Online casino operator LeoVegas is set to enter the United States, through a partnership with Caesars Entertainment. 

LeoVegas is set to make its US debut in New Jersey, following the expected certification of its proprietary tech platform, Rhino, by regulators. The company says it expects to welcome its first US customers during the first half of 2022. 

LeoVegas Group CEO, Gustaf Hagman, said: “We are proud to finally be able to share our plans to establish ourselves in the USA. We think the time and partner are right to launch ‘The King of Casino’ in the USA. The American market has immense growth potential, and players are just now discovering online gaming. In the USA, too, we will focus on what we are best at – offering an innovative, world-class gaming experience directly in mobile phones. Establishing ourselves with our proprietary platform is a strategic decision, and we know from other markets that having full control over our technology is a key competitive advantage.”

Staying with LeoVegas, earlier this month the company announced the launch of its own in-hours games studio, Blue Guru Games.

Yggdrasil has partnered with Jade Rabbit Studio for a thrilling Egyptian adventure, Word of Thoth.

The game marks Jade Rabbit’s debut release as a YG Masters partner and sees players transported to a dark, imposing Egyptian temple where hieroglyphic symbols grace the reels. The 6×4 video slot contains 4,096 ways to win while every spin offer possibilities of cascading symbols for every winning combination.

The Free Spins mode can be triggered in multiple ways, either by three or more scatters landing on the reels or if the meter above the reels fills up. With five spots available, they are filled by either a tumbling win or a scatter being present on the reels, each of which will add to the count. The meter resets after every spin.

During the bonus round, a minimum of 10 free spins are awarded, while the more the meter fills, the more multipliers and free spins are added, giving players the chance to enjoy huge wins.

In certain jurisdictions, players also have the opportunity to progress straight through to the Free Spins mode via the Bonus Buy feature.

Word of Thoth is the latest YG Masters hit to be powered by GATI, Yggdrasil’s state-of-the-art technology which enables partners to employ the preconfigured, regulation-ready, standardised development toolkit to produce consistently cutting-edge content followed by rapid distribution.

Stuart McCarthy, Head of Partner Programs at Yggdrasil, said: “Our partner program continues to produce engaging titles and we’re delighted that Jade Rabbit’s newest hit, Word of Thoth, has been rolled out smoothly through the YG Masters program We’re dedicated to giving boutique studios a clear avenue to success and we are hugely impressed with the performance of our partners so far.”

Roger Admeus, Managing Director at Jade Rabbit Studio, added: “Word of Thoth brings plenty of fun to the reels with a popular theme, cascading wins, big multipliers and numerous ways to trigger the bonus round. We’ve strived to give players an immersive experience and we can’t wait to see how they react.”

UK-based startup gaming sector-focused account and payment services provider, Xace, has launched virtual debit cards for its rapidly growing clientbase. 

Connected directly to the Xace payment account, the cards enable online purchases, employee cost tracking, and can be issued extremely quickly – with account holders able to issue new ones at the click of a button. 

Payments are available in both £GBP and €EUR, and Virtual Debit Cards can be issued to staff remotely, from within the Xace application. 

Xace Virtual Debit cards are now available for both individual and business accounts in the UK, with European rollout planned for the near future. The company also says it will be issuing physical debit cards later this year. 

Despite launching under one year ago, Xace has grown rapidly, and is proving especially popular with gambling businesses that are finding it extremely difficult, or impossible, to set up accounts with traditional banks. 

The fact that new clients can be onboarded in just three business days is also helping Xace rise above the legacy financial service providers. 

Annie Osborne, Chief Commercial Officer at Xace, said: “Our products and services have been designed to offer a seamless payment solution for individuals and businesses in the gambling sector, and the launch of our Virtual Debit Cards builds on this.

“That our Virtual Debit Cards can be managed directly from within the Xace application just adds to the convenience we provide our customers. While initially available in the UK, we will be rolling them out to our European customers imminently.

“By offering a cutting-edge payments solution to individuals and businesses that are struggling to obtain accounts via traditional high street providers, we have been able to grow rapidly in a short space of time and the launch of Virtual Debit Cards will enable us to continue to expand at pace.”

AYO.NEWS says:

As we know only too well here at AYO, the raft of well-intentioned AML regulations introduced over the last few years have had the unintended effect of making it extremely difficult for legitimate startup businesses to access even basic financial services. 

However, the fact that companies like Xace can offer such services, and onboard in three days does, makes you wonder if the real problem with the traditional banks and financial services providers is not so much the new regulations, but rather their own insanely inefficient internal systems, and lack of knowledge regarding certain industry sectors.

Malta-based casino content developer Quik Gaming has entered into a partnership with fellow Malta-based EnergyCasino.

The agreement will give EnergyCasino players to Quik’s diverse portfolio of unique live games, including the sophisticated SuperBlocs, the twist-on-a-classic Lotto Roulette, as well as the thrilling Wheel of Fire, a dynamic, multi-featured wheel of fortune style game, that is available in both Live and Single Player versions, and last but not least – Race for Cash, a fast-paced, innovative racing lotto-style game.

“We look forward to working with Quik Gaming. Quik’s games offers a gaming experience which we are convinced that will appeal to all type of players because of the different layers of playability and overall game experience,” Marcin Sobieraj, Casino Operational Manager at EnergyCasino, said.

“We are excited to partner up with EnergyCasino, which offers a variety of choices, whether it’s casino or live casino and with Quik’s live and single players games their portfolio is set to expand even further and we can’t wait to see our games going live with EnergyCasino with Q2 of 2021,” Timothy Bartolo Parnis, Chief Operations Officer at Quik Gaming, said.

WorldMatch and Cristaltec have signed a partnership deal that will give WorldMatch exclusive porting on selected Cristaltec’s AWP slots.

Proceeding with the omni-channel strategy applied to SlotBar brand, the product born from the partnership between WorldMatch and the main producers of AWP and VLT like Octavian, Nazionale Elettronica and Baldazzi, WorldMatch will port Cristaltec’s AWP games into online slots and will exclusively distribute them worldwide, strengthening both companies’ presence around the globe.

Andrea Boratto, CEO of WorldMatch, said: “We’re very proud of this achievement, we have always believed in the potential to combine the quality and recognizability of retail games with the online distribution channel and the results of SlotBar products are proving us right. We’re completely satisfied with our outcome as aggregators of land-based products, and seeing land-based competitors like Octavian and Cristaltec both relying on us for the conversion and online marketing of their most successful products really made us realize our potential.” 

Pierangelo Berdin, CEO of Cristaltec, added: “We are pleased to work with WorldMatch too, this is a big step for our company’s new path to the online market. WorldMatch’s proven technology and respected experience will give us great opportunities for growing our business on the online portion of the market, internationally. We have promising plans for this partnership and there’s no doubt that the players will love this new collaboration too.”

Yggdrasil and Peter & Sons have combined forces to release their latest YG Masters creation, transporting players on a magical journey to find the powerful Cauldron that is the source of all dreams.

The game, powered by Yggdrasil’s state-of-the-art technology GATI, is set in the deep caves of Algroth many moons away where the blue wizard guards the Cauldron that players seek to discover hidden treasures and huge prizes.

This 5×3, high-volatility mythical slot comes with free spins and super free spins which is unlocked by collecting scatter symbols. When three or more scatters land on the reels, it triggers up to 10 free spins. A win on a high paying symbol is upgraded for all subsequent spins and pays double. Each upgrade also awards an additional free spin.

When a bonus scatter lands on the reels it gets collected with each symbol awarding one point to the game’s progress bar. Reach 770 points to unlock the super free spins mode. In the feature, all high symbols are upgraded, and low paying symbols removed from the reels, giving players even more chances to win big.

Consistent with Peter & Sons’ distinctive style, Cauldron is beautifully designed with the illustrations and graphics taking the game to another level. With the blue wizard looming over the bubbling pot waiting for the magic to happen, and mythical creatures filling the reels, the game is different to anything players have ever seen before.

Peter & Sons has developed and released three premium titles via the YG Masters program since it became a partner in October 2020.

Cauldron is powered by GATI, Yggdrasil’s state-of-the-art technology which enables partners to employ the preconfigured, regulation-ready, standardised development toolkit to produce consistently cutting-edge content followed by rapid distribution.

Stuart McCarthy, Head of Partner Programs at Yggdrasil, said: “Cauldron is another impressive game from Peter & Sons that we are thrilled to release via YG Masters. The creative look and feel of the game really stand out and immediately immerse players in a fantasy world full of thrilling features and big win potential. We are certain that Cauldron will be a massive hit with players like Peter & Sons previous titles.”

Yann Bautista, Business Development Manager at Peter & Sons, said: “Being part of YG Masters has given us the momentum to create several premium titles within a short space of time and achieve a great reach through Yggdrasil’s distribution network. With Cauldron, we bring a touch of magic to players while they hunt down big wins and enjoy our thrilling features in a beautiful setting.”