EEG Reports

The virtual skin industry

Published

8 years ago

August 23, 2016

Did you know that designing virtual skins (the one that is covering the body; or an object) can get you hundreds of dollars or maybe more? It appears the most common cosmetic element, the skin, is getting a lot of attention from passionate game players. It might look like a simple decorated sniper rifle at first, but it’s probably the dream of most game-players: to have a generous inventory full of all the models the game has to offer. And most of them, are even willing to spend big amounts of money on these “virtual goods”. But how did something like this, something that doesn’t even influence the gameplay, become so popular, and even addicting?

It all started with CS:GO. Players have finally found something new in an apparent never-ending-shooting-at-each-other kind of game. And now, the game became more attractive, with players collecting skins, and even showing off in front of other players, as a method of proving how serious they were, as loyal players of the game. It wasn’t long enough before item-trading started. And item gambling. Depending on your offer, or better yet, your investments, your chances of winning could grow. Players would bet on matches, using skins as a sort of in-game currency. There were also various types of “item-gambling” games. These included jackpot-like games, and other types of gambling mechanisms, down to a simple coin-flipping. The problem was, that in the end, there were a series of gambling-related crimes, including teenagers that not only got addicted to it, but also found ways of getting more money. And that wasn’t the only problem.

There was also a problem on the inside, a problem that had to be dealt with the people playing the game. It seems like the mechanisms was linked to the amount of skins dealt by a player. Thus, the players that had more items in the inventory, were the ones most likely to invest a higher number of skins, thus increasing the chances of winning. It wasn’t long until the same players were winning over and over again, and the competitions started to be considered as unfair. But perhaps the most specific case of unfairness, was the one of a person filming himself win a “grand rare skin”, only to later expose the fact that everything was “set-up” and that the “win” wasn’t quite random, but planned by those who asked him to promote “skin betting”. Some skins were so rare,and had such value that some players actually considered it “impossible to gain”.

The players also had to overcome fake websites, where no winnings were to be gained, but only the inevitable and irreversible loss of the skin or item that has been gambled. And last, but not least, the well-known loosing problem. Underage teenagers that wanted to cover up money losses, only managed to loose even more. And most of the time, it wasn’t their money. Things weren’t looking too good for one specific teenager, who’s mother filled a lawsuit against Valve, for “enabling gambling by minors”.

Some say the whole situation was exaggerated, but looks at the numbers: 38 million people visiting the csgolounge.com web site in March only. It wasn’t long before Valve had to choose between fighting in court and taking some strict measures. Lack of online gambling regulations and understanding of the phenomenon, led to even more confusion.

Iulian Sasaran

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Bulgaria

Casino Technology announces Valentina Dobre as new Regional Director for Romania

Published

7 years ago

August 4, 2017

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

Gaming equipment manufacturer Casino Technology has announced a new appointment for Romania to further strengthen the company’s management.

Following its steady plan for continuous market growth, the company named Valentina Dobre as Regional Director for Romania as of 1st of August 2017.

The company claims with Mrs Dobre’s profound expertise, professional background and in-depth knowledge of the gaming industry in the country, she became part of Casino Technology team, ready to implement the overall corporate strategy.

Valentina Dobre commented: “I am honored to accept this position and be part of the high level management team of Casino Technology. I will pursue actively further company positioning and growth on the Romanian market. Casino Technology has been on the country’s market for over 10 years and proved to be leader, having maintained trusted partnerships with local operators and customers.”

Casino Technology stated that Mrs Dobre’s background as Member of the Board of Directors at Romslot Association, Bucharest will additionally increase the Casino Technology market share.

“Valentina Dobre is an important appointment as she brings extensive knowledge of the market, that will help us boost even more our presence in Romania. She will have a crucial role in our further expansion, launching successfully our new line products on the market”, concluded Milo Borissov, Founder, President and CEO of Casino Technology.

Bulgaria

Two major announcements from BEGE Expo and EEGS: Mark your calendars

Published

7 years ago

August 2, 2017

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

The Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo (BEGE Expo) and the Eastern European Gaming Summit (EEGS) celebrate their 10^th anniversary this year. Due to the big interest for both events the organizers made two major announcements – BEGE will outspread in one more hall and EEGS will start one day earlier than the announced date.

Over 50 leading companies from the industry have already confirmed their presence for BEGE Expo 2017. Well-known leading manufacturers, amongst them being Novomatic, Casino Technology, EGT, Suzohapp, BetConstruct, Interblock, Merkur Gaming, APEX, Alfastreet Trade, Nsoft, JPL and CPI, as well as new participants, such as the leading sports betting company Bet3000 (IBA-Entertainment Ltd.), EXEFEED, Quixant, Zitro, Change Italia s.r.l., Gamebridge Casino Equipment, JCM Europe GmbH, nano Vo sp. Z o.o., Berkotech Kft. and others will exhibit their latest solutions at this year’s BEGE. The great interest for the event forced the opening of new hall, thus making the 10^th edition of BEGE Expo the biggest so far.

The registration is already open so you wouldn’t want to miss the chance to register.

Another newness that BEGE Expo 2017 will present is the special Affiliate zone. Following the expansion of the online business in the region, this year the exhibiton will create space for online operators and affiliates from the region to interact and create business partnerships. Affiliate program providers will be able to book their own space in the zone and all affiliates will be admitted for free.

EEGS also promises to reach new heights this year. Reschedule your calendars, because EEGS 2017 will start on 20^th of November – one day earlier than intended. This year’s EEGS will continue to follow its main aim – to present the most recent updates from the region, including the countries Serbia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Slovenia, Montenegro, F.Y.R of Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey and Croatia.

Separate sessions will be dedicated to Sport Challenges, Impact on gaming operators by Anti-Money Laundering Act, GDPR and online gaming. Day 3 will be focused on Tourism & Gaming, Responsible Gaming Academy and marketing topics.

BEGE Expo and EEGS have gradually established as a center for the gaming and entertainment industry in Eastern Europe and for 10^th year in a row will be the place where professionals from the field come in order to expand their business, exchange knowledge and promote new products. For any updates you may follow the official websites of the events: eegamingsummit.com and balkangamingexpo.com

EEG Reports

Habanero signs an outstanding deal with BBIN

Published

7 years ago

August 2, 2017

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

A new partnership agreement will see content from quality slots and table games developer Habanero go live with the BBIN Group.

Under the agreement, the supplier will give the software company access to its complete product portfolio of HTML5 games for all of its white label sites.

Recent releases from Habanero, including Fire Rooster, Bird of Thunder, and Panda Panda, have also been made available to the aggregator.

Daniel Long, Head of Sales at Habanero, said the deal was a game-changer for the supplier and one of the company’s most important to date.

He added: “By partnering with BBIN, we have significantly expanded our presence around the world, which means even more players will be able to enjoy our games.

“Many of them will be a natural fit with BBIN’s customers, but it is the diversity and variety of content that will appeal the most.”

Habanero operates a stable of 75 video slots titles, 9 table games, and 50 video poker titles, which are integrated into over 45 operators and aggregators and available in 21 European and Asian languages.