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The Macau Judiciary Police have arrested five Chinese nationals suspected to be related to a cross-border criminal syndicate. The criminal organization, according to the authorities, uses counterfeit chips in casinos in Macau.
The arrests followed a recent report from a casino in the Cotai area where a customer exchanged fake chips for money. After the staff realized that they had been scammed they referred the matter to the police.
Local authorities immediately launched an investigation into the matter and quickly arrested five men from mainland China at the casino. Aged between 21 and 28, the five arrestees were suspected of being a part of a criminal organization that imports fake chips into Macau. The police are currently on the lookout …
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In the United Kingdom and Gopher Investments has reportedly begun negotiations that could potentially see it pay up to £3 billion ($4.06 billion) in order to purchase online casino games developer Playtech.
According to a report from the Reuters news service, the move from the Hong Kong-headquartered investments vehicle comes only three weeks after Australian gaming machines behemoth Aristocrat Leisure Limited lodged its own offer for the London-listed iGaming innovator thought to be worth in the region of £2.7 billion ($3.7 billion).
Initial involvement:
An affiliate of TTB Partners Limited and backed by a team with extensive experience in financials and gaming, Gopher Investments reportedly made its preliminary approach for Playtech …
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On January 31, Slotmill, a fast-growing slots development studio based in Stockholm, Sweden, released its latest “Mexican-western” slot, Chilli Bandits, a slot focused on three chili peppers and their life as bandits and enhanced with new, exciting features such as Burst Mode and Fast Track, which ensure that the player has an unforgettable experience.
Slot visual:
True to its title, the main theme of the game is chili pepper bandits. Background portraits somewhere far south of the Rio Grande on a cobblestone street in a quiet town. The soundtrack matches the old western style of the game and when the title of the game is displayed on the screen, players feel like they’re watching an old cowboy movie.
To win, players…
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The gambling industry of New Jersey is faring well this year, with monthly revenue reports showing gains. For September, providers of casino gaming, online gambling, horse racing, and sports betting, generated close to $485 million in earnings. This was an almost 7% increase from September 2021.
On a positive note, things are looking up when compared to pre-COVID-19 conditions. The nine casinos offering services in Atlantic City were able to surpass the earnings from September 2019, with almost $252 million in revenues. This was a jump of 1.3% from 2019.
A Successful September for Land-Based Casinos
Surprisingly, the Hard Rock Casino and Ocean Casino were the two to see the best performance when compared to 2019 totals. The remaining seven ven…
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Over 320,000 Missourian voters have signed a petition seeking to greenlight a casino at Lake of the Ozarks. After four consecutive failures to get the casino question on the ballot, the matter may finally be put to voters.
For context, the Missouri constitution only allows casinos to be constructed near the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. This means that the people of the state must vote in favor of a constitutional amendment in order to expand the list of waterways that allow gaming.
The signatures will now be verified by the state. For reference, the number of certified signatures needed to get the matter to the ballot is approximately 173,000.
If the Lake of the Ozarks casino secures the Missourian voters’ approval, the state wi…
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On May 8, Genting Malasyia Bhd, one of the world’s leading leisure and hospitality corporations and owner of Malaysia’s casino monopoly at Resorts World Genting, disclosed that it is raising MYR500 million in three tranches, which is approximately 112.6 million US dollars, to renovate and develop its IRs, involving those in Genting Highlands.
Fund raising through medium-terms notes:
“The funds will be raised via medim term notes, with the first tranche of RM250 million to carry a term of five years, at a raite of 5.07% per year,” according to the company’s statement in a filing to Bursa Malaysia on Friday.
The second tranche consists of MYR150 million for seven years with an interest rate of 5.35%, and th…
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One of the most famous iGaming providers, Yggdrasil, decided to venture back to medieval times and bring all the romance and great adventures of the era to its loyal players.
In its new fairytale-like slot, Notre-Dame Tales GigaBlox, the provider has prepared various surprises for the players.
The medieval experience is enriched with various features:
As the title relays, the gameplay is related to the famous cathedral. It is located on a 4×6 grid, and symbols are in th…
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As part of a new multi-market contract, New York-based game technology company Inspired Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: INSE) will launch its award-winning Virtual Sports content with online casino and sports betting operator, Novibet.
The agreement with the GameTech company, which has a long-standing business relationship with Inspired “on the iGaming side,” has started with the Greek market, where the developer’s virtual sports offering can now be accessed by players via a dedicated section on the operator’s novibet.gr website. From there, players can enjoy virtual sports options that are both customized and localized and available 24/7/ 365 days of the year.
V-Play Plug & Play:
Inspired’s virtuals games are de…
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On March 8, BetMGM, a flagship sports wagering and iGaming operator based in New Jersey and a subsidiary of MGM Resorts, reported the official debut of Wheel of Fortune Online Casino. In partnership with International Game Technology (IGT), Wheel of Fortune represents the first entirely branded online casino in North America.
Description of Wheel of Fortune Online Casino:
Now making its official debut in New Jersey, Wheel of Fortune Online Casino is home to America’s Game®-branded slot titles, together with extra themed games and features.
Commenting on the official debut in New Jersey, Adam Greenblatt, Chief Executive Officer of BetMGM, said: “We are thrilled to bring Wheel of Fortune Online Cas…
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Affilka, an affiliate management and tracking software platform built for iGaming industry by Malta-based leading crypto gambling provider SOFTSWISS, has publicly announced 200 brands as its partners. Their main task is to help the platform expand its reach and popularity, i.e. to gain more customers and become better known around the world.
A reliable partner:
However, for Affilka, 2022 was the best year yet!
Throughout the year, the award-winning platform introduced 75 new clients, reaching a milestone of 200 by the end of the year!
The software platform now has 105,000 affiliate accounts registered on the platform’s partner programs and the best part is that the platform is expected to grow even more in 2023!
Achieving thi…
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Only a week after being officially appointed as the latest Prime Minister of Japan and Fumio Kishida (pictured) reportedly told parliamentarians that the nation’s coming trio of integrated casino resorts will serve as ‘an important measure’ in helping it ‘to become an advanced tourism country’.
According to a report from GGRAsia, the 64-year-old bested a trio of rivals late last month to succeed the unpopular Yoshihide Suga and become the 100th Prime Minister of Japan. The source detailed that the Tokyo native officially took office on October 4 and is now set to lead his Liberal Democratic Party through the country’s next general election, which is scheduled to take place in just 19 days’ time.
Global goal:
In his first Ho…
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As the Chilean online wagering service providers were looking forward to the legislation that will facilitate the launch of online betting operations in the country, the Supreme Court of Chile accepted the appeal from the state-owned lottery operator Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and ruled that the online betting platforms operating in Chile be blocked.
As reported by the source, the resolution of the country’s highest judicial authority stated that these websites “carry out gambling activities within the borders of Chile, without legal authorization or from any national tax authority, which is why they are illegal according to national regulations.”
Reversed Decision:
The ruling came after the Supreme Court reversed the dec…
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Selecting a secure platform is crucial, for players in the UK. A safe online casino provides a fun gaming experience. Also, it protects the personal and financial information of all players. Choosing such a casino is very important, for creating a positive and secure play for your online gaming. Our very extensive experience is very important to help you when you’re selecting a decent casino. The UK Gambling Commission’s guidelines promote fairness protecting consumers preventing crime and upholding the integrity of the gambling industry. Secure casino operations include areas such as data security, financial transaction, game fairness, resp…
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Ruf, who brings an extensive experience with her, will be responsible for helping the company expand in existing markets as well as strategize about expansion in new jurisdictions where and when possible. She was naturally pleased with the development:
I am looking forward to developing new geographical markets and implementing exciting projects together with my team. One particular focus will be on developing the online markets.
Merkur Casino managing director Irina Ruf
She is taking the reins over from Stefan Bruns, the outgoing incumbent, who will be now part of Gauselmann Group’s Management Board. The rotation of the new positions was welc…
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Although sports betting has been legalized in 37 US states, illegal gambling operations still proliferate in the states that do not allow this type of gambling. As reported by Covers, more than 201 million visits to illegal betting sites in America were recorded for the first three months of the NFL season alone to confirm that the illegal gambling activities still pose a threat to the competent authorities and regulated markets across the States.
201 Million Visits to Offshore Operators:
The issue was reportedly discussed at the recent meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States held in Florida. According to lawmakers, illegal offshore gambling sites are still easily available for bettors from the states where sports betting i…
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The gaming regulator for the Netherlands has detailed that it recently ordered a locally-licensed online casino to remove auto-play functionalities from its selection of video slots owing to the fact that all forms of involuntary play are forbidden under the tenets of the small nation’s Remote Gambling Act.
The Kansspelautoriteit watchdog used an official press release to detail that the unnamed operator was investigated following complaints that its portfolio featured at least three video slots where aficionados were allowed to purchase multiple spins that were systematically expended automatically once play kicked off. The regulator pronounced that this state of affairs permitted customers to initiate games ‘again and again’ so long as they contin…
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On the back of its success at the International Gaming Awards and the Global Gaming Awards 2022 in London on April 11th, international turnkey solutions provider, Oryx Gaming, has further strengthened its platform and content presence in the regulated Dutch market after partnering with new online casino brand, 711.nl.
The new agreement will see the Bragg Gaming Group (NASDAQ: BRAG) subsidiary supply its Player Account Management, otherwise known as “PAM,” iGaming platform to the online games of chance operator, which, with help from Oryx, recently received its license to begin operation in the Netherlands.
Under the deal, the provider is to also deliver games created by its in-house studios, such as the newly established, Bragg-powered, …
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Australian gamblers have apparently decided to rule out the Melbourne Cup. The reason for this is that most Australians profess to have little or no interest in what was once upon a time a legendary race, aka “race that stops the nation.”
Essential poll:
In compliance with the information provided in the newest Essential survey of 1,049 respondents, only 11% said they had a “high interest” in the aforementioned Melbourne Cup, which has fallen sharply by 5 points since the last time the question was asked, aka prior to the last year’s race.
On a related note, regardless of the aforementioned Cup being a widespread public holiday in Victoria that causes workplaces and schools to close at 3 PM each…
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In a significant development, the Native Village of Eklutna is preparing the groundwork for a groundbreaking gaming facility, marking a historic first outside of Southeast Alaska. This prospective 50,000-square-foot gaming hall is poised to reshape local entertainment and economic landscapes, contingent upon securing the necessary federal green light.
Project genesis and approvals:
The initiative, spearheaded by the Native Village of Eklutna, revolves around an 8-acre site in Birchwood, roughly 20 miles northeast of Anchorage. This land, long-held by a tribal family, might soon transform following an encouraging nod from the National Indian Gaming Commission this summer (pdf). This approval reverses pre…
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In the early hours of November 9, over two dozen racehorses accommodated in a barn at the upstate New York track within the Tioga Downs Casino & Resort were brutally killed after the barn was set on fire. Additionally, police believe the fire was intentionally set.
Investigation:
The casino and track are located in the Town of Nichols, which is located close to the Pennsylvania border and approximately 150 miles, aka 200 kilometers, northwest of New York City and has a population of 2,500 people. In this regard, speaking on the matter, authorities stated in a news release: “The horses were killed early Thursday after the barn where they were housed at the Tioga Downs Casino Resort complex was set on fire.”
The invest…
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Farmers Branch City Council delivered a blow to the aspirations of poker luminary Doug Polk and the gaming community by rejecting an ordinance aimed at legalizing card rooms within the city limits. With a decisive 4-1 vote against the proposal, hopes for Texas’ largest card room, envisioned by Polk, were dashed on Tuesday evening.
Disappointment amidst opposition:
Expressing disappointment at the outcome, Doug Polk, renowned World Series of Poker bracelets winner and co-founder of Upswing Poker and The Lodge Card Club, lamented the Council’s decision. As The Dallas Morning News reports, Polk commented: “It obviously wasn’t the result we were looking for…We had a lot of supporters here and I just want to thank them.R…
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On the heels of wrapping up its October CashDays event and Playson has enhanced its foothold in Europe after agreeing a content deal with Full Force Gaming Group brand, OmniSlots, that will see the casino software supplier deliver its full portfolio of games to the operator‘s Curaçao-licensed mobile casino.
Launched in 2015, OmniSlots already offers more than 1,000 high quality slot games from top providers on its fast-loading platform. The new collaboration with Playson will significantly enhance the online operator’s games offering having added “proven and engaging content.”
The freshly inked deal will realize the full integration of the supplier’s content to the mobile casino’s platform, including its 5-reel a…
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In a seeming rendition of the classic pre-execution “you ask too much” trope, OpenAI has revealed itself as being—shocker—not so open after all. The AI chatbot company seems to have started sending threatening emails to users who ask the company’s latest codename “Strawberry” models questions that are a little too probing.
Some have reported (via Ars Technica) that using certain phrases or questions when speaking to o1-preview or o1-mini results in an email warning that states, “Please halt this activity and ensure you are using ChatGPT in accordance with our Terms of Use and our Usage Policies. Additional violations of this policy may result in loss of access to GPT-4o with Reasoning.”
X user thebes, for instance, claims they receive this warning if they use t…
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In an interview at last week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the developers behind indie sensations Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon said that the deal some small developers have come to rely on for funding in recent years—like Epic Game Store exclusives and Xbox Game Pass—are no longer what they once were.
“I talked to at least five small teams, like 35 [members] and under, during GDC, and they’re like: Cuts, cuts, cuts, funding canceled, talks that were going on for a year, canceled,” said Casey Yano, the co-founder of Slay the Spire studio Mega Crit. “It sounds like it’s shit. We’re definitely very privileged to be able to self-fund. [Otherwise] I’d be very, very, very scared right now.”
Slay the Spire launched to slow sales in Steam early acc…
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All being said, Helldivers 2’s latest patch appears to have been a solid hit with players, which is a relief. While the game’s never going to claw its way back to its stratospheric 400,000 player peak—a normal thing for most live-service phenomena—it’s nestled into a very respectable 50,000-player average. Doubly so considering everyone and their Mohg is playing a little game called Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, right now.
Well, there is one exception—it’s a good patch for everyone but the Spear—a rocket launcher I am about to humanise to a weird degree, because for some reason I just feel so bad for the little guy. In case you don’t know your history, the FAF-14 Spear has been a bit of an underdog since launch. Chiefly, because its targeting system wa…
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It must be nice being Capcom. At a time when most of the games industry is in a historic bout of brutal layoffs, studio closures, and other assorted cost-cutting measures that mysteriously seem to never touch the C-suite, the Resident Evil and Street Fighter maker is raising salaries and, now, posting its seventh consecutive year of record profits and 11th consecutive year of operating profit growth.
In a Capcom press release earlier today, the company announced that its net sales in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 totalled 152,410 million yen, or around $979 million (£784 million, a 21% year-on-year increase. The company’s myriad other income breakdowns—operating and ordinary income and “net income attributable to owners of the parent”—also saw dou…
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It’s been a rough couple of years for the games industry—and even laying it out like that feels like an understatement. Back in February, the number of layoffs and studio closures were already numerous enough to fit into a horrifying chart, and things haven’t exactly slowed down since.
One of the more high-profile recent shocks came from Microsoft, which shut down studios Arkane Austin—developers of Prey and Dishonoured—as well as Tango Gameworks, the studio behind surprise hit Hi-Fi Rush.
It was an especially messed-up situation because, as plenty of developers noted in the aftermath: A studio probably shouldn’t sink after a single flop like Redfall, but even if they do make an excellent game, that still won’t save them from the margin-fuelled m…
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Back in my day, we didn’t have these fancy-schmancy newfangled quest markers and compass points—we had to download add-ons if we wanted the minimap to tell us where our ten boars were, and then walk up the hill, both ways!
If you’ve been playing RPGs since the early 2000s, you’ve likely got a similar old man yelling at clouds in your soul. Simply put, open-world RPG design has slowly moved away from the discovery part of “questing”.
It used to be that quest givers in RPGs (both single-player and massively multiplayer) would rely far more on verbal instructions than UI elements. Morrowind in particular doesn’t even have a compass—locking every quest behind some local’s vague approximation of the land. That kind of design’s gone the way of the dodo, unfort…
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Since the release of AMD’s RX 7000-series with the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT, some reports have arisen suggesting that AMD-designed cards may be heating up to an uncomfortable level—reportedly up to 110°C on what’s known as the hotspot temperature reading on these cards. So much so that AMD has now admitted that there may be an issue affecting a limited number of reference design cards.
“We are working to determine the root cause of the unexpected performance limitation of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards,” AMD says in a statement (via Hardwareluxx). “Based on our observations so far, we believe the issue is related to the thermal solution used in the AMD reference design and with a limited number of cards sold. We are working to resolve this issue for the affe…
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I love every single one of Dead Cells’ animated trailers—they’re funny, well-produced, and hit me right in my weakness for chunky and expressive linework. I’m not, however, entirely sure how the writers and animators are going to dig up a compelling narrative from Dead Cell’s bloated, five-year-long story.
Dead Cells – The Animated Series will be made by Bobbypills—the same team responsible for their trailers—and co-produced by the French Animation Digital Network. It’s set to span 10 seven-minute episodes and will “initially be exclusive to France before being made available worldwide” in 2024.
While I’m confident the series will be good fun, ‘good fun’ doesn’t carry a good story. They’ve added plenty of lore and worldbuilding…
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Watch On
Six years on from Darksiders 3 (and five from great but overlooked spin-off Darksiders Genesis), I’ll admit I’d started to think THQ Nordic had given up on the series. Not so, apparently—a new teaser tells us we should be “prepared to ride again”.
There’s not much to the video, first shown at the end of the THQ Nordic Showcase 2024—just a shot of the Charred Council (those fiery rock lads that order the Four Horsemen around), looking the same as ever. An accompanying Xbox Wire blog post, however, seems to confirm that this does indicate a new game is on the way: “It won’t be long until we reveal more about where the Darksiders series is going next, but for now, know this… the Four Horsemen will ride again.”
Huh, does that mean this sequel wi…
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After being gone for more than a year, Blizzard’s biggest games will soon return to China. Blizzard confirmed tonight that it has struck a new deal with NetEase to bring all the games covered by the previous publishing agreement, including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, “and other titles in the Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft universes,” back to the Chinese market. The new deal will take effect this summer.
“We at Blizzard are thrilled to reestablish our partnership with NetEase and to work together, with deep appreciation for the collaboration between our teams, to deliver legendary gaming experiences to players in China,” Blizzard president Johanna Faries said in a statement. “We are immensely grateful for the passion the Chinese community has shown for Blizzard game…
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Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail’s world first raid race is over. After the release of Patch 7.05 yesterday, teams from around the globe hopped into voice chat, assembled their parties, and wept profusely as dozens of materia vanished into their pentamelds—all to have the honour of saying, “we did it first.”
In case you’re unfamiliar, Final Fantasy 14 does its raids in tiers, each containing four boss fights. “Normal” difficulty, which releases first, is easy enough to be done with a group of seven randoms, so there’s not really a race involved—but “Savage” difficulty is the bulk of the game’s hardcore content, making it perfect material for a breakneck competition. Players had two weeks between the Normal difficulty to prep and get their crafters ready for the occasion.Read more
The single most expensive hat trade in Team Fortress 2’s history went down this week, with one player exchanging goods worth over 10,000 of the game’s crate keys (around $1.80 each) for an unusual Arcana Crone’s Dome, the characteristics of which make it the only one in existence. It’s a witch’s hat with some Halloween effects, basically, and the trade was first spotted by PyroJoe on X (formerly Twitter), who called it “the biggest singular unusual TF2 Hat trade” in the game’s history.
The hat-fancier is a player called Gummy from Singapore, who exchanged various items (including a lesser Crone’s Dome) that were worth approximately 10,000 keys when taken as a bundle. PyroJoe told PCG that this is now the single most expensive hat trade in TF2 history, though n…
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“Ever notice that swinging the sword downward put you at a big disadvantage?” Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone asked earlier this week on Twitter. “It’s always bugged me, but I had tuned it that way so that the area of effect would match the visual. For 1.6, I decided that game feel is way more important than precise visual accuracy.”
I will admit that melee combat is not the first thing that leaps to mind when I think about Stardew Valley. It’s all about festivals and farmer’s markets and bringing in the crops and finding a life mate and hats and cats and hats on cats—but combat?
Well, yes, that’s all part of the farm life too. And that’s not entirely inaccurate: Farmers typically pack heat in one form or another, although explosive ammo and bombs are a rarity…
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