Launches and sign-ups 3 October 2014

Online games provider Microgaming has announced it is set to release its latest slots title Red Hot Devil next month.

The new devil-themed game is a 5X3 reel and is to launch 8 October on the same day the supplier’s table game Atlantic City Blackjack Gold is released to all Microgaming and Quickfire operators on the mobile platform.

“Red Hot Devil is an eye-catching game thanks to its bright artwork and rock ‘n’ roll theme,” Mike Hebden, head of casino games at Microgaming, said.

“But what makes it even more appealing to players is its fast-paced gameplay and bonus choice, which offers players the opportunity to tailor their gaming experience,” he added.

Malta-headquartered casino supplier Yggdrasil Gaming has unveiled its latest slots title Pyron.

The game includes exploding symbols, a 20X multiplier and an 8-bits synthesizer soundtrack.

“Pyrons is almost too hot to handle but I’m sure fans of Yggdrasil slots will have a cool time playing it,” Fredrik Elmqvist, chief executive of Yggdrasil Gaming, said.

“We try to make all of our games different but similar at the same time and I’ve no doubt this new one will go down just as well as the others,” he added.

Online sports betting operator 666Bet has replaced William Hill as the new official betting partner of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts.

The Sky Sports-televised event will be held at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall from 8 to 16 November and will see the 666Bet brand featured on the stage and each of the players’ shirts.

“This is another important step for 666Bet as we see darts as the perfect sport to target new customers,” Barry Martin, CEO of 666Bet.com, said. “We are already heavily involved in football and boxing partnerships, so darts was the logical next sport for us.”

“Although we are mainly targeting the UK at present, we have big ambitions to push our brand into other territories around the world and we’re delighted to be associated with such a prestigious international darts tournament,” he added.

Microgaming-powered Quickfire has announced a partnership with Betdigital to launch the content and systems developer’s land-based titles launch online in Flash and HTML5.

“Quickfire, powered by Microgaming, adds specialised, third party gaming content, to deliver the most extensive range of games to operators,” Neill Whyte, head of product channels at Microgaming, said.

“We’re delighted Betdigital wanted to work with Quickfire to bring their land-based titles online; they’ll be a popular and strategic addition to the platform,” Whyte added.

Gala Bingo has become one of the first operators to launch a live chat functionality on its mobile and tablet products.

The operator said the design of the live chat was inspired by popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook messenger, with features including the date and time on each post and a notification that the other person is typing.

The in-app live chat feature also allows players to contact customer service agents on the go as well as making it easy for agents contact players directly.

Sports betting affiliate Freebets.com has become the new official digital betting partner of Premier League football club West Bromwich Albion.

The deal with the West Midlands team will last for the next two seasons and will include a range of in-stadium branding opportunities including sponsorship of the East Stand.

“It’s a very exciting time to be getting involved with West Bromwich Albion after their acquisition of 11 new players in the summer, and we’re thrilled to have signed this partnership with an ambitious Premier League club,” Freebets.com managing director, Iain Coward, said.

The Revel Casino in Atlantic City has been sold for US$110m to Brookfield Property Partners, a Toronto-based company that owns casinos in Las Vegas and The Bahamas.

The sale comes less than a month after Revel, which cost $2.5bn to build, closed its doors for the final time, taking its interactive gaming license with it.

Revel confirmed the sale to Brookfield after two days of behind-the-scenes negotiations, and said that Polo North Country Club was selected as the back-up bidder having offered $95.4m for the property.

Online games and software developer GigaMedia has taken the latest step in its effort to diversify the business following the launch of its first Asia-facing social casino platform.

The Taiwan-based firm launched Fortune888.com.tw, which allows operators to target the Asia market and features free-to-play casino games provided by online gaming supplier Microgaming.

“Over the next several months, we expect to benefit from our efforts to quickly build our pipeline with relatively low cost licensed mobile games and high-quality Web games,” GigaMedia chief executive officer, Collin Hwang, said.

Media giant USA TODAY is to make its first move into the social gaming sector with the launch of a new OpenWager-powered social bingo app on mobile.

USA TODAY Bingo Cruise will be launched this week on Android and iOS devices in partnership with social casino B2B provider OpenWager and includes a 3D gameplay experience as well as social features such as private messaging, friends list, achievement tracking and power-ups.

“USA TODAY is excited to elevate its games presence to the next level by introducing the USA TODAY Bingo Cruise app,” Derek Murphy, general manager and EVP of USA TODAY, said.

Social casino operator PlayStudios has expanded into table games for the first time with the launch of its second mobile app, myVEGAS Blackjack.

The MGM-backed company launched Blackjack earlier this week on iOS and Android devices and offers players the same opportunities available on myVEGAS Slots to win rewards from its land-based casino partners.

Blackjack will remain a separate download from the Slots app, while sharing loyalty points across the two products, and features a range of new characters, collectible items and mobile challenges.