The deal will see titles from Spribe’s provably fair games hit casino lobbies across the aforementioned regions, along with its trademark product entitled Aviator – a social multiplayer crash game. 

Commenting on the deal, David Natroshvili, Managing Partner at Spribe, said: “We are delighted to have joined forces with SoftGamings and for our suite of games to be made available to its operator partners for the first time.

“In particular, our flagship Aviator will allow operators to stand out from the crowd with one of the most popular crash games in the market.”

As of writing, over 1,000 operators currently offer Spribe’s gaming content, with this figure set to increase following the partnership with SoftGamings. 

Alongside its crash titles, the developer is known for the production of titles, such as, mini-games, as well as classic table games like roulette and poker.

“As a relatively new studio we are always looking to increase the distribution of our games and in Soft Gamings we have the perfect partner for this,” added Shalva Bukia, Product Director at Spribe. 

“I am really looking forward to seeing Aviator, as well as our other games, land in the game lobbies of its operator partners and for players to experience the thrills and excitement that each title has been designed to deliver.”

Adding to Bukia and Natroshvili’s thoughts, Irina Sazonova, director of partnerships at SoftGamings, stated: “There’s never enough novelty in the world of igaming, and whenever new and exciting solutions pop up, we don’t hesitate to bring them to our operators and refresh their portfolios. 

“Such innovations come from Spribe, a young company that’s already making a name for itself with provably fair games such as Aviator, Dice, HiLo, and others. We are thrilled to partner with Spribe and hope this is the beginning of fruitful cooperation for many years to come.”

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Under the terms of the agreement, Singular will launch a wide selection of Red Rake Gaming’s localised titles – including its Super 20 Stars slot – into the region.

“We are excited about our partnership with Red Rake Gaming that will strengthen our position on the CIS market,” explained Robert Dowling, chief commercial officer at Singular. 

“We always aim to deliver the right entertainment to the right audience, and we strongly believe that Red Rake Gaming content will boost the growth of our clients.”

Additional titles from the Red Rake Gaming diverse suite of games includes Million 777, The Asp of Cleopatra, 1st of the Irish, and Secrets of the Temple, will also be made available to players in the CIS market.

The collaboration with Singular Group is driven through the synergies between the companies and the popularity of the Red Rake Gaming content across Singular’s client markets.

Nick Barr, managing director for Red Rake Malta, added: “We are delighted to partner with Singular for the provision of the Red Rake Gaming content to its partners. 

“The partnership will allow Red Rake Gaming to increase its reach across already very strong markets and will further enhance Singular’s impressive offering to its clients. We very much look forward to working with the Singular team which promises to be very fruitful for both parties.”

Earlier this month, Red Rake Gaming entered a partnership agreement with UK-based mobile focused gaming company, Small Screen Casinos which saw the company support ThePhoneCasino with its growth into new markets.

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The ‘Basic Strategy to Gamification’ panel outlined the phases of gamifying a product, from design to execution and, finally, user experience, while also seeking to challenge misconceptions that have led to gamification being viewed by sceptics as childish or intangible.

Leading the discussion, Karolina Pelc, Strategic Advisor at Basic Strategy, began by seeking to define gamification, a term that continues to evolve in the context of the industry.

“Gamification is a subject that has been around for a while,” said Pelc. “It’s been around at gaming conferences for at least five years, I’ve already run at least three sessions on the matter.

“We do have to start with understanding that there are some critical views on gamification in the context of the gaming industry. I often come across people asking the question, ‘What is there to gamify in an industry and in a product where the core experience is already a game and where we already have psychological engagement with the game itself?’”

However, the ever-increasing demand for the gamification of products suggests otherwise and Matthias Ciappara, a Specialist Consultant and Gamification Advocate, outlined similarities between the betting and film industries. He reaffirmed that gamification can transform the experience of betting to allow participants to feel as though they are instead playing something closer to a video game, such as Mario Kart or Call of Duty.

“As an industry we have to consider that we are competing for players’ time and spend not just between ourselves, but also with other industries. With other sectors investing so heavily in bringing entertainment to the next level, such as video gaming and the film industry, we have to be able to provide a much more exciting session so that players play our games, rather than going and watching a movie on Netflix or playing a video game.”

The logistics of gamifying a product and finding solutions for individual services is the specialist subject of Product Architecture and UX Specialist at Double Clap, Martin Sandstrom.

Sandstrom offered an holistic view of gamification, highlighting the importance of placing your target market at the heart of the design process and reiterating that companies should tailor products to their users, as opposed to replicating rival strategies.

“I will always start with looking at using insights, like our customer base and what they want, or if we want to acquire new customers and try to steal someone else’s, what makes them tick. That’s something we could all make more of, I think – user insights.

“You can look at gamification as a sprinkle on top of an existing feature, like small elements, or you can look at proper full-blown features that you either build in-house or use third parties to bolt it on,” Sandstrom theorised.

“We have to find ways of making
the experience feel so much more
than just a transaction,”
– Matthias Ciappara

Ciappara added that the process also has the potential to attract a younger audience to products ordinarily popular with a more mature demographic. This new audience can then be engaged and retained, producing more revenue for companies.

“We have to look into ways of making the experience feel so much more than just a transaction, where the player is depositing money and betting,” he continued. “Players need to feel they’re progressing in something and they’re also being competitive with each other.

“These game mechanics especially help in making our offering much more appealing to the younger demographic that are used to these mechanics in other applications and also their everyday lives.”

There was a general consensus from the panel of speakers that key performance indicators for gamification are difficult to quantify and can be attributed in several different ways.

For instance, Ciappara explained that his company monitors how long a customer has been active on their site and how they manage this time, in order to determine if their product has been a success.

“Obviously now sessions are shorter, we are no longer looking at a player as someone that has sat down on the computer for 30 minutes,” he explained. “It could be someone waiting for a bus that has five minutes to kill and we have to provide an entertaining experience for him or her in that session.”

Rewards and progress are two incentives that can be used to achieve this, the panel agreed. The narrative behind a product and related social elements can boost the user experience. For instance, something as simple as celebrating with customers through pop-up messages – providing assurance that their achievements are not going unnoticed – has proved to be effective.

Pelc expanded: “The gaming experience is quite often all about win or loss, and that’s exciting on its own. However, adding the gamification layer lets the operator react to so much more because you can progress players through the near-misses or the losses – and how they feel about them – with simple measures that the technology now allows.”

The panel discussed different solutions available in the market, from third-party event processing plugins and data science solutions, to jackpot-oriented products and provider promotional tools. 

Concluding, Pelc also stressed the importance of recognising the depth of the field and to look past tournaments and badges as the only means of gamification. She pointed towards the trends of community gaming and streaming as prime examples of taking a gamification initiative in a completely different direction

Watch the full panel discussion on the SBC YouTube channel here.

Further reading on the topic of gamification and player engagement, as recommended by the panelists:
– Hooked, by Nir Eyal
– Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom and the Secret of Games, by Ian Bogost
– Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, by Natasha Dow Schüll
– Indistractable, by Nir Eyal
– Seductive Interaction Design, by Stephen P. Anderson
– Thinking Fast And Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
– Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely
– useronboard.com 

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Speaking on the first day of the SBC Digital Summit CIS as part of the panel ‘Impact of Gaming Regulations on the Economy’, Afanasyev discussed the impact gambling regulations have had in Russia. 

Asked what the Russian government could have done better in relation to sports betting and gambling regulations, Afanasyev highlighted the growth in Russia over the last 12 years.

He said: “We should go back to 2008 and things were changing quickly and gambling was banned. Sports betting was at risk of being completely banned but thanks to the dialect one of our founders was able to create with the authorities, we managed to convince that we should keep sports betting.

“One important thing was created back then and that’s an understanding that sports betting is not gambling but first of all, it’s a way to support national sports in Russia and this is where things started to change.”

Afanasyev emphasised that Russia were ‘on the right path’ when it comes to sports betting being the industry that supports sports and the sports federation. A relationship that he claimed is ‘improving year on year’.

He continued: “It was a tough path. Our industry is quite complicated and it’s hard sometimes to explain that, for example, you can not charge a regular ten or 15 per cent on the turnover although for a majority of other industries the turnover would be the right parameter to set a tax on but not for gambling and for sports betting.

“I should also highlight that the general trend worldwide is that the regulation becomes more and more tough along with the conditions and Russia is not an exception here. 

“We’ve recently seen changes to the regulation and starting from oct we are paying 5 per cent on specially targeted contributions to sports federations from our GGR. Previously it was five per cent on local sports only.

Explaining a situation Afanasyev found himself in the same room as the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, he explained: “There is a new thing that is currently emerging and precisely one month ago there was a board meeting on the Russian sports development that involved the Russian President (Vladimir Putin). 

“He was also there and part of the discussion, and the Minister of Finance declared that sports betting contributed $15m over the last year as this targeted contribution to sports but he also mentioned that it would be great if this figure could be at least doubled.

Joining Afanasyev on the panel was Yurii Shevchuk, head of compliance and regulations at Parimatch, and Bachana Shengelia, head of sector research at Galt & Taggart.

When asked by Machavariani if a CIS region can use gambling as its main driver for its economy, Shevchuk responded: “It might be for little countries, for example Georgia, but for Russia, for now no because there is only betting legalised… For Ukraine it might be in some particular regions because we see that there might be a good collaboration, especially in casinos. 

“Historically we have very good relationships with Turkish investors and they can build hotels, they can build roads, and they can build infrastructure and bring money… so maybe they will join and it will be like casino tourism to Ukraine. 

Shevchuck concluded by drawing comparisons to Malta: “If we compare with Malta then maybe in Georgia, yes. Malta is a little island that was built and its economical strengths over the last few years, it’s linked with gambling, with digitalising and cryptocurrencies and they want to be the leaders in Europe.”

SBC Digital Summit CIS (4 – 5 November 2020) is the leading virtual conference and exhibition for the betting and gaming industry in the CIS, Ukraine and Georgia. It features more than 70 expert speakers sharing insights and ideas about the future of markets across the region, with all 18 conference sessions available both live and on-demand. 

Delegates can also enjoy a programme of networking roundtables and an interactive product display area showcasing the latest industry innovations. Click here to register for your free pass.

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Taking part in a ‘CIS & the Balkans – The next big thing?’ discussion, the expert panel dissected the goings on across multitude of jurisdictions, doing so before the region becomes a firm focus in the SBC Digital Summit CIS, which takes place later this year on November 4-5.

Before 75 executive speakers participate in the first ever event fully dedicated to the CIS region, delivered in association with Sports Media Holding, Ilya Machavariani, head of Russian and CIS gambling and gaming practice, Dentons, began today’s discussion by providing an overview of recent activity. 

“I think that maybe the main point I would like to tell you and that I would like to discuss is that, I have a feeling that generally CIS has started to open up and I mean that Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Russia; all of these countries are trying to somehow work on their regulations, or already existing ones, and introduce some new ones.

“And the main thing about these countries is that I see, as a lawyer at least, that the regulators and people who are responsible for these new laws are really looking towards the best international practices. At least from my point of view. 

“For instance, if we look at Ukraine here, I think it’s really good that Ukraine is trying to be open to the international community and everybody will notice that because the Ukrainian legislation, which basically has happened a couple of month ago, was covered in each and every international igaming magazine and igaming media.”

“I think that today … is the right moment for everyone to move into this direction”

Adding: “I think that today, and coming maybe a couple of years in the future, is the right moment for everyone to move into this direction and to look at the CIS.”

Praising transparency and clarity as two key facets that should ensure that “every international operator” looks into this direction, Machavariani also touched upon two more regions which have been on the radar in recent times.

Firstly, recent movements in Uzbekistan were noted, with the country aiming to draw up a new set of regulations for sports betting and also looking to attract international operators.

Furthermore, Machavariani also touched upon rumours swirling concerning potential manoeuvres in Tajikistan which suggest that the country will be looking to regulate “each and every vertical that there is”.

Machavariani was joined at the panel by Maxim Afanasyev, CPO of Ligastavok, Minja Bolesnikov, CEO of MaxBet, and Irakli Davarashvili, CMO of Adjarabet, with Lasha Machavariani, CEO/founder of Setanta Sports Media, taking the moderating reigns.

The former of those subsequently picked up the conversation, delving into recent goings on in Ligastavok’s home market of Russia: “Things happen very fast in Russia, especially when it comes to changing the law,” Afanasyev noted.

“Just one month ago a new law was signed that regulates bookmakers activity and on October 1 it will come into force, so what is changing is that starting from October we will only be able to accept bets on official sports events.” 

In essence, the impending development means that legal operators will have to ditch novelty markets, such as the Eurovision song content and the Oscars, however the ‘official sports’ ruling will not affect esports. 

Following a further investigative dive into further CIS and Balkans regions talk soon turned back to Ukraine, with Afanasyev saying of his firm’s outlook on the country: “Well I would say that if you look at the overall CIS and post Soviet area, we would put Ukraine as market number two after Russia in terms of the sizes, so it’s definitely an interesting piece of cake.

“…what is missing a little right now is the 100 per cent clarity”

“And I would assume that a lot of operators from all over the world are looking toward entering the market. But I think that what is missing a little right now is the 100 per cent clarity on how things will work out and it will take some time before there will be some movements. 

“For us, I would say that we’re in a position of looking into this market and possible entry in the mid-term, so it’s not going to be an immediate move tomorrow lets say, but it’s definitely on our list.”

Echoing those sentiments was Davarashvili, who commented that Adjarabet would be looking to expand out of Georgia and Armenia, stating that “I think that Ukraine will also be interesting”.

As the discussion neared a conclusion, Bolesnikov picked up the Ukraine-focused conversation: “Obviously we are closely monitoring several different fields of potential activity, first one is that obviously in the Balkans we are going to finish the story there, but this does mean that if a proper chance arises we will not be attacking it. 

“Obviously we were already approached to do something in Ukraine, we were offered an introduction to the market, partnerships, etc. But similarly to Maxim, we are going to be cautious and we are going to be careful in that segment.” 

It was added that MaxBet views Western Europe, particularly Spain, as further potential expansion sites, with the US also touched upon as Bolesnikov says that the firm has done its homework and that “those are places we feel that we could do a lot”.

SBC Summit Barcelona – Digital is a FREE to attend virtual conference and exhibition running from 8-11 September. To register for your free ticket or find out more please visit – https://sbcevents.com/sbc-summit-barcelona-digital/.

SBC is staging its first ever event fully dedicated to the CIS region on 4-5 November 2020. SBC Digital Summit CIS, organised in association with Sports Media Holding, will feature a virtual conference with 75 high-level speakers, an interactive product display area, and a programme of networking roundtables. 

Click here to register for your free pass for SBC Digital Summit CIS.

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The casino games supplier stresses that it has “seen a very high demand” across the region for its slot content, with its newest partner having operated in the CIS region for in excess of 20 year.

A statement on behalf of Fonbet read: “We are excited to offer red rake’s excellent content to our platform. Without a doubt, red rake’s content will prove to be very popular with our players.”

Under the terms of the deal, a variety of Red Rake content is to be included, such as latest releases The Travels of Marco, Knights, and Tiger and Dragon, as well as its highest grossing game release this year, Super12Stars, which combines many features from the super series of games in an attempt to ensure maximum engagement.

Nick Barr, managing director for Red Rake’s Malta operations, commented on the partnership: “We are delighted on our most recent partnership with Fonbet, and we are looking forward towards a long lasting and fruitful collaboration. We have seen a high demand for our content in the CIS region, and partnering with one of the most established operators in the region is very reassuring we are delivering what players want.”

Red Rake has continued to push for expansion across a number of jurisdiction this year, which began with securing licenses from both the United Kingdom Gambling Commission and its Malta Gaming Authority counterpart earlier this year.

Adding to its UK footprint via a TradaCasino link-up, the firm also enhanced its position across a variety of regulated markets after aligning with Stoiximan and Betano.

This latter agreement sandwiched two partnerships in Portugal, which saw entry made through bet.pt and a further footprint added courtesy of Betclic.

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EvenBet’s turnkey poker solution offers InBet, which has a strong footing in the CIS, the foundation to expand in eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Dmitry Starostenkov, EvenBet Gaming CEO, said: “InBet shares our flair for versatile software solutions and we have been impressed with their capacity.

“There is enormous potential for mutual growth over the coming years and we look forward to seeing how more and more players embrace our retooled poker games. This agreement provides further vindication that we are offering the leading turnkey poker product on the market.”

Paul Korolev, InBet Games’ business development director, added: “It’s fantastic news to partner with EvenBet on a deal which I feel equips our diverse suite with its final key component of poker.

“We were drawn to the ease of integration and EvenBet’s commitment to reinventing the poker space with new formats such as Open Face Chinese.

“Together, we are securing deeper user engagement with maths engines that enhance playability and gameplay.”

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This latest deal follows a recent enlargement of the company within the region, and continues on from similar partnerships struck this year with Boss Gaming, 1Xbet and EscapeBET.

The provider currently operates over 75 video slots titles, 10 table games and 10 video poker titles, integrated into over 60 operators and aggregators around the world and available in 21 European and Asian languages.

Daniel Long, Head of Sales at Habanero, said: “We’re delighted to have signed-up with vulkanvegas.com and are very hopeful that it will be a fruitful partnership for both parties.

“Our slots are popular with players in markets all over the world now, and I’m sure theirs will enjoy both our proven performers and the new content we have in production too.”

This latest deal will see titles such as the recently released Scruffy Scallywags, The Dead Escape and Rolling Roger integrated onto the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) facing brand.

This joins games from suppliers including Microgaming, Quickspin, and Play’n GO, that are also available to customers of Vulkanvegas.com.

A spokesman for Vulkanvegas.com, who stated that the company are excited to get Habanero’s games onboard, added: “It is very important to provide varied themes and maths models, and there is great depth and breadth in Habanero’s content that gives us great options.”

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