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ONLINE GAMING VETERAN MORTEN TONNESEN JOINS SHAPE GAMES AS DANISH B2B PLATFORM AIMS TO ACCELERATE GROWTH IN THE US SPORTSBETTING & CASINO MARKET
onnesen brings a wealth of online gaming experience from PokerStars, BetWarrior
Online gaming industry veteran Morten Tonnesen has joined Shape Games as Chief Commercial Officer and also joins the Board bringing more than a decade of industry experience to the company as it aims to grow significantly in the U.S. online gambling market and across the world, Shape founder & CEO Christian Risom announced. Tonnesen was a long time marketing executive with gaming giant PokerStars and was most recently founder and CEO of sportsbetting operator BetWarrior.
Shape is a leading consumer app developer for major global brands and recently created Shape Games to address the specific needs of the online gambling industry. Risom and co-founders CPO Nicolas Linde, CIO Ole Gammelgaard and CTO Philip Bruce have created consumer apps for leading global brands including Apple, ebay, IKEA and Red Bull. Shape also has a long history with Danske Spil, Denmark’s state-run gambling operator of Oddset, the leading Danish online sportsbook.
Shape recently renewed a long-term agreement with Danske Spil and is accelerating growth in the burgeoning US sports betting market having launched with ballybet.com in Colorado and Iowa powering ‘Bally Friends’ with more US clients to come. The company is working in Latin America with BetWarrior.
Shape’s innovative and proprietary gaming software platform leverages best practices in consumer apps with first-class native customer engagement platform using predictive analytics and machine learning to inform back-end data and insights. This platform gives gaming operators the ability to improve customer experience and gain competitive advantage in the increasingly crowded marketplace.
Shape’s work with Danske Spil has been recognised with numerous industry awards for innovation, while the company has been named an industry rising star by respected industry media outlet EGR for each of the past two years.
“We are excited to bring Morten onboard and our clients will benefit from his deep management and marketing expertise in the online gaming sector,” Risom said. “We can deliver a full suite of products and services to local market land-based casino operators who are looking for a one-stop-shop consumer product partner to bring their business and their customers online. Morten’s deep experience will help us accelerate our growth and lead the way in the U.S. and European markets.”
Tonnesen said: “Shape Games has distinguished itself as a nimble, dynamic and innovative technology leader and I’m excited to help lead the company into its next stage of global growth. Shape’s consumer technology domain experience ensures that their modern, customer-focused apps stand above the traditional, clunky gaming apps from the first generation of online operators. This next generation must compete with not only other betting and casino companies, but with other entertainment choices including streaming and social games.”
Tonnesen points to Shape’s highly customisable native frontend as a unique innovation in the gambling industry and distinguishes the company as a sought-after B-to-B platform and service provider.
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game-mechanics
RubyPlay rolls out in-game Missions and Tournaments engagement tools
RubyPlay has launched a new suite of in-game Engagement Tools—starting with Missions and Tournaments—aimed at helping operators increase session depth and retention through game-level events.
The company said the tools move away from “wallet-level” engagement mechanics common in the market by tying objectives and scoring to events that occur inside the slot experience. Missions lets operators build campaigns where players complete specific in-game objectives in exchange for instant rewards.
Tournaments adds a time-bound competitive layer, with players earning points by triggering in-game events such as high-value symbol landings and feature activations. RubyPlay said both tools are designed to run as a native part of gameplay rather than an external overlay.
Deployment will extend across RubyPlay’s portfolio and its studio ecosystem, including RubyPlay Studio, Koala Games, Mad Hat Games, xSlots and Firerose, with each able to embed Missions and Tournaments in their titles.
Tsachi Maimon, Chief Executive Officer at RubyPlay, said: “When we developed our Engagement Tools, the goal was not to add another promotional layer on top of the game. The goal was to strengthen the game itself.
“Most engagement mechanics in the market are built around wallet activity or broad player behaviour. We wanted to take a different approach by building Missions and Tournaments around real in-game events, the moments players already connect with during the slot experience.
“That creates a more relevant and intuitive journey for players, while giving operators a powerful way to support longer sessions, stronger retention and deeper engagement across RubyPlay’s full content ecosystem.”
The post RubyPlay rolls out in-game Missions and Tournaments engagement tools appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
crypto sports
iBankroll signs risk-sharing deal with MonkeyTilt for VIP wagering limits
Partnership targets high-stakes variance coverage, enabling up to $1m-per-round blackjack and unlimited daily withdrawals, the companies say.
iBankroll has signed a risk-sharing partnership with crypto sports and casino operator MonkeyTilt to expand the operator’s high-stakes VIP wagering limits, the companies said.
The agreement uses iBankroll’s “Bankroll-as-a-Service” model, which is designed to absorb short-term variance tied to high-stakes play. iBankroll said the structure reduces the need for operators to hold large capital reserves to cover VIP action, freeing up balance sheet for investment in product, marketing and customer experience.
Under the deal, MonkeyTilt said it will offer $1 million per-round blackjack, $6 million maximum slot wins, unlimited daily withdrawals, and “top-of-market sports limits.” The press release adds that MonkeyTilt is backed by PolyChain and Pantera Capital and has raised over $80 million in funding.
Hayden Bowman, Co-Founder of iBankroll, said: “MonkeyTilt is building one of the most ambitious consumer products in the space.
“Sam and the team don’t take partnerships lightly and we don’t either when the deal is this size. We’ve spent the last several months getting every piece into place so MonkeyTilt can take on serious volume and volatility with zero bankroll risk on their side. It’s been a real pleasure working with them and we’re excited to keep going.”
Sam Kiki, Founder and CEO of MonkeyTilt, said: “MonkeyTilt has raised over $80 million from investors like Pantera Capital, Polychain, PokerGo, and myself. However, we have always had to earmark a large portion of our balance sheet to guarantee immediate payouts to winners.
“Moving forward, this risk will be assumed by our partners, freeing up our capital for growth. What most people don’t realise is that 99 percent of startup casinos don’t actually have a bankroll. Some take $100K-per-hand action knowing they can’t cover the downside. This deal puts us in the 1 percent that doesn’t have to think about it.”
The post iBankroll signs risk-sharing deal with MonkeyTilt for VIP wagering limits appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
content-supplier
Pragmatic Play adds football theme to Big Bass series with new slot
Pragmatic Play has released Big Bass Football Bonanza, a new entry in its Big Bass slot series that switches the franchise’s fisherman theme to a football stadium setting.
The 5×3 title uses trophy scatters to trigger a bonus game. According to the supplier, landing 3-5 trophy scatters awards 15-25 free spins, with wilds split into red and blue “teams” that collect money symbols worth up to 5,000x.
Pragmatic Play said red and blue wilds are collected on their respective sides, with every fourth wild on each team awarding 10 extra spins and adding multipliers of 2x, 3x and 10x on the first, second and third retrigger. The supplier added that if wilds land with no money symbols, or money symbols land with no wilds, paying symbols can be randomly transformed into wilds or cash prizes.
The launch lands just over two weeks before the world’s biggest football tournament gets underway. Pragmatic Play positions the release as the latest addition to the Big Bass franchise following recent titles Big Bass Trophy Catch and Big Bass Raceday Repeat.
Sharon McHugh, Director of Public Relations at Pragmatic Play, said: “Big Bass Football Bonanza has been designed to capture the electric atmosphere surrounding the world’s most-watched football tournament. From the stadium-inspired setting to the football-themed symbols, the game delivers an entertaining twist on the popular Big Bass formula.”
The post Pragmatic Play adds football theme to Big Bass series with new slot appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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