Suppliers are gathering steam this week with several important partnerships allowing prominent game-makers to push further afield in core markets. In the meantime, JPMorgan believes that PENN’s stock is set to increase its value over the next two years. This is the week in review.

Hacksaw Gaming, a private studio in the iGaming landscape, which has built some of the most unique, innovative, and ultimately successful slot games of recent years, has floated with flying colors on NASDAQ Stockholm.

The company achieved an oversubscribed Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Wednesday, June 25, which set its valuation at approximately €2bn, owing to not just its original content, but also the powerful proprietary technology, such as the company’s Remote Gaming Server (RGS), which underpins its entire offer.

Business and finance

This week, many prominent suppliers managed to gain further ground and push further afield in core markets. 3 Oaks Gaming, a global game major for the iGaming sector, teamed up with EGT Digital and joined the latter’s aggregation platform featuring well over 13,000 titles.

This move allows 3 Oaks Gaming to consolidate its presence in core markets where both companies are licensed to operate, and also helps it gain ground with more operators. Yet, 3 Oaks Gaming is hardly the only company that has something similar to boast about this week.

RubyPlay has also expanded in the United States this week through a partnership with BetMGM, which has kicked off in New Jersey, but is poised to reach farther into the regulated iGaming market in the country. RubyPlay has brought in a crop of player-favorite games and will be adding more titles as new launches are being planned for other iGaming jurisdictions.

Playtech has broken ground in a fourth state in the United States, with the company’s Live, Casino, and RNG titles arriving in West Virginia with multiple locally licensed operators. Playtech has been continuing with its transformation as a purely B2B-focused firm, shedding more B2C assets over the past several weeks.

On a similar note, TaDa Gaming has successfully expanded in the United Kingdom, after the supplier confirmed this week that it had acquired a UK Gambling Commission license. This marks another significant milestone for the company, as it seeks to consolidate its European presence.

TaDa Gaming has been able to differentiate its product by using a "localization" strategy whereby the supplier has focused on building products that are specifically tailored for each market it wishes to gain ground in.

JPMorgan has said in a recent note that PENN Entertainment, the company which has been mostly in the news due to internal strife between prominent shareholders, is on a "catalyst path" that would help increase the value of its shares over the next two years.

Laws and regulations

The Australian Media and Communications Authority (ACMA) has issued a stern warning to social media influencers who are promoting unregulated gambling websites to Australian consumers.

These influencers may face up to AU$2.5m in penalties as well as several years of prison time if they do not desist, the regulator warned. ACMA said that it has already started identifying offenders and was prepared to act on the collected evidence.

Responsible gambling

The Dutch Gambling Regulator has published a survey in which it interviewed many people enrolled in self-help gambling groups. The survey revealed that the majority of these people – 68% - were never approached by a gambling operator about their gambling habits, which indicated addiction.

More than 81% never received any form of restriction or ban. Positively, half of the people enrolled in the self-help groups have stopped gambling, and 25% of all interviewees figured out they had a problem before reaching losses of €1,000.

A number of Norwegian regulators have come together and vowed to help further protect young consumers in the country by targeting illegal gambling and gambling ads that may be impacting vulnerable groups.

Once again in the Nordics, Denmark has reported a new milestone for the national self-exclusion program, Rofus, which has now reached 60,000 registrations.

The self-exclusion program marked a noticeable increase between 2023, when there were 40,000 registrations, and the latest reporting period, indicating that more people are becoming aware of the option to self-exclude. Denmark also has a very strong channelization rate in the words of the regulator, exceeding 90%.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has launched a new dedicated Play Smart Consumer Hub dedicated to equipping players with the means to analyze their behavior and better understand what responsible play involves. The resources are readily available and seek to continuously provide advice and information to players.

The voice of the industry

In this week’s roundup of industry chatter, Casino Guru News has had the opportunity to catch up with Nicola Wallbank, Interactive Account Manager at AGS, with whom the publication discussed the importance of adaptability and innovation in iGaming.

As AGS just introduced a second bespoke and branded game for Hard Rock Bet Casino, the interview came at the right moment, discussing why "one-size-fits-all" models are obsolete, and what a great studio and developer need to do to remain competitive in the highly contentious gambling industry today.

Casino Guru News also took a brief look at the current landscape for sweepstakes gambling, touching on some core developments over the past weeks.

The publication reached out to Mike de Graaff, Chief Compliance Officer at BetComply, and LuckyStreak Commercial Director Rory Kimber, who remained optimistic about the future of the sweepstakes model, even though a number of states, including New York, Louisiana, and Connecticut, among others, have taken steps to restrict the model.

With iGB L!VE (London) just around the corner, and set for July 2-3, the hosts from Clarion Gaming have also spoken about the importance of player protection, which they are highlighting in this year’s edition as well.

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