The agreement will see new titles enter its games catalogue from Green Jade’s portfolio, and will allow the service provider to obtain the exclusive supply of titles. 

“Microgame are the Italian market,” exclaimed Mark Taffler, CCO of Green Jade Games. “They have experience, the best network and great, great people. Our commitment to Microgame by giving them our arcade content exclusively is very exciting.  

“The Italian market is mature. It’s stable and we’re looking forward to entering.”

In addition, the partnership will allow Microgame to utilise Green Jade’s products and expand into arcade games, a stable of the latter’s catalogue, that the provider noted “represents a real turning point” to meet the demands of the Italian market and acquire a new segment of players. 

Marco Castaldo, CEO of Microgame, stated: “This new partnership allows us to always maintain a high level of our offer, the most complete in the Italian gaming industry, and to obtain the exclusive supply of Green Jade’s arcade games capable of attracting the attention of the Italian market.”

The strengthening of its Italian offering comes in the same week as Microgame agreed a deal with Bragg Gaming Group, a move that the latter claimed was “another watershed moment” as it entered “one of Europe’s largest and most established online market” 

This saw the group’s Oryx Gaming entity agree to distribute its content with Italy-based gaming platform Microgame, which Bragg underscores will enable it to reach “numerous local operators in the country”.

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Speaking on an Altenar-sponsored panel titled ‘Italy: igaming’s true land of opportunity?’ gaming industry leaders delved into how firms looking to enter the Italian market can overcome the regulatory hurdles placed before them to unlock the ‘tremendous’ potential the country has to offer.

Kicking off the discussion, Quirino Mancini, a partner at SBC Advisory Partners identified some ‘very good opportunities’ for growth and progress despite the various obstacles in the way, including the fiercely competitive nature of the market and the legislation in place.

“In Italy, there are verticals which can be launched,” he explained. “One of them is fantasy sports and the other one is esports. It’s a bit frustrating as an advisor to receive calls from potential clients and then to have to give them the bad news, and tell them ‘look, think about it because it is challenging’. It’s not just the fact that it’s a very highly competitive environment, but there are also very strict regulations.

“If we go to the nitty-gritty of operating in Italy, ask one of those guys who got a licence in 2018 how easy it was for them to simply establish an online banking account. This is another element of tragedy and irony at the same time – you are in legitimate business, you hold a licence, you pay gaming taxes to the Italian state, you deliver a perfectly legal, legitimate and highly regulated business, but still, if you go to any in Italy, and you tell them, ‘this is my licence, this is the company, this is the name of my great-grandmother and her shoe size,’ it’s still not just enough to get an online bank account up and running.

“These are the challenges that I have to warn potential clients of, and most of them understandably reconsider their plans, because they are still very tempted and they are still very lured into the Italian market but they also need to make sure that they can deliver a sustainable business.”

Although there are still several factors for potential entrants into the Italian market to consider before making the move, Italian’s gaming sector has enjoyed unprecedented growth during the pandemic, with the market now boasting the record of the ‘second-largest gaming market in Europe’, as highlighted by panel moderator and G3 reporter, Will Bolton.

In particular, Marco Castaldo, CEO of Microgame, emphasised that the ‘historically underpenetrated’ online gaming sector in the country has benefitted from the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis.

“We were below 10 per cent in 2019 and the rest of Europe was around 25 per cent on average. Start with the fact that if Italy moves in the direction that we see elsewhere in terms of consumer habits, technology and industry practices, there’s room for the online segment of the market to grow tremendously.

“Add to that the factors that Marco mentioned before in terms of the backlash on physical gaming and on street gaming that occurred after there was a visible growth of these gaming machines. They were actually being legalised but all of a sudden they became visible, and there’s been this tremendous political backlash with, especially local regulators, coming up with distance limits and opening our limits to essentially try to ban a WPS from bars and the like.

“What are these measures doing there? Of course, increasing the pressure on the industry to look for alternatives. I think one of the big factors in the growth of online and why I think over the pandemic we essentially crossed the barrier of almost five years of industry evolution, was because the pandemic added to this regulatory effect.”

He added: “The regulatory effect was pushing land-based gaming essentially out of society, and so the natural solution is for players to play at home to play on their mobile and so on. Then you have the pandemic, which all of a sudden made most of the operators face the reality that the shops you know are very vulnerable. So, the combination of these factors means that now the whole industry is looking at the fact that you have to address the players’ needs and you have to look at it holistically.”

Following the implementation of ‘one of the harshest advertising bans in Europe’, operators have shown ‘great resilience’ and ‘creativity’, reaffirmed Natalie Berenato, head of online marketing at OlyBet.

Taking the restrictions into account, Marco Tiso, online managing director at Sisal, concurred that there are a multitude of factors to consider when debating the Italian market, but nonetheless statistics which demonstrate the country’s impressive growth.

He began: “If you look at the overall number of Italian gambling, the incidence of online gambling and poker games in Italy was at 8 per cent or 9 per cent in 2019, and after the pandemic, there was an incidence rate of 20 per cent. For slot machine or casino products, 7.7 per cent is played online and 93 per cent is played in the arena.

“We’ll see in the future an omni-channel approach of our customers and the GGR of our customers. There’s more and more spread between retail and online, and I do think that the online business can grow by two or three times as Marco said. The overall business now is already huge because the overall game, then in Italy is at 1.2 per cent of our GDP, while the European average is 0.73 per cent or 0.74 per cent, so we already are in a position of a huge gambling market. I think that the major trend will be shifted from retail to online, rather than an increase in a digital increase of the overall market.”

The CasinoBeats Summit 2021 conference and exhibition on 14-15 July takes place in an innovative integrated live and digital format. A select audience of senior executives will attend in person at the InterContinental in St Julian’s, Malta, while a global audience of industry professionals will participate in the event online. 

The conference agenda focuses on the next generation of slots and products, key established and emerging markets around the world, leadership in igaming, and marketing and affiliation. The programme also includes the inaugural Game Developer Awards ceremony. 

Register for a free online pass for the event at the CasinoBeats Summit website.

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Coming as part of an exclusive interview in the second edition of SBC Leaders for 2021, Lapides shared his opinion, along with James Marshall, CEO of Push Gaming, on the continually shifting landscape of the online gaming market. 

Along with Lapides and Marshall, other leaders within the industry, including Microgame’s CEO Marco Castaldo, reflect on the journey through COVID-19 for the Italian betting industry, and the huge opportunities presented for online growth.

His missive also warns us that alongside that there is a worrying nostalgic tendency among politicians in the country about a “see-no-evil” past where gambling is hidden away, out of sight and, unfortunately, out of control.

Sticking with the Italian market, we give a breakdown of the country’s advertising regulations, discussing how betting companies have been forced to undertake fresh, creative strategies to marketing since the blanket ban came in prohibiting all sports clubs and leagues from promoting gambling-related brands.

Scot McClintic, SVP igaming product and strategy at Paysafe, is another to pick up on pandemic-induced changes as he looks at its impact on the US sports betting industry.

Meanwhile, as we pass one year of lockdowns around the world, Scott Morgan, founder and CEO of Crypto Integrity Tao, believes that the pandemic has forced global economies to open their eyes to the potential of cryptocurrencies.

Rounding off this edition of SBC Leaders is a round-up of the latest developments on the new National Lottery and the launch of an exciting new SBC Leaders podcast series.

The new issue of SBC Leaders is available to download or read online HERE.

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As part of the deal, the software licensing and reseller agreement will grant Microgame’s operator partners access to 80 of Yggdrasil’s games from its portfolio which includes Multifly, Arthur’s Fortune and Lightning Joker as well as Vikings trilogy and games developed through its YG Masters programme.

Fredrik Elmqvist, CEO at Yggdrasil, said: “Microgame is a leading platform supplier in Italy and through this partnership we will considerably expand our reach in the country together with its premium operator partners.

“Our games have already proven hugely successful with local players since we entered the market in 2017 and we are excited to be able to offer our portfolio to an even wider customer group together with Microgame.”

Furthermore, operators will be able to offer games featuring Yggdrasil’s Splitz mechanic, which includes Temple Stacks: Splitz and Neon Rush: Splitz and its upcoming game Lucky Neko, which includes the supplier’s new Gigablox feature.

Microgame partners will also gain access to Yggradril’s in-game promotional tools BOOST.

Marco Castaldo, CEO at Microgame, said: “By adding Yggdrasil’s leading content to our platform we will significantly enhance our offering with innovative and engaging titles that appeal to a wide demographic of players.

“Yggdrasil is one of the industry’s most prominent suppliers and we look forward to a successful partnership.”

Earlier this month Yggdrasil announced that Skyrocket Entertainment had become the latest firm to join its flagship YG Masters programme, with the branded content developer and IP rights holder eyeing an acceleration of its business strategy.

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Under the terms of the agreement Italian operators powered by the Microgame platform can now offer their players a variety of slots and table games from 1X2 Network’s 1X2gaming and Iron Dog Studio subsidiaries.

Marco Castaldo, CEO of Microgame, said of the agreement: “We are pleased to have completed our 1X2 Network integration. The process has been smooth and seamless and testament to the professionalism of both companies. 

“We believe their slots and table games will prove to be hugely popular among players in Italy – as they have in other markets – and look forward to a long and successful partnership.” 

Included as part of the integration are popular titles such as Richie in Vegas and Faerie Nights, as well as a number of soon to launch titles including the developer’s first Megaways powered slot due for release in Q4.

1X2 Network’s full suite of games have been certified for the Italian market and strive to offer players “a thrilling and rewarding experience”.

Kevin Reid, chief commercial officer at 1X2 Network, added on the new deal: “We are thrilled to have fully integrated our content into the Microgame platform and for it now to be available to operators in Italy.

“Microgame is a power player and will help ensure our games are made available to more operators and more players than ever before, further establishing our brands in Italy.”

Last week 1X2 Network lauded a “breakthrough partnership” that is to see the company licence Big Time Gaming’s Megaways mechanic.

The random reel modifier system by BTG, which combined Megaways with the Scientific Games Corporation portfolio of games content earlier in the year, is to be utilised by 1X2’s Iron Dog Studio.

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Via the deal Microgame, who serve its nation’s regulated igaming market, have agreed to team up and distribute the Booming Games portfolio of slots.

Under the terms of this latest agreement Booming Games’ suite of titles, comprising in excess of 30 HTML5 slot games, including popular titles like Booming Bananas, Lava Loca and latest release Sugar Skulls, will be available through the Microgame platform and its Italian operators.

Marco Castaldo, general manager at Microgame, commented: “We are constantly looking to add unique content to our platform to provide our operators with the best gaming portfolio.

“Booming Games‘ wide range of slot games equipped with unique and innovative features will be a valuable addition to our platform.”

A short time ago Booming Games appointed Oleh Lohaziak to the position of senior game developer, adding to a host of talent recruited from the likes of Betsson, Playtech, Scientific Games, NetEnt and Yggdrasil Gaming.

Regarding the company’s latest manoeuvre, Frederik Niehusen, chief commercial officer at Booming Games, added: “We are excited to partner with an industry leading content provider like Microgame.

“Microgame will further expand our reach and help us to continue to strengthen our presence in Italy.”

This follows a string of deals for Microgame, with similar such boosts occurring alongside 1X2 Network, Habanero and most recently Pragmatic Play.

Continuing its own Italian market progress, which saw deals completed alongside OIA Services, Betsson’s StarCasino and Kindred’s numerous Italian brands, Pragmatic saw its portfolio made available to the firm.

Melissa Summerfield, chief commercial officer at Pragmatic Play, explained at the time: “We are delighted to have agreed a deal with Microgame, an extremely well established and highly regarded provider in an exciting market.

“Cementing our position as a premium provider in regulated markets is central to our strategy, and this agreement is another step towards our ambitions as we grow our mobile-focused, client-centric delivery.”

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