Bwin.party is the latest real-money gambling outfit to jump into the free-play social gaming pool with the acquisition of games developer Orneon. The Vinnystia, Ukraine-based Orneon has reportedly done work for 888 Holdings’ social games subsidiary Mytopia as well as the mobile version of Playtika’s popular Slotomania game. Bwin.party will officially announce the deal – which eGamingReview reports to be worth $15m – on Wednesday at 11am GMT as the online gambling firm lays out its social media strategy for investors in London. Barak Rabinowitz, former Mytopia CEO and founder of defunct online bingo operator Amuso, is expected to be named as the head of what Bwin.party co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger previously referred to as “a dedicated business unit distinct from our real-money operations” that will “use our own content which is hard to replicate for people in the social space.”
InterGame is reporting that Ireland will delay the introduction of its long-promised gambling law reforms by up to a year. The delay is intended to enable legislators to pass more pressing laws associated with the cash-strapped country’s multi-billion-euro bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Minister Paul Kehoe reportedly told the Irish Amusement Trade Association that the gaming legislation would now be published in the first half of 2013, followed by a year or so of parliamentary haggling, meaning no concrete action will be taken until 2014 is well underway.
Virgin Games has inked a deal to provide its customers with games from software provider Playtech, including a five-reel slot based on the movie Rocky (we hope the game includes an audio sample of the part where Paulie accuses his sister Adrian of no longer being a Virgin). The Playtech addition means Virgin’s 1m+ players can now enjoy over 350 different games. Sadly, no word as to whether the Virgin deal includes Playtech’s Hindu-antagonizing Lakshmi Gold slot, nor the completely fictitious 72 Virgins slot we suggested they develop.
