SoftSwiss, a leading casino software provider, has announced that it has become the latest firm to enter into a franchise agreement with Yggdrasil.
The licensing agreement will commence on 18th August 2020 and will enable SoftSwiss to boost control of its igaming business strategy and drive new revenue streams and also launch Yggdrasil’s entire portfolio of products and services.
As a partner of YG Franchise, SoftSwiss will gain access to Yggdrasil’s comprehensive end-to-end development process, the YG platform including GATI technology, proprietary games content with new releases such as Vault of Fortune and promotional tools via Boost, as the firm endeavors to augment its geographical reach.
Max Trafimovich, the CCO at SoftSwiss, commented that they are delighted to become part of Yggdrasil’s unique YG Franchise network and to utilize the solution to collaborate and drive revenue and growth.
Trafimovich went on to say that the content is strong and supported with unique promotional tools under Boost and they look forward to sharing the games within their expanding network of operating partners.
He also said that by working together with Yggdrasil and other franchise partners, using their igaming ‘in a box’ solution and the GATI technology, they expect to reinforce their market position as a leading casino solution provider in the industry.
Bjorn Krantz, Head of Publishing at Yggdrasil said that SoftSwiss are proven as a leading casino supplier and they are extremely happy to add them to their expanding YG Franchise network.
Krantz added that the franchise enables them to take full control of their igaming strategy, to scale their business for success in an efficient and secure way and, ultimately, to drive new revenue streams.
The Indiana Gaming Commission has given its official approval for Kindred Group’s Unibet brand to launch its mobile sports betting products in the state.
In May of this year Unibet Indiana LLC was given a temporary vendor license that enabled it to offer sports betting in partnership with Caesar Entertainment’s Horseshoe Hammond casino in Hammond, Indiana.
The Commission has now stated that during the period it operated with a temporary permit, Unibet ‘substantially demonstrated’ that its mobile sports wagering actions satisfied all relevant regulations in the state. This has resulted in the Commission granting its approval for Unibet to roll out its full mobile sports offering in Indiana from Thursday, 30th July 2020.
In February Kindred entered into a multi-state agreement with Caesars in terms of which it launched the Unibet brand in Indiana and Iowa. The agreement was subject to approval in both states. The Iowa portion of the agreement covers a partnership with the Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino.
The regulated sports betting market in Indiana saw handle and revenue decline in June, despite land based casinos in the state re-opening midway through the month. According to official Commission figures, amounts wagered across all licensees fell 20.2% month-on-month to $29.8m.
Kindred has however, reported a year-on-year rise in revenue in the first half of the year, even though its business was impacted by the novel coronavirus (Covid 19) pandemic.
Gross winnings revenue for the six months ending 30th June totaled an amount of £484.8m, an increase of 7.6% from £450.6m in the same period in 2019.
Habanero, a leading slots and table games provider, has announced the launch of its latest video slot game, ‘Wealth Inn’ that is playable from $0.02 up to $10 per spin.
‘Wealth Inn’ is a captivating 3 reel – 3 rows and 8 active pay line video slot that will create wins by having three matching symbols placed on adjacent reels from the leftmost. The video slot features a curved 3D display to bring players a lifelike feeling of a real slot machine.
The new slot game has been designed with the Chinese culture in mind and takes players to an inn run by Cai Shen, the God of Wealth in Chinese culture.
Symbols on the reels that are designed with red backgrounds and golden borders, include the Cai Shen Wild, gold Ingots, a Jade object, a hand-drawn Green Knot, Red Knot, a Hat, a Peach and Ruyi.
Wilds are the Wealth Inn Bonus symbols that could land on any position on the reel set and can be used to substitute for any other paying symbol, but not to improve the pay line.
Wilds turn into Expanding Wilds once landed on the table and cover an entire reel to produce more winners.
Vera Moto,Business Development Executive at Habanero, commented that they are thrilled to announce the launch of Wealth Inn, a nostalgic casino classic that superbly showcases the time-honored slot features that players love best.
Motto added that ‘ready to be delivered’ with their retention-driving Jackpot RaceTM functionality, she is confident that their immersive new title will be warmly received by their fan base, which is larger than ever before thanks to their continued global expansion.
DraftKings is pleased to announce that it has expanded its multi-year content and marketing relationship with the PGA TOUR by becoming the first ‘Official Daily Fantasy Game of the PGA TOUR’.
DraftKings became the TOUR’s first ‘Official Daily Fantasy Game of the PGA TOUR’ in July of last year, as part of a multi-year, exclusive arrangement.
Norb Gambuzza, Senior Vice President, Media and Gaming of the PGA TOUR, commented that they could not be more pleased with growing their collaboration with DraftKings.
Gambuzza went on to say that the growth in consumption and fan engagement they have seen over the last year in their DraftKings Daily Fantasy games has been tremendous. He added that the expansion of the relationship to now include sports betting is a natural evolution and one which fully supports and promotes the PGA TOUR’s objectives of reaching and engaging new segments of fans while introducing them to their players, tournaments and media platforms.
As the TOUR’s official Betting Operator, DraftKings will secure content and video rights, enabling its sports-book solution to create pre-game and post-game betting programming as well as distribution of highlights to users who have placed bets.
Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer of DraftKings said that DraftKings and the PGA TOUR have continued to make history with the innovative additions to their agreement which began last year.
Kucharz also said they are excited to further their relationship with the PGA TOUR as their first Official Betting Operator as well. He added that Golf has been an especially important outlet for fan engagement over these past few months, and this latest collaboration is a significant next step for both the golf and gaming industries.
Last month Governor J. B. Pritzker introduced new measures permitting casinos across Illinois to re-open from 1st July 2020 and signed an executive order temporarily relaxing restrictions on bettors having to register in-person in order to access online sports betting services.
However, Governor Pritzker failed to extend the executive order relaxing the requirement and consumers in Illinois will once again have to register in person for online sports betting accounts.
Once the state’s casinos were forced to temporarily close in mid-March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, in-person registration became impossible.
Casinos were, however, given permission to re-open from 1st July 2020 after regions across the state reached the health benchmarks set out which would allow the state to move towards Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan. Casinos have been permitted to re-open in line with a number of measures to help slow the spread of Covid-19, including operating at 50% capacity.
The Executive Order was due to last for as long as the state’s Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamations were in effect with the fifth and most recent Proclamations, also designed to support the state during the pandemic, ending on Sunday, 26th July 2020.
Despite the fact that Pritzker extended several Executive Orders to run in line with ongoing Covid-19 measures, the temporary removal of in-person registration was not among those that were renewed.
It would, therefore, appear that consumers in Illinois must once again register at approved venues in order to open a new online sports betting account with licensed operators in the state.