GameAccount gears up for Italian online casino legalisation
News on 14 Dec 2010
News on 14 Dec 2010
GameAccount Network, a skill and casino games specialist, has announced the opening of its proprietary Internet Gaming System (“IGS”) to third party content developers. The move comes ahead of the Italian government’s anticipated decree to regulate cash play casino and slots in 2011, a market analysts estimate at up to Euro 20 billion annually.
GameAccount Network has supplied leading Italian operators starting with SNAI and followed by Lottomatica, Sisal, Intralot Italia, Eurobet Italia and Cogetech since 2008, and the company is responsible for the bulk of the Euro 8,8 million ($11.7 million) wagered on Italian skill games such as Briscola, Scopa, Blackjack and Burraco during November 2010, according to Agicos.
In the same month the company launched a suite of ‘play-for-free’ casino games specifically optimised for the Italian market with SNAI, and another major licensee is expected to sign up before the end of the year.
The company intends to profit from the launch of real money online casino games, introducing an open door policy to partners with gaming content, to widen the choice for its Italian licensee’s. A company spokesman revealed this week that integration with some European third party content platforms and the selection of localised casino games is now underway, with the first partnerships set to be announced in early 2011.
Deployed on hardware in the UK, Alderney, Gibraltar and Italy, GameAccount Network IGS provides a solid distribution opportunity to third party developers, facilitating entry into regulated markets such as Italy through its existing licensee operators.
“By developing a competent application protocol interface for both third party integrations and the localised rollout of casino games, GameAccount Network is ready to bring regulated Italian gaming operators the best platform and gaming content available today,” said Dermot Smurfit, managing director of the company.
“We’ve already completed our first bingo product platform integration and in contrast to other platform providers, we are opening our doors to developers of other exciting casino content.”
