company
focuses on browser-based games using Macromedia Flash for the user
interface. The Flash viewer is included with more than 96 percent of
personal computers worldwide and provides a graphically rich environment
in which to play games.
Integrated has developed proprietary technology that
permits it to send secure communications through the Flash viewer to
ensure player protection and security. In addition, by ensuring easy
integration with third-party game suppliers, a large selection of
additional games is also available for its clients. The company has
already entered a game development agreement with Next Generation
in Australia. Integrated introduced its sports wagering module at the
International Casino Exposition in London in January.
The sports wagering module is fully integrated with
the casino software and allows one customer account to be used for all
products. Working with industry-leading gaming operators experienced in
casino and sports wagering, Integrated expects its sports wagering
product to surpass those offered by other providers by delivering a
robust, scalable sports wagering system that is fully adaptable to all
global wagering markets. Integrated's Sports Wagering module offers a
complete game interface and management system that enables operators to
offer wagering propositions on any event around the world. It has been
built to handle tens of thousands of simultaneous transactions, easily
accommodating large operators and ensuring consistent access for the
gaming customer, even at peak betting times.
Features and benefits include international scope and
reach, full customization, scalability and load balancing, expandability
for future products, browser based technology and adaptability for Sun,
WinNT and Linux.
Integrated also offers a play-for-fun option for
those companies wanting go down that road.
The Future
Regarding licensing: Integrated works with both clients who
want to host and manage their own online gaming system, as well as
operators who want a hosted turnkey solution. A growing network of value-added resellers who host and provide a turnkey solution to operators in
online gaming jurisdictions using the Integrated Games software provides
the hosting solution. For potential value-added resellers, Integrated
has looked to larger online gaming operators who are looking to maintain
more control over their existing business. The company wants to allow
the larger operator to take control over important aspects of its
business, such as customer service and banking, while also having the
opportunity of additional revenue through reselling Integrated software.
Integrated's first value-added reseller, "Premium
Gaming," will launch its first batch of live customer sites at the end
of March. The first live site using Integrated's new sports book is
scheduled for launch on April 15.