Ongame enters casino market
Paf becomes first operator on network to offer casino side games within poker client.
Operators on the Ongame network will now be able to offer their customers the chance to play casino side games without leaving the poker client.
The poker network has teamed up with WMS-owned developer and publisher Jadestone to offer the products, and has signed up Finnish monopoly Paf as the first customer with a poker offering on the network to implement casino games, including blackjack and roulette.
Bwin.party-owned Ongame briefly offered a variety of in-house developed casino games to its clients in 2005. A spokesperson for Ongame said that at the time the company decided to focus on poker, in conjunction with the development of the next generation poker software P5, which required all of its development resources.
A statement from Ongame said the implementation of casino side games “ of which there are currently 10 to choose from “ is designed to “increase total operator revenues without cannibalising on poker”. Side games also enable the promotion of other gaming products to poker players, which increases long-term player loyalty for the operator brand, it said.
“Entering the casino market is a strategic step for Ongame,” said Peter Bertilsson, MD of Ongame. “Ongame’s excellence within poker and our long-term relations with our operators puts us in a unique position to offer an improved player experience and increased profits for our partners.”
Arvid Klingström, head of poker at Paf, added: “We are happy to finally offer side games within our poker client. For us at Paf, with our focus mainly on recreational players, this is a natural step to expand our offering towards our poker players and to cross promote poker and casino. The packaging of the games is great and the look-and-feel really fits Paf.”
Nevada-based gaming supplier Shuffle Master had agreed to pay 19.5m for Ongame until the deal fell through at the end of June. The collapse of the deal was put down to Ongame’s poor recent financial performance, declining economic conditions in Europe, and lack of progress in the US egaming market.
However since the deal fell through, six parties have declared at interest in buying the company. These include social gaming giant Zynga, which is thought to have made a verbal offer for the poker network.