SBC CIS Editorial Team is happy to present a quick recap of the gambling industry events, news, regulations and partnerships that happened last week.
The flagship global event SBC Summit will move to Lisbon from 2024 to better suit the needs of the fastest growing event in the industry. SBC Summit is a global event that brings together participants from different parts of the world and covers a variety of industry sectors. The upcoming event, formerly known as SBC Summit Barcelona, will be called SBC Summit 2024 to reflect the evolution of branding and highlight the global nature of the event.
The Ukrainian Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) presented a brief report on its financial activities since its creation, claiming that over 2.5 years, 3.9 billion UAH were transferred to the state budget only in the form of licence fees – funds that gaming companies pay for the right to legally carry out their activities in Ukraine.
Anton Kuchukhidze, Head of the Ukrainian Gambling Council, published an article about the importance of combating illegal gambling for the development of the regulated gambling sector in Ukraine. The current situation in the country sees legal gambling operators suffer from lottery activities that create unequal conditions in the market. Lottery operators do not purchase expensive gambling licences and, using legal loopholes, emulate gambling on their online platforms. To prevent lottery operators from simulating gambling without paying the appropriate licence fees, a number of legislative changes needs to be made. For more information read Anton’s full article at SBC CIS website.
In Kazakhstan, 17 sports betting operators decided to voluntarily renounce their licences as a result of the explanatory work of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The Ministry also stated that it is working to revoke gambling licences through legal proceedings as well. During 2023, 14 lawsuits were filed, resulting in six bookmakers, five betting shops, and one slot hall getting shut down by court order.
Vice Minister of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Erkinbayev said that the number of crimes related to gambling has increased significantly in the country. To combat this, the Ministry has developed three bills with amendments to different laws aimed at tightening the regulation of the gambling industry in the country.
UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has launched a recruitment process to create a new gambling industry forum. The established forum, which will bring together experts with the UK gambling sector experience, will allow the Commission to better understand the views of licensed operators.
Superbet announced the appointment of basketball player Nikola Jokic as their first Brand Ambassador for Serbia. Nikola Jokic, who plays for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), was part of the team with which he won the NBA title last season and was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) honours.
Bet365 has developed a special offer that aims to meet the needs of bettors by providing the opportunity to bet on the statistics of players and teams in top football competitions in Europe, Asia and Latin America using data from Opta. The expansion of competition coverage is made possible by the increased volume of Opta artificial intelligence data provided by Stats Perform. Players can now bet on statistics from 19 competitions, covering over 3,000 additional matches per year.
BetConstruct wants to revolutionize the process of developing mobile apps for sports betting by introducing an innovative cross-platform solution called Bet Easy. Bet Easy gives operators the ability to use one single team to develop user interface and user experience (UX) for iOS and Android operating systems, rather than having to maintain two separate teams as is typically required for native app development. This app creation service offers a variety of integration options, including casino, bookmaker, Betinsights, Recommender and chat features, as well as a variety of personalization and socialisation tools.
Yoel Zuckerberg, Chief Product Officer at Soft2Bet in a recent SBC interview highlighted the company’s use of various gamification techniques to better serve players, including strategic feature selection and the need to have the right technology stack.
Podcast Review: Navigating the Aggregator Market
Irīna Sazonova from EveryMatrix joined James Ross as a guest of the latest iGaming Daily podcast to talk about the climate of opportunity for aggregator operator partnerships, and how this could be better leveraged in the future. Answering the main question of whether the aggregation market is oversaturated, Sazonova gave a positive reply. It has become the preferred avenue for numerous top-tier operators, as well as studios across various jurisdictions. Additionally, it serves as the quickest route for many studios to expedite their content distribution strategies. Thus, there are numerous advantages to leveraging aggregation, and this trend is being strongly driven by both operators and players alike.
SmartSoft announced their partnership with LeoVegas Group. This collaboration not only changes the landscape of the gambling world, but also brings revolutionary updates. SmartSoft, long known for its variety of high-quality and immersive games, will bring its extensive portfolio of immersive games to the LeoVegas Group’s sphere of influence. “Immersive gaming” is the key word in this story. Thanks to the powerful technological innovations provided by SmartSoft, players will get a deep and complete immersion in the world of virtual entertainment. High-definition graphics, realistic soundtracks and exciting stories make each game into an exciting journey.
EGT Digital strengthened its position in Bulgaria with the recent launch of their gaming content on the www.efbet.com website. Games available to visitors include popular jackpot slots such as Bell Link, Clover Chance, High Cash, Single Progressive Jackpot, and the multiplayer game xRide.
Hacksaw Gaming entered Bulgaria after successfully expanding to Romania, Greece, Lithuania and Sweden. This move was made possible through partnership with Inbet. Hacksaw Gaming will provide Inbet with access to a variety of slot machines, including slots such as Wanted Dead or a Wild, R.I.P. City, Chaos Crew, Stack’em, Cubes 2, Joker Bombs and many others.
FAVBET partnered with Beter Live to offer a wide range of live casino games in the Eastern European markets. This range includes more than 20 different games and their variations, including such popular options as Roulette, Blackjack, Gravity Blackjack, Gravity Roulette and Ukrainian Roulette. The last title was introduced specifically for the Ukrainian audience on the Beter Live platform.
NetBet has entered into a partnership with casino game provider BGaming to promote their games on the NetBet online casino platform. Games developed by BGaming will be included in NetBet’s global gaming collection, allowing players around the world to enjoy them. Newly added games to the casino’s lineup will include popular options such as Wild Cash, Lady Wolf Moon Megaways and Bonanza Billion.
SOFTSWISS announced its strategic partnership with BetGames, a renowned provider of interactive live dealer games. The main goal of this collaboration is to improve player satisfaction and expand both brands’ global reach.
Bazed Games and Slotegrator teamed up to provide their users with a diverse gaming experience, including slot machines, live dealer games and sports betting, as well as introducing exclusive games from Bazed Originals. Bazed is a modern online gambling platform that prioritises player safety and convenience. They provide a high-quality solution by combining classic experiences with innovative cryptocurrency games and focus on the use of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and USDT.
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