Latest News
AMIQUS & Ukie’s #RaiseTheGame launch new EDI Platform, Empower Up
Award-winning specialist games recruitment agency Amiqus and Ukie’s #RaiseTheGame initiative have today launched Empower Up, a comprehensive platform to equip games companies of all sizes with the knowledge, frameworks, guidance and resources they need to establish, improve or grow their Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) policies, practices and processes.
Empower Up is suitable for all games companies, wherever they are on their EDI journey. For those looking to gain more understanding about what EDI is and why it’s important, the Intro To EDI section provides an overview. It also provides a summary of different Diversity Characteristics and Under-Represented Groups, along with some specific advice and guidance on each.
At the heart of Empower Up is a practical Health Check tool that enables games companies to benchmark where they are on their EDI journey. This will then signpost those companies and individuals to specific areas of the website where they can gain relevant advice and actionable steps on how to move forwards.
The EDI Journey section provides just that information and guidance, covering a number of areas, including:
- Getting Started
- Your Workplace Culture
- Recruitment & Hiring
- Staff Development & Retention
- Marketing & Communications
- Accessibility & Representation
- Activities & Outreach
- Legal Requirements
Meanwhile, a Resources section will provide inspirational Case Studies from studios already doing great work in EDI; a Directory of EDI organisations and initiatives; and a Glossary of Terms area. News and Events will also be regularly updated.
Studios and individuals are encouraged to sign up to become Empower Up Members, which will provide additional benefits, namely:
- Take the Health Check and save results, allowing you to monitor your progress
- Access to informative Case Studies from other games businesses and organisations
- Bookmark articles to save in your personal Reading List
- Downloadable resources, such as document and policy templates
- Receive a monthly newsletter
- VIP invitations to Empower Up events
Empower Up is a not-for-profit, industry-led platform from Amiqus and #RaiseTheGame.
Amiqus is headed up by Business Manager Liz Prince. With 20 years industry experience as a woman in games, she is also the force behind the G Into Gaming campaign, a pro bono initiative to drive more diversity and promote gender balance in the games industry. She is also a Women in Games Ambassador and a regular speaker on EDI topics at industry events. She said:
“There are many studios and employees who know that making their organisations a more inclusive, equal and welcoming place is the right thing to do – but often they just don’t know where to start, or how to progress. That is where the idea for Empower Up was created. There are some brilliant organisations and initiatives out there, but nothing that pulls everything together in one place to help studios to take actionable steps in this area. Empower Up has been a real labour of love, and we’re really proud and happy that it’s now ready to help games companies in the UK push forward with their EDI efforts.”
Ukie’s #RaiseTheGame initiative aims to get games businesses of all sizes to pledge to improve EDI through diverse recruiting practices, building inclusive working environments and representing voices in their games. Dom Shaw is the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator for Ukie, as well as managing #RaiseTheGame. He said:
“It’s really exciting to see Empower Up come to life, and we thank both Amiqus and our leading #RaiseTheGame partners for supporting this important project. We want the games industry to be a more diverse and inclusive community, in which people from all backgrounds are welcome, valued and can flourish in their careers. Empower Up exists to empower organisations and individuals in the UK games industry to take their EDI knowledge and practices to the next level, through measurable and actionable steps. We look forward to seeing it in action in studios around the UK.”
Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.
Latest News
This month The Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise honoured 186 of its total 1200 team members for reaching significant employment milestones including 15, 10 and 5 years of service for the enterprise. The event at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort in Flagstaff, Ariz. showcased the impact and journey of each hard-working team member, with a special highlight for 29 employees who have served for 15 years.
Bruce Smith Enterprise and The Cordish Companies have been selected by the City of Petersburg, Virginia to codevelop a $1.4 billion Live! Gaming & Entertainment District, anchored by Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia. The Petersburg City Council unanimously approved Bruce Smith Enterprise and The Cordish Companies as the City’s preferred development partner on the transformative mixed-use project. The proposed project will generate billions of dollars in economic benefits and spinoff development, create thousands of new jobs and benefits to the local community and become a major new tourist destination for the City and the Central Virginia region.
CT Interactive’s LATAM team, led by Diego Verano Ponce and Ana Ruth Farías, attended SIGMA Brazil from April 23 to 25, 2024. The company’s decision to participate in the event underscores its commitment to expanding its presence and strengthening relationships within the region. The presence of Diego Verano and Ana Ruth Farías at SIGMA Brazil provided an excellent opportunity for CT Interactive to engage with industry stakeholders, discuss emerging trends and explore potential partnerships in the LATAM market.
The Colorado Division of Gambling has launched a new illegal gambling awareness campaign. The “Play Legit. Gamble Only Where Legal.” campaign aims to educate the public about the risks associated with illegal gambling and the importance of supporting regulated gaming venues. The campaign emphasises legal gambling options, including casinos in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek, as well as online sports betting and off-track betting.
Lottery.com Inc. announced the restart of its sweepstakes operations in conjunction with the WinTogether Trust, a registered 501(c)3 charitable organisation. The proceeds from the sweepstakes will benefit Street Child United. The sweepstakes had a soft launch on April 3, 2024, and is available at http://donateto.win, the successor to Lottery.com’s WinTogether.org platform.
Partnerships
Hard Rock International, Seminole Gaming and Royal Caribbean Group brands, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, unveiled a global partnership that will benefit both vacationers and team members of the brands. Travellers around the world can take advantage of accommodations, meals, discounts and more at Hard Rock and Seminole casinos, hotels and cafes, and on Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises vacations based on the milestone announcement made by two of South Florida’s largest private employers.
SCCG Management has signed a contract with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), the B.C. Crown corporation which conducts and manages commercial gambling in the province, including lotteries, casinos and online gaming. This partnership aims to undertake a comprehensive assessment and strategic enhancement of BCLC’s diverse operations. The work between SCCG and BCLC will involve a thorough review of technological infrastructures, strategic market positioning and the integration of various gaming modalities.
The post Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – April 29-May 5 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)
Soft2Bet strengthens integrity monitoring with IBIA membership in Ontario
Soft2Bet, a leading casino and sportsbook platform provider, has joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and activated its membership in Ontario, Canada, following its licensing in the Canadian province.
Soft2bet obtained its Certificate of Registration from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) at the end of March, where the company’s Ontario-focused brand Tooniebet.com will now feed into IBIA’s world-leading sports betting integrity monitoring platform before worldwide implementation in the coming months.
IBIA includes over 50 of the world’s leading sports betting and gaming companies, who operate over 125 sports betting brands. Soft2Bet’s decision to join the association further strengthens its own internal betting integrity protocols and IBIA’s position as the world’s leading sports betting integrity monitoring body.
David Yatom Hay, General Counsel at Soft2Bet, commented: “Soft2Bet is delighted to be joining the IBIA as we strengthen our own betting integrity monitoring processes and play our part in furthering the IBIA’s long-standing work on this key issue. Ontario is a world class iGaming jurisdiction; it will be the first market where we will implement our IBIA membership and we look forward to deploying the monitoring infrastructure worldwide in all the other markets in which we operate.”
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “Soft2Bet is a very welcome addition to IBIA, further strengthening our position in the Ontario market. The operator’s decision to join IBIA demonstrates its desire to utilise the best integrity protection available for its sportsbook product. The association is delighted to be able to integrate Tooniebet within our integrity monitoring system and looks forward to working closely with Soft2Bet to maintain the high integrity of its sportsbook.”
IBIA is a not-for-profit body that has no competing conflicts with the delivery of commercial services to other sectors and is run by operators and for operators to protect regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets.
Through the IBIA monitoring network it is possible to track transactional activities linked to individual customer accounts. IBIA members generate more than $300bn in annual betting turnover (handle), accounting for approximately 50% of the global commercial regulated land-based and online sports betting sector, and in excess of 50% for online alone.
IBIA recently released a report on the Availability of Sports Betting Products which highlighted Ontario as a leading regulated gambling jurisdiction, with an expected onshore channelisation for sports betting of 92% in 2024 forecast to rise to 97% in2028. IBIA currently represents over 60% of the private sports betting operators licensed in the province. All online sportsbetting operators licensed in Ontario are required to be part of a betting integrity monitoring body.
IBIA’s Q1 2024 report detailed 56 alerts during the quarter. IBIA alerts contributed to the investigations and subsequent successful sanctioning of 21 clubs, players and officials in 2023, an increase on the 15 sanctioned in 2022.
In a thrilling display of fortune and skill, Tusk Casino announces a monumental win by Adelheid, a passionate player from South Africa, who secured an astonishing R189,000 from a mere R100 bet on the renowned casino slot game, Gate of Olympus. This remarkable achievement underscores the high-stakes excitement that Tusk Casino offers to its players.
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