Nektan to power The Sun mobile casino

British tabloid newspaper The Sun has partnered with mobile supplier Nektan to launch a real-money mobile casino entitled Sun Play.

Sun Play will be powered by Nektan’s Evolve mobile platform and will offer a number of free to play and real-money games, including slots, casino, and bingo games, on mobile and tablet.

Nektan said Sun Play had been developed around the “growing entertainment needs” of online players who were “graduating” from virtual currency to real-money games, and would launch later this year.

Neil Martin, business development manager at The Sun‘s parent company News UK, said the platform would “deliver the most enjoyable gaming experience” to its seven million print and digital readers.

“Entertaining our customers across different points of their media day is a key focus for our business,” he added.

Under the partnership Netkan will retain an undisclosed share of the revenue generated by Sun Play, which the firm said would have a “significant impact” on its trading in 2015.

“We are looking forward to working closely with the team at The Sun to bring the exciting new Sun Play mobile games to millions of Sun readers,” Nektan CEO David Gosen, said. “This is a significant development for the company,” he added.

News of the deal comes shortly after Nektan, which recently floated on London’s AIM market, launched a mobile casino platform with London-based business newspaper City A.M.

Sun Play extends The Sun‘s relationship with the online gaming industry – the newspaper’s Sun Bingo has been powered by London-based gaming company Gamesys since 2008 while the firm is in the process of re-establishing a sportsbook and recently came close to finalising a deal with BetVictor.

Nektan’s share price was up 8.5p to 200p after early morning trading.