Issue N29, 2009
July 30, 2009
New Scratch Card Games for Betsson
Clients of popular Swedish online gambling operator, Betsson, will be pleased to note that the site will soon carry a new collection of flash based scratch card titles, especially created for the European market. The games, to be launched around the third quarter of this year, are the result of a business to business agreement signed between Betsson and scratch games professionals, NeoGames. This is the first type of B2B licensee contract for NeoGames, which usually makes its extremely popular 35 scratch card games available through its sites Hopa.com and Scratch2Cash.com.
“Betsson has always been an innovator in adding new and exciting products to entertain our customers,” said Ebba Ljungerud, the Product Manager of Betsson Malta. “We believe strongly in the market appeal and high revenue potential of scratch cards and partnering with NeoGames will ensure that we can continuously provide the highest caliber of scratch card gaming experience to our customers.”
This year saw NeoGames begin its venture into the online gaming world through white label contracts with the creation of a new business to business division of the company.
Michael Labrecque, Chief Financial Officer of NeoGames said about the deal: “We are thrilled to have such an esteemed and successful operator like Betsson as a partner and look forward to a long and productive working relationship. We are pleased to find in Betsson a partner that shares our view on scratch cards being a vital mass market product with a significant revenue potential.”
King.com Asks Women What they Want out of Gaming
At the annual Casual Connect Seattle Conference, women players were asked what they were looking for in their social gaming experience and the results were quite surprising. Organized by King.com, one of the top online social games site in the industry, the live focus group had women saying what worked and what didn’t work for them in terms of online gaming. The women came from all walks of life and from a diverse age range – 24 to 61.
The women were asked questions such as “Do you think you become a different person online than offline when playing games?” in order to get a better understanding of how to go about creating games with the female gamer in mind.
The results of the discussion showed, among other things, that women have no problem spending up to eight hours a day playing online, as long as these hours fit into their busy schedules. They will typically spend up to $50 a month on games, although the group heard of some players spending a few hundred a month.
Games needed to look good and incorporate color, style and top animation in order for them to become appealing to women, while women emphasized that their competitive streaks came out as soon as they started playing. Riccardo Zacconi, Chief Executive Officer for King.com, said: “We continue to gain insight into our users through dialog, surveys and ongoing interaction. This panel provided a useful snapshot of new interests and trends within the casual games industry.”
Golden Palace Goes for the Big Fish
Golden Palace Casino, considered one of the most popular and prestigious online gambling sites in the industry, has announced a brand new promotion that is aimed towards its biggest spenders. High rollers will be bowled over by the generosity offered by Golden Palace, and can stand to earn themselves thousands through the new bonuses.
The new high roller deposit bonus is awarded in five stages, and the amount offered differs according to the currency that is played in. For example, Euro spenders will need to make five different deposits valued at EUR 400 each in order to qualify for the high roller bonus. The first and second deposits earn them 100%, the third and fourth earn them 150% each, while the final one earns them 200% of the deposit. All in all, the Euro paying high roller will benefit from a bonus worth EUR 2,800.
What’s more, after the second deposit, all players are moved up to the third level – known as the Zircon level - of Golden Palace’s lucrative loyalty program, the Crown Jewels VIP Rewards Program. Benefits to this level include 15% cash back insurance on losses and exclusive tournaments.
US Poker Market Still Thriving
Despite what the US authorities would like us to believe, the country’s online poker market is still thriving. In fact, recent research by a market research company shows that the US online poke market is actually five times bigger than the second largest, the United Kingdom. While the UK has 1.9 million real money players in the country, the United States has a whopping 10 million, according to Poker Players Research.
Germany and France follow with 1.6 million and 1.3 million respectively, while Scandinavian real money poker players number 1.4 million altogether.
Over the years, the US government has done all it can to clamp down on internet poker playing and it seems that its policies are failing dismally. The time has come for the government to recognize that only a legalized and regulated industry is the answer to this long standing issue.