Canada
“We’re delivering exactly what LatAm wants” – Exclusive interview with Evoplay CEO on LatAm casino
While Latin America is steadily opening up and is full of potential, there’s still plenty to be learned when it comes to appealing, and indeed capturing the interest of LatAm’s millennials.
Ivan Kravchuk, CEO at highly innovative games supplier sits down with Gaming Americas to talk about what it takes to be a success in one of the world’s most exciting growth regions.
Six months into 2021 – what’s the latest for Evoplay across LatAm? How popular are your next-gen games proving to be there?
The last six months have been a productive period for our game development pipeline. Almost our entire games portfolio is now live in LatAm, including top titles from our classic games collection and 20 games that we developed this year. One example of this – Ellen’s Fortune – is now among the continent’s ten most popular real money titles, and we expect plenty more success to follow in its footsteps.
There’s a real surge of interest in LatAm for our games, such as Forest Dreams and Surf Zone, demonstrating the value of disruption and experimentation on a continent where retro themes traditionally perform best.
How much of a change have we seen in playing behaviour compared to this time last year? What patterns are there to analyse and how has that shifted your creative plans?
Having developed an effective strategy that has brought us tremendous success over the past year, we will not be looking to change too much. Our operator partners know what we’re all about, and we do our best to keep excelling at just that. Players are responding well to our offering, so we’ll be continuing with the current roadmap in the coming period.
What’s part of that? Gamification definitely remains high on our priority list, driving engagement by ramping up the entertainment factor to attract the new generation of players. Even our classically-themed slots, therefore, are elevated with high-tech mechanics to provide a cutting-edge experience.
The integration of sporting themes, particularly on a sport-obsessed continent such as Latin America, has also proved to be an effective strategy for retention and acquisition. We’ve got a top marketing team, and a key part of their work is data-driven insights that can identify exactly what we believe players are looking for.
What kind of games do you believe LatAm players are looking for right now? Are there any games in your portfolio you’ve developed with the region in mind?
Players across the globe are looking for entertainment that goes beyond the themes and effects that have become most ubiquitous in our industry – and Latin America is no different. Innovation needs to be more than just a buzzword, even when it comes to the retro slots that perform well time and again.
We’re delivering exactly what LatAm wants – experience on the continent has taught us that players want high-quality, visual designs that can truly stand out. As an Irish-themed game, Ellen’s Fortune may not be the first title that springs to mind when you think of Latin American gambling, but it has performed well on the continent because of its stunning animations.
Evoplay launched its in-house casino engine Spinential last year – how key are products such as these to mitigating regional connectivity issues?
Our branded Spinential game engine has been a key factor driving our success in Latin American markets, where low broadband speeds mean that technical accessibility and speed are essential.
Accelerating loading and download speeds by x10, it saves time and digital storage space, allowing us to make high-quality products which are accessible to the full spectrum of player devices and internet connections.
We are always looking to enhance our proprietary tools and technology, and Spinential is no different. We are currently making improvements to the game engine and will be soon providing our players and partners with a number of exciting updates on its latest technical upgrades.
We’re also planning on incorporating a significant multiplayer element to make our games even more popular with the new generation of players, who have grown up in constant communication with their peers and demand a more social gaming experience.
Looking at a five-year vision for the future – how do you see LatAm developing and what key milestones should we be keeping an eye on?
Latin America is undoubtedly a region that is full of potential. By opening up their gambling markets to legal operators, governments can generate significant taxation revenues and protect local players more effectively. Doing so is therefore the next logical step for those that haven’t already.
In terms of technological trends, multi-channel flexibility, speed and visual designs are the most important determinants of an iGaming supplier’s success in the region. Get that right, and you could be onto a winner.
Last but not least, any exciting launches coming up for Evoplay that we should look forward to?
We’ve got a big announcement pencilled in for the second half of 2021, with a flagship game set to be launched this Autumn along with new iterations of our ever-popular retro title, Fruit Super Nova, which will be enhanced with the addition of even more paylines.
From the first day of its release, the game has been a firm favourite with our fans, including those based in Latin America. So much so, we’ve started to unveil a collection of fruit titles that follow on from the original smash-hit, including the recently launched Fruit Super Nova 40. We’re also preparing to enhance it with a progressive jackpot to ramp up players’ anticipation – so stay tuned for further updates!
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Canada
IAGR announces Toronto as host city for 2025 conference
Hot on the heels of its most attended conference in history, the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) is excited to announce that its 2025 conference will take place in Toronto, Canada, from October 20 to 23, 2025.
The event will be held in partnership with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) at the Westin Harbour Castle, offering stunning waterfront views and a premier, downtown Toronto location.
‘Fresh off the success of our Rome conference, we’re thrilled to continue the momentum with next year’s event in Toronto,’ said Ben Haden, IAGR President.
‘The IAGR 2025 conference promises to be another unparalleled opportunity for our global community to come together, collaborate and shape the future of gaming regulation. We’re looking forward to working with AGCO to bring it all together.’
AGCO CEO and Registrar Dr. Karin Schnarr, added, ‘We’re excited to welcome IAGR and its members to Toronto. This partnership provides a great opportunity to share Ontario’s innovative regulatory practices and foster meaningful discussions that drive positive change in the industry.’
Stay tuned for registration details early next year.
Bombee Global Entertainment Ltd
ESE Entertainment Completes Acquisition of Gaming Production Company, Bombee Americas
ESE Entertainment Inc., a gaming company that provides a range of services to leading video game developers and publishers, has announced that it has acquired Bombee Global Entertainment Ltd. (Bombee Americas), the North American arm of Bombee Event Production AB, (Bombee), a global production company specialized in live production, special effects, broadcast, and event management for the gaming sector.
Bombee has successfully collaborated with ESE to bring its premier event production services and world class customer service to North America and beyond. The North American arm of Bombee, Bombee Americas, will continue to grow and scale in this new organizational structure under ESE, while maintaining its entire team and global support.
Konrad Wasiela, CEO of ESE, said: “Today marks the next stage of ESE—a 2.0 version of our company. With the acquisition of Bombee Americas, we are not only solidifying our presence in North America but also paving the way for growth and innovation in the gaming industry. This is a major step, positioning us to deliver even greater value to our partners and elevate the gaming experience for our clients globally. We’re thrilled about the opportunities ahead and the exceptional talent joining our team.”
Transaction Terms
The Acquisition was completed by way of a share purchase agreement (the SPA) among the Company, Bombee Americas, and the shareholders of Bombee Americas (the Vendors). Pursuant to the SPA, ESE acquired all of the outstanding shares of Bombee Americas in exchange for: (i) $750,000 in cash paid on closing, (ii) $375,000 in cash to be paid six (6) months following closing, subject to customary adjustments based on the working capital of Bombee Americas on closing, (iii) $375,000 in cash to be paid twelve (12) months following closing, and (iv) 30,000,000 common shares of ESE (the Consideration Shares), issued at a deemed issue price of $0.10 per share.
In connection with the Acquisition, the founders of Bombee Americas have signed three-year service agreements and will continue to run the business following the closing, along with the rest of the personnel of Bombee Americas who will remain in place, ensuring a smooth transition of operations. As part of the Acquisition, the Company has acquired the liabilities of Bombee Americas, mainly consisting of customary current obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business for Bombee Americas, which are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s operations or financial position.
No finder’s fees were paid or payable in conjunction with the Acquisition.
The Acquisition was an arm’s length transaction within the meaning of the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange) and constituted an “Expedited Acquisition” in accordance with Exchange Policy 5.3 – Acquisitions and Dispositions of Non-Cash Assets. The Acquisition remains subject to the final approval of the Exchange.
Canada
Suspected Digital Fraud Coming from Canada Up Nearly 11% Since H1 2023, Reveals New TransUnion Analysis
In the first half (H1) of 2024, Canada saw a significant increase in suspected Digital Fraud attempts, with nearly 5.74% of all attempted digital transactions where the consumer was located in Canada involving suspected Digital Fraud, revealed a new TransUnion® (NYSE: TRU) analysis. This is nearly an 11% year-over-year (YoY) rate increase from H1 2023, and TransUnion also documented an 11% increase in the volume of suspected Digital Fraud from Canada during this period, despite a less than a one percent (0.7%) YoY increase in the volume of transactions.
According to a recent TransUnion survey,1 more than half (54%) of Canadians said they were recently targeted by email, phone call or text message fraud attempts. Phishing was the most common scheme type (45%), followed by smishing (42%) and vishing (39%).
The increasing use of digital transactions, combined with rising suspected Digital Fraud attempts are also impacting businesses as they potentially face revenue losses and increased operational costs due to fraud. According to a TransUnion business survey for the H2 2024 Update to the State of Omnichannel Fraud report, 200 Canadian business leaders said their companies lost approximately 6% of equivalent revenue – representing $78 billion – over the past year due to fraud. The most prominent causes of fraud loss cited by them were:
- Scam/Authorized fraud (31%): Dishonest scheme intended to trick a person into giving up something of value (e.g., account access, money, information)
- Account takeover (19%): Unauthorized individuals taking over someone’s online account (e.g., bank, social media, email) without their permission
- Synthetic identity fraud (18%): Use of a combination of personal information to fabricate a person or entity to commit a dishonest act for financial or personal gain
TransUnion also found that suspected Digital Fraud attempts – where the consumer was transacting in Canada and targeted businesses globally – increased on average by 10.5% YoY in H1 2024 compared to H1 2023 and impacted all industries.
Top Three Industries Globally with Highest Rate of Suspected Digital Fraud Attempts Coming from Canada in H1 2024
- Gambling (online sports betting, poker, etc.) – 9.6%
- Retail – 9.2%
- Government – 7.7%
Top Three Industries Globally with Highest YoY Increase (H1 2024 vs H1 2023) in the Rate of Suspected Digital Fraud Attempts Coming from Canada
- Logistics – 172.9%
- Gambling – 79.3%
- Video gaming – 67.8%
“Protecting customers and their businesses from fraud is essential to enabling safe and tailored consumer experiences. These findings reveal that despite the good-faith efforts that are being undertaken by companies to identify and prevent fraud to date, fraudsters continue to evolve and it’s vital that fraud prevention methods keep up with the changing times,” said Patrick Boudreau, head of identity management and fraud solutions at TransUnion Canada.
“Businesses that aren’t already doing so should ensure that they are taking advantage of fraud prevention technologies such as identity verification, IP intelligence, device reputation and synthetic identity detection as critical components of their fraud prevention programs,” he added.
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