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“We’re delivering exactly what LatAm wants” – Exclusive interview with Evoplay CEO on LatAm casino

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While Latin America is steadily opening up and is full of potential, there’s still plenty to be learned when it comes to appealing, and indeed capturing the interest of LatAm’s millennials.

Ivan Kravchuk, CEO at highly innovative games supplier sits down with Gaming Americas to talk about what it takes to be a success in one of the world’s most exciting growth regions.   

Six months into 2021 – what’s the latest for Evoplay across LatAm? How popular are your next-gen games proving to be there?

The last six months have been a productive period for our game development pipeline. Almost our entire games portfolio is now live in LatAm, including top titles from our classic games collection and 20 games that we developed this year. One example of this – Ellen’s Fortune – is now among the continent’s ten most popular real money titles, and we expect plenty more success to follow in its footsteps.

There’s a real surge of interest in LatAm for our games, such as Forest Dreams and Surf Zone, demonstrating the value of disruption and experimentation on a continent where retro themes traditionally perform best.

How much of a change have we seen in playing behaviour compared to this time last year? What patterns are there to analyse and how has that shifted your creative plans?

Having developed an effective strategy that has brought us tremendous success over the past year, we will not be looking to change too much. Our operator partners know what we’re all about, and we do our best to keep excelling at just that. Players are responding well to our offering, so we’ll be continuing with the current roadmap in the coming period.

What’s part of that? Gamification definitely remains high on our priority list, driving engagement by ramping up the entertainment factor to attract the new generation of players. Even our classically-themed slots, therefore, are elevated with high-tech mechanics to provide a cutting-edge experience.

The integration of sporting themes, particularly on a sport-obsessed continent such as Latin America, has also proved to be an effective strategy for retention and acquisition. We’ve got a top marketing team, and a key part of their work is data-driven insights that can identify exactly what we believe players are looking for.

What kind of games do you believe LatAm players are looking for right now? Are there any games in your portfolio you’ve developed with the region in mind?

Players across the globe are looking for entertainment that goes beyond the themes and effects that have become most ubiquitous in our industry – and Latin America is no different. Innovation needs to be more than just a buzzword, even when it comes to the retro slots that perform well time and again.

We’re delivering exactly what LatAm wants – experience on the continent has taught us that players want high-quality, visual designs that can truly stand out. As an Irish-themed game, Ellen’s Fortune may not be the first title that springs to mind when you think of Latin American gambling, but it has performed well on the continent because of its stunning animations.

Evoplay launched its in-house casino engine Spinential last year – how key are products such as these to mitigating regional connectivity issues?

Our branded Spinential game engine has been a key factor driving our success in Latin American markets, where low broadband speeds mean that technical accessibility and speed are essential.

Accelerating loading and download speeds by x10, it saves time and digital storage space, allowing us to make high-quality products which are accessible to the full spectrum of player devices and internet connections.

We are always looking to enhance our proprietary tools and technology, and Spinential is no different. We are currently making improvements to the game engine and will be soon providing our players and partners with a number of exciting updates on its latest technical upgrades.

We’re also planning on incorporating a significant multiplayer element to make our games even more popular with the new generation of players, who have grown up in constant communication with their peers and demand a more social gaming experience.

Looking at a five-year vision for the future – how do you see LatAm developing and what key milestones should we be keeping an eye on?

Latin America is undoubtedly a region that is full of potential. By opening up their gambling markets to legal operators, governments can generate significant taxation revenues and protect local players more effectively. Doing so is therefore the next logical step for those that haven’t already.

In terms of technological trends, multi-channel flexibility, speed and visual designs are the most important determinants of an iGaming supplier’s success in the region. Get that right, and you could be onto a winner.

Last but not least, any exciting launches coming up for Evoplay that we should look forward to?

We’ve got a big announcement pencilled in for the second half of 2021, with a flagship game set to be launched this Autumn along with new iterations of our ever-popular retro title, Fruit Super Nova, which will be enhanced with the addition of even more paylines.

From the first day of its release, the game has been a firm favourite with our fans, including those based in Latin America. So much so, we’ve started to unveil a collection of fruit titles that follow on from the original smash-hit, including the recently launched Fruit Super Nova 40. We’re also preparing to enhance it with a progressive jackpot to ramp up players’ anticipation – so stay tuned for further updates!

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BetVictor

BetVictor Canada launches Tracy McGrady Safer Gambling campaign

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BetVictor Canada has launched its new out-of-home advertising campaign across the streets of Toronto to promote NBA legend Tracy McGrady as its Safer Gambling Ambassador.

Two mobile digital trucks strategically targeting high-traffic areas near Scotiabank Arena, Rogers Centre, and major sporting events will provide prime audience exposure for the campaign, scheduled around Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Blue Jays home games.

To further enhance the campaign’s reach, BetVictor Canada has partnered with Clear Media Group to leverage digital taxi tops across Toronto, providing city-wide exposure with 100 taxis displaying key brand messaging. These digital taxi tops will run during peak evening hours (5:00pm – 9:00pm) on select dates until April 5th, 2025.

The campaign coincides with Problem Gambling Awareness Month, a nationwide grassroots campaign held each March that seeks to increase public awareness of problem gambling and promote prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

BetVictor Canada offers an array of tools and services to help its Canadian customers bet and play safely and responsibly, across a host of sports betting markets and online casino games.

Mark Harper, Head of Emerging Markets at BV Group, said: BetVictor is delighted to be participating in the National Council of Problem Gambling campaign in March, to help increase public awareness of problem gambling and the need to promote prevention, treatment and recovery services.

“In using our Safer Gambling Ambassador, Tracy McGrady, to raise awareness about BetVictor’s safer gambling tools such as loss limits, time alerts and product restrictions we are dedicated to ensuring all players have a safe gambling experience. #PGAM2025.”

The post BetVictor Canada launches Tracy McGrady Safer Gambling campaign appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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AGCO

AGCO issues $110,000 in penalties to BetMGM Canada for offering cash to induce new gambling customers

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The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has served BetMGM Canada Inc. with an Order of Monetary Penalty (OMP) of $110,000 for violations of the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming.

In two separate incidents in 2024, BetMGM engaged marketing companies who offered cash to members of the public in return for opening new BetMGM accounts. The marketing activities occurred in public forums, such as a major national trade conference. Under AGCO’s Standards, operators are responsible for the conduct of their third-party suppliers who are contracted to support the operator’s Ontario gaming business, and must require their third-parties to meet Ontario laws, regulations and standards (Standard 1.19).

Ontario is one of the first jurisdictions in the world to establish and enforce rules that strictly limit high-risk inducement advertising and marketing in the online gambling industry. Registered iGaming operators are prohibited from offering gambling inducements, bonuses and credits as part of their broad public advertising and marketing activities (Standard 2.05). These Standards exist to protect Ontarians from predatory advertising and promotional marketing practices in order to limit the risk of gambling-related harm.

A registered operator served with an OMP by the AGCO has the right to appeal the Registrar’s decision to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), which is an adjudicative tribunal independent of the AGCO and part of Tribunals Ontario.

QUOTE

“Responsible gambling safeguards and the protection of Ontarians on registered gaming sites is among our key priorities. The AGCO monitors the activities of all registered operators and their third-party suppliers to ensure they are meeting our high standards and we continue to take strong action to ensure they operate within the public interest.”

Dr. Karin Schnarr, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar – AGCO

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

BetMGM Canada Inc. failed to comply with the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming. Specifically, the licensee failed to comply with the following provisions of the Standards:

  • 1.19 Operators are responsible for the actions of third parties with whom they contract for the provision of any aspect of the Operator’s business related to gaming in Ontario and must require the third party to conduct themselves in so far as they carry out activities on behalf of the operator as if they were bound by the same laws, regulations, and standards.
  • 2.05 Advertising and marketing materials that communicate gambling inducements, bonuses and credits are prohibited, except on an operator’s gaming site and through direct advertising and marketing, after receiving active player consent.

Contrary to the Standards, BetMGM Canada Inc. and/or their affiliates allegedly engaged in the following activities:

a) On or about January 13 and 14, 2024, BetMGM representatives were alleged to have attended the National Franchise Show and were offering $100 in cash to new players for opening a new account and depositing $15.
b) On or about March 11, 2024, BetMGM acknowledged that its marketing affiliate “Above the Street” had engaged in prohibited inducement marketing. The conduct resulted in 377 player sign-ups and $127,180.00 in commissions to “Above the Street”.
c) On or about April 13, 2024, another BetMGM marketing affiliate “Maple Leaf Marketing” engaged in prohibited inducements and marketing to induce on-site activations and acquire new players. The conduct resulted in 94 player sign-ups and about $34,000.00 in commissions paid to “Maple Leaf Marketing”.

The post AGCO issues $110,000 in penalties to BetMGM Canada for offering cash to induce new gambling customers appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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BCLC

BCLC Launches “What’s played here stays here” Campaign

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BCLC’s new “What’s played here stays here” campaign is issuing an important reminder to British Columbians who choose to gamble – specifically that all net profit its operations generate stays in B.C. to help fund critical services like education, health care and community programs.

The campaign also reinforces that all other gambling websites operating in B.C. are illegal and take away funds from critical community programs and services.

“Across B.C. and Canada, we’ve seen incredible groundswell around the importance of buying and supporting local, and that’s no different for British Columbians who choose gambling for their entertainment. We want our B.C. players to know they can find a world-class gambling experience in their own backyard, whether it’s at one of our 33 casinos, 3,400 lottery retailers, or online at PlayNow.com, and that the proceeds from their play with BCLC make a positive impact at home in their community,” Pat Davis, President and CEO of BCLC, said.

Along with illegal online gambling websites, BCLC also competes with Washington State and Las Vegas casinos, all of which aggressively market to B.C. residents.

“BCLC continues to raise awareness that these gambling options do not support B.C.’s economy and take away funds from vital provincial and community-based programs and services. In a time when British Columbians are standing united, we want to reinforce that playing together with BCLC helps make B.C. even better,” Pat Davis added.

The post BCLC Launches “What’s played here stays here” Campaign appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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