Poll results: Hope remains for long-term rival partnerships
More than two thirds of readers believe deals can work, despite last week's Playtech/Scientific Games JV "restructure".
After last week saw Playtech’s Sciplay joint venture with Scientific Games downgraded to a non-exclusive strategic partnership, eGaming Review asked readers whether they believed rival gaming companies can become successful long-term partners.
Some 68% you believe long-term partnerships are still viable, and Playtech has certainly shown it is in no mood to shy away from further JVs after entering into agreements with Merkur Interactive and Peermont Group.
Among the more successful JVs to date is Paddy Power’s deal with Pari Mutuel Urbain, signed in 2009 and still going strong. Meanwhile the Barrière poker joint venture “ the product of a partnership between La Française des Jeux and Groupe Lucien Barrière in January 2010 “ secured an extension of its agreement with Caesars Interactive Entertainment earlier this week.
Still, 32% of voters believe long-term partnerships between rival egaming firms are “unworkable”, and the SciPlay developments “ along with the mass walkout from William Hill Online’s Tel Aviv office last year following the resignation of the JV’s chief marketing officer “ offer recent examples of such high-profile partnerships running into difficulties.