Latest News
ARISTOCRAT CONTINUES TO INVEST IN EXPANDING DIGITAL GAME PIPELINE AND PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION FOR GROWTH

Aristocrat Leisure Limited announced that it has entered into a number of deals to further expand its world-class Digital game development capability, in line with its growth strategy. The investments are strongly aligned to targeted genres, particularly the highgrowth casual and merge segments where Aristocrat Digital already has a presence, and the social casino segment, in which the business has a market-leading position globally.
In total, three new studios will join Aristocrat Digital, deepening the business’ access to game development talent and studio capabilities in top-tier mobile game talent hubs across Northern and Eastern Europe. Details are as follows:
- Aristocrat has agreed to acquire Helsinki-based free-to-play mobile gaming studio Futureplay, which specialises in the growing merge/match 3 segment of the casual market. Founded in 2015, Futureplay has released six games that have been played by over 140 million users around the world, including titles such as Merge Gardens, Idle Farming Empire and Battlelands Royale. Futureplay will operate under the proven leadership of Jami Laes, as a studio reporting within Aristocrat’s Plarium business. This will bring together Plarium’s best-in-class game development infrastructure and marketing expertise with Futureplay’s outstanding casual mobile capabilities enabling Plarium to expand and diversify their portfolio (which includes the global sensation RAID: Shadow Legends).
- Given talent opportunities in the region, Aristocrat has established a further Helsinkibased studio, Northern Stars. Northern Stars will focus on the emerging hybrid casual genre under the world-class game development and studio leaders, Minwoo Lee (ex EA, Rovio, Ubisoft) and Antti Nikander (ex Rovio). Minwoo and Antti bring a wealth of experience to the Group, which will help us grow Aristocrat’s presence in Finland and further expand our game development capabilities.
- Aristocrat has acquired Playsoft, the Gdańsk (Poland) based mobile gaming studio specialising in the social casino genre. Playsoft has a 13+ year track record of developing more than 50 successful game titles for third party partners. Playsoft will operate within the Product Madness business, and continue to be led by its impressive founders Nicolas Bensignor and Pierre Olivier Monteil. The studio will help accelerate Product Madness’s pipeline and deliver innovation, while establishing a strong footprint for the company in another strategic European location.
Aristocrat Digital’s CEO, Michael Lang, said “These deals are consistent with Aristocrat’s successful strategy of bringing more world-class game development talent and capability into the organisation to expand our game pipeline and sustain our strong growth momentum in
Digital.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Futureplay, Northern Stars and Playsoft to the Aristocrat Digital family, given their impressive track records in game development, creativity and innovation. Coupled with Aristocrat Digital’s ambitious strategy, global scale, marketing and investment
capabilities, we look forward to helping our new colleagues reach new heights as part of Aristocrat.”
“We will continue to be active in pursuing global talent and studio deals that accelerate our growth strategy, alongside our sustained proven focus in driving organic growth and abovemarket results” Mr Lang concluded.
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Latest News
63 suspicious betting alerts reported by IBIA in Q1 2025

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 63 alerts of suspicious betting to the relevant authorities in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025. The Q1 2025 total is 3% less than the 65 alerts in Q4 2024, and 11% more when compared to the revised Q1 2024 total of 57 alerts. IBIA monitors over $300bn per annum in betting turnover (handle) across more than 80 members with over 140 sports betting brands globally.
The 63 incidents of suspicious betting in Q1 2025 concerned six sports, across 23 countries and 5 continents. Other key data for Q1 2025 includes:
- Football and tennis accounted for 40 of the Q1 2025 alerts (64%), a 14% increase from 35 alerts in Q4 2024.
- Sporting events in Europe and North America, with 32 alerts combined, made up 51% of the total reported; that was a decrease of 29% compared to 45 alerts in Q4 2024.
- Table tennis saw a notably reduction in alerts from 21 reported in Q4 2024 to 9 reported in Q1 2025, representing a 53% quarter-on-quarter fall.
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “The first quarter of 2025 was relatively consistent with the previous quarter and the comparable period last year. Football and tennis remain the most reported sports, albeit their combined Q1 2025 number was down 14% on Q4 2024. This quarter-on-quarter reduction was primarily due to a fall in tennis alerts, which have shown a welcome reduction in recent years. The Q4 2024 increase in table tennis alerts has not continued into Q1 2025 and has fallen back to previous levels. IBIA has taken increased precautions regarding this sport and agreed a number of new integrity partnerships and protocols in Q1 with the aim of detecting and sanctioning corrupt betting activity.”
IBIA is a leading not-for-profit dedicated to protecting the integrity of regulated sports betting markets worldwide. Its global monitoring network serves as a powerful anti-corruption tool, identifying and reporting suspicious betting activity. In late 2024, IBIA further strengthened its capabilities with a major technological upgrade, significantly enhancing its ability to detect and respond to potential match-fixing across its members’ markets.
The post 63 suspicious betting alerts reported by IBIA in Q1 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
HÖLLE GAMES STRIKE IT RICH WITH SIERRA NUGGETS

“Sierra Nuggets” goes live today, a new 243-ways slot from Hölle Games. Evoking the spirit of the Californian gold rush in the 1800s, it features the kind of symbols you’d expect – Pickaxes, Dynamite, Gold Nuggets, and of course, a roguish Miner.
Players can get a real gold rush in the game via the Free Spins which come loaded with special Golden Nuggets. Just one Nugget will pay anywhere on the reels in free spins and award players from 1x up to an astounding 1000x EACH! Now that’s the motherlode!
Impatient players can buy the feature immediately via 10, 15 or 20 Free Spins, or else opt to double their stake with the Stake Booster feature which increases the chances to enter the free rounds.
The game is now available in MGA regions with Sweden, Romanian, Netherlands, Switzerland and others coming soon.
The post HÖLLE GAMES STRIKE IT RICH WITH SIERRA NUGGETS appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
LatAm
Neosurf celebrate first LatAm entry with Mexico launch

Neosurf, the progressive online payments company known for bridging the gap between cash and digital transactions and helping iGaming operators meet their AML and compliance requirements, has now launched in the regulated Mexican market.
With Mexico’s sports betting industry experiencing rapid growth and a strong player preference for alternative and cash-based payment solutions, Neosurf sees a significant opportunity to provide an enhanced range of market-tailored payment services to operators and players alike.
Neosurf’s cash-to-digital wallet solutions will enable Mexican players to fund their accounts securely while also giving operators access to robust compliance tools. With its pioneering Compliance Handshake feature, Neosurf provides an opportunity for seamless and secure KYC data sharing, improving the player journey and providing additional data and reporting for the operator
“In talking with operators, we’ve learnt that they’re not being serviced as well as they could be – there are gaps in customer support, compliance processes and overall payment efficiency,” explained Sue Page, CEO Americas at Neosurf.
“We believe our solution fills these gaps by offering a more reliable, secure and compliant way for players to transact, while also helping operators improve the all-round customer experience. We’re already live with first regional partners, such as Fun88, in the country and will quickly be adding more SEGOB licensed operators over the coming months.”
“With many Mexican players favouring cash, partnering with Neosurf allows us to offer a payment method that aligns with customer preferences while reinforcing our commitment to security and compliance,” added Christian Ramos, legal representative at Fun88 Mexico. “Their ability to provide frictionless transactions while enhancing AML and KYC processes makes them a key partner in the market.”
Neosurf’s launch in Mexico is just the beginning of its expansion into the regulated Latin American market, with the company already exploring further opportunities across the region. Through delivering its fast, secure and customer-centric payment solutions, Neosurf remains committed to reshaping the payments experience for players and operators, both within Mexico and beyond.
The post Neosurf celebrate first LatAm entry with Mexico launch appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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