Industry News
Merkur’s latest launches bring the heat to ICE London
Whether sipping on sunshine from a tropical island or feeling the hot breath of a dragon, Merkur Gaming’s latest three games are set to catch fire at ICE London as the company prepares for a “big” show and an even bigger year ahead…
“Maximum performance and maximum entertainment,” is how Merkur Gaming has described its focus at the start of 2020 as the company prepares to enhance its online portfolio even further following a hugely successful year launching eye-catching and popular new titles. The launch of its three latest titles, Dragon’s Maid, Mojito Beach and Tri Piki, is testament to the Gauselmann subsidiary’s ongoing reel game line-up expansion with 2020 set to be a shining year for new releases according to Maja Cvetkovic, Business Development Manager – Online at Merkur Gaming.
Commenting on the company’s latest, sizzling reels, Cvetkovic said: “Our newest releases all deliver on our usual strong passion for details of classic casino games with an online twist and will for sure match players’ expectations as they combine unique mathematics and in-game features in fun and exciting ways.”
Dragon’s Maid is a 5-reel with 10, 20 or 40 win lines, which beckons players into a story of a special hero family of the titular maid and her dragons. “We developed a game which centred around the unbreakable bond between the Dragon’s Maid and these majestic blue Dragons. Have you ever seen lively creatures being there for each other, going through one adventure after the other and always holding their backs? This game will bring this unique story to life as players learn from their deep relationship.”
This medieval game features wilds and sticky wilds centred around the adventure whilst also bringing its fantasy creatures into a new free game feature. “The Maid and the Dragons help each other and use their strengths also for the other one’s benefit,” Cvetkovic explained. “Players can also make their way into the free game feature. The number of free games which are set off is based on a secret magical formula only the Dragons know: Depending on how many of his Dragon mates the blue Dragon summons, the number of free games is decided. This means that the Dragon’s Maid belongs to a big Dragon family and in a good family everyone does his best for the other family members!”
Merkur Gaming’s other latest release bring players in contact with a different kind of heat, the hot summer sun of the tropics filled with surfing, swimming and sipping on cocktails. Mojito Beach delivers a party in a glass with a 5-reel-10-win-lines-game which makes the famous rum-based beverage the star of the show.
“For this impressive slot we wanted to offer the feel of the bright sun, big waves on the shore and the famous Mojito Beach Party as well as big payouts and some winning wild features,” Cvetkovic said. “Players will meet a highly motivated barkeeper and his female co-worker who created her own Mojito recipe! She creates and serves them with all her talent as she is wild and expanding wild but her speciality is also to turn all the glasses of Mojito appearing on the reels into wild symbols as well. This is a game filled with good times from the music, stunning graphics and gameplay, bring out the ice and let’s get this party started!”
Finally, Merkur’s Tri Piki game brings the myths of a tropical island, which is a highly popular game theme in the reel game sector, into a winning formula of wilds and scatters for players of any type. The story unfolds of a dancing woman who uses spiritual magic to keep the sunset sparkling through the night which all combines with state-of-the-art game mathematics and a calming, meditative gameplay.
“Tri Piki is a 5 reels and 10 or 20 win line game in which the dancing woman is wild and scatter and sets off 10 free games when her symbol appears 3 times on the reels. Through her ritual dance she chooses 3 special symbols and hides all of the symbols under shells which then have to be picked by the player or her upon which she reveals the special symbols.”
Cvetkovic concluded: “Tri Piki is not a typical vacation destination and as a game it stands out for the variety of hidden in-game features tied into the idyllic setting. In daylight when the dancing Woman sleeps, you can sip on mango sunshine cocktails and bathe in the sun, doing a trip with the boat or swim with the dolphins in the sea. So this small island bears more hidden treasures than those which can be seen at first sight. The beautiful nature of Tri Piki is outstanding and definitely provides everything a player needs to forget the hectic life outside.”
Industry News
Sky Bet Relocates Headquarters to Malta
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Sky Bet has relocated its headquarters to Malta, a move that could cut its UK tax bill by tens of millions of pounds a year. The change will mean less money for the government at a time when the public finances are under strain.
The chancellor needs to increase tax revenues and is under pressure to levy higher duties on the betting industry – something the industry is aggressively campaigning against. Sky Bet, which describes itself as “the UK’s No. 1 betting app,” has moved its sportsbetting business to the Maltese branch of a new UK company, SBG Sports Limited.
Flutter Entertainment PLC, Sky Bet’s parent company, first told staff about the move in June, alongside a plan to make around 250 people in the UK redundant. At a meeting which was live-streamed across Flutter’s “UK and Ireland” business, workers in Leeds, Sunderland, London, Dublin, Gibraltar, Porto and Cluj were told the relocation of Sky Bet to Malta was driven by a “need to operate more efficiently” and to reduce costs.
Steve Birch, chief commercial officer of Sky Betting and Gaming, said that from November 1, “day-to-day commercial and marketing decision making will take place in Malta,” although Sky Bet’s Leeds office would continue to be one of Flutter’s largest.
The post Sky Bet Relocates Headquarters to Malta appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
financial results
GiG Software PLC Q3 Trading Results
Reading Time: 2 minutes
GiG Software Plc, a leading B2B iGaming technology company, has announced its financial results for the third quarter ended 30 September 2025 (Q3 2025).
Key Operational Highlights
• Delivered three launches across Q3 2025, including GiG’s market-leading sportsbook in the UK, with two additional launches released following the end of the quarter
• Ongoing new business momentum continued, with five commercial agreements signed, including an agreement to supply the technology to a European Lottery alongside new business wins targeting the Brazilian market
• Continued progress against the Company’s key strategic growth priorities, in particular leveraging AI across the iGaming vertical
• Post quarter end, the Company entered into a commercial agreement with a European Operator to provide platform and sportsbook services to the French market.
Financial Summary of Q3 2025
• Q3 2025 revenue of €9.7 million (Q3 2024: €7.4 million), up 31% YoY
• Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2025 increased €2.3 million to €1.2 million (Q3 2024: loss of €1.1 million) at a margin of 13% (Q3 2024: -15%)
• Q3 2025 operating loss reduced to €3.5 million (Q3 2024: underlying loss of €9.7 million)
• Cash and cash equivalents balance of €4.7 million as at 30 September 2025 (30 September 2024: €10.0 million; 31 December 2024: €6.4 million).
At the end of Q3 2025, GiG received €11m in relation to the Company’s directed share issue. In light of this, the Board is satisfied with the current strength of the Company’s Balance Sheet and, in the interest of all shareholders, do not currently envisage the need for additional funds.
Results for the First Nine Months of 2025
Revenue for the first nine months of 2025 (9M 2025) was up 22% YoY to €28.0 million (9M 2024: €23.0 million)
Adjusted EBITDA for 9M 2025 amounted to €2.6 million (9M 2024: underlying loss of €3.1 million), at a margin of 9% (9M 2024: -13%)
Operating loss for 9M 2025 reduced to €11.6 million (9M 2024: underlying loss of €22.1 million)
Richard Carter, Chief Executive Officer of GiG, said: “We continue to be encouraged with our ongoing financial and operational progress across the business. Our new business momentum has been supported by a number of key strategic new business wins, including recent gains targeting the Brazilian market and GiG securing a major European Lottery, marking our first entry into the lottery vertical.
“Q3 represented another period of progress for GiG and further evolution of the business. We continue to refine our go-to-market strategy and evolve our highly scalable technology platform complemented by an increasingly data-driven, AI-empowered operating model.”
The post GiG Software PLC Q3 Trading Results appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
ATG
BOS in debate with Svenska Spel and ATG on SvD Debatt on bonuses in the gambling market
Reading Time: 4 minutes
On November 7, the CEOs of the gambling companies Svenska Spel and ATG published an op-ed in one of Sweden’s main newspapers – Svenska Dagbladet – in which they propose a total ban on all bonuses in the Swedish licensed gambling market.
BOS – the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling – responds today in the same paper that such a ban would unilaterally benefit Svenska Spel and ATG commercially, at the cost of poorer consumer protection in Sweden. The latter is related to the fact that a total bonus ban is expected to contribute to an accelerated transition from legally licensed gambling to unregulated unlicensed gambling.
“The elephant in the room for consumer protection is that consumers are to such a large extent absent from the legally licensed part of the gambling market. Instead, they have chosen the unregulated unlicensed market to an alarming extent, partly because of the very generous bonus systems offered there. We should not have that kind of excesses with sky-high bonuses in the licensed market, but to completely ban any form of moderate bonus offer is to give up the fight of defending the licensed gambling market and its consumer protection,” says BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt.
Svenska Spel’s and ATG’s debate article is available here: https://www.svd.se/a/nyky6B/bonusar-maste-bort-driver-pa-ungas-spelande-skriver-debattorer
BOS’ debate article is available here, signed by Gustaf Hoffstedt, published today, November 14: https://www.svd.se/a/GyvAK4/spelbolagschefer-driver-spelarna-till-olagliga-spel-skriver-gustaf-hoffstedt
A translated version of Gustaf Hoffstedt’s op-ed can be read below:
Svenska Spel and ATG sacrifice consumer protection
Tighten the conditions for licensed gambling companies even further, demand gambling company CEOs Anna Johnson and Hasse Lord Skarplöth, Svenska Spel and ATG respectively, on SvD Debatt. Today, all forms of programs for loyal gambling customers are already prohibited in the Gaming Act. Johnson and Lord Skarplöth want this ban to now be extended to the currently permitted bonuses for new gambling customers. All in the name of protecting the gambling consumer.
Their reasoning may seem logical to someone who is not more deeply familiar with the conditions in the gambling market. What the reasoning, however, completely ignores is the elephant in the room when it comes to consumer protection in the Swedish gambling market: that consumers are increasingly abandoning licensed gambling companies in favour of companies that operate outside the regulated gambling market. According to a recent study by ATG, one of the signatories of the op-ed, the share of unlicensed online casino gambling can now account for just over 40 percent of turnover. In the unlicensed gambling market, the absence of consumer protection is total. The Swedish state receives zero kronor in gambling tax there and zero kronor in profit from its own state-owned gambling operations.
In the name of good consumer protection, the 40 percent lost to the unlicensed gambling market outweighs the 60 percent who still play licensed. This is because most high-volume gamblers are found among the 40 percent. High-volume gamblers are not synonymous with problem gamblers, but it is among these 40 percent that Swedish consumer protection needs to reach. Which it does not do today.
We believe that everyone agrees and is concerned that gambling among young people under the age of 18 is a growing problem, but to claim that this is due to the welcome bonuses that are currently offered to adult players, without mentioning how today’s young people learn to play for money through so-called skins and loot boxes in their favourite games, is not serious. Especially since data from our neighbouring country Denmark clearly points to the latter as the main reason for the increase in youth problem gambling there.
A high proportion of legally licensed gambling is achieved through striking a balance between consumer protection and gambling pleasure. The gambling consumers must themselves want to be in the licensed gambling market. If this is not achieved, the entire system will collapse.
The gambling authority Spelinspektionen has asked gambling consumers why they prefer to play unlicensed in Sweden to such a large extent. Among the main explanations is always the absence of loyalty programs for existing customers. Now Johnson and Lord Skarplöth also want to remove the possibility of giving a bonus to a new gambling customer. If they get their way, we probably haven’t seen the bottom yet in how low the proportion of legally licensed gambling can fall. As a reference, the Netherlands can be mentioned, whose gambling authority KSA recently announced that the proportion of illegal gambling now accounts for more than half of their gambling market.
So why are Svenska Spel and ATG acting in this way? Well, because even in a shrinking legal gambling market, there are market shares to defend. Both of these gambling companies, which emerged from the Swedish gambling monopoly, took significant market shares with them from the start when the Swedish gambling market was reregulated in 2019. The fact that their competitors, who in many cases start with zero customers on their data base, are prohibited from offering a bonus when a new customer is recruited is of course tempting for the old monopolists.
But they bite their own tail. Because with demands for further restrictions on the legal licensed gambling market, they can only defend their market share in an increasingly shrinking license market.
This is sad to see, because the Swedish gems ATG and Svenska Spel, where in the latter case all Swedes are part-owners of the company, could instead have shown leadership in defending a sustainable gambling license market. These two companies could have brought together the gambling market, or at least the members of their own trade association, for some common good. However, they ignore this and run solo games for short-term benefit for themselves, but not for Sweden and above all not for consumer protection in the gambling market.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General, BOS – The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling
The post BOS in debate with Svenska Spel and ATG on SvD Debatt on bonuses in the gambling market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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