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The IGT network, also known as Entraction, has closed its Stockholm headquarters and is going to shut down by the end of this year. Player bankrolls are safe, IGT rooms join other networks.
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International Gaming Technologies (IGT) has notified its partners that, due to the significant drop in revenues from real money gambling services, the company remains to focus on a limited number of high priority, regulated markets. It appears IGT is primarily interested in the Nevada online poker market where their licence request has already been granted.
„As part of our regular business process, we have been evaluating our resources, products and markets from a commercial and compliance perspective. As a result, we are consolidating our product development, allowing us to combine a number of locations and focus on the most attractive opportunities. We remain focused on our interactive casino/slot offering, which has experienced steady growth, and look to integrate the Entraction products into our overall set of platform offerings.
„Change and uncertainty in European market conditions have diminished the expected returns in certain real money wagering products. As a result, we are consolidating our product development. We are maintaining our options for future changes in market opportunities – This decision is purely focused on our European dotcom business and does not impact future decisions regarding entry into new markets as regulation, taxation and commercial opportunities arise,” an IGT spokesperson commented.
IGT shuts down its dotcom market operations entirely, rooms are required to find new networks before 11 December, 2012. While the Stockholm headquarters have already been closed, iGame, a company grouping several rooms, including NoiQ, and having a player base of 1,000,000, has announced to join one of the largest, although unspecified networks:
“In continuation to the recent move from IGT poker networks´ turn-key solution to operate under our own gaming license, we are pleased to announce that we are taking the development of our services further, by finalizing a services agreement with one of the world´s leading poker networks.
“In This means that iGame Malta will in the nearest future switch the poker services provider for its sites 24hPoker.com, NoiQ.com, Pokerihuone.com and iGame.com and for the database of close to 1 000 000 players by leaving IGT´s poker network. This will secure our players the access to the top of the line poker software, good liquidity and continuity,” the iGame announcement read.
PointPoker has also assured its players that switching to a market leader network is in progress and that “the transfer will be seamless and smooth.”
“Yesterday PointPoker's software provider, IGT, announced they will shut down their poker operation on the 10th of December 2012 mainly due to poor liquidity.
“Fortunately, PointPoker is well-prepared for this and will have everything finalized well in time with the new poker provider. The new network is one of the top networks in the business. More information about the new poker network will be released on a later date.
“As of now you can continue playing as normal. Your funds are of course secure and will not be affected of this change. When PointPoker moves to the new network there will be a new re-launch bonus and other great promotions,” they wrote.
The transfer is likely to be seamless with the other rooms as well and, apparently, the major networks of the market, iPoker and Ongame, are going to benefit from the shutting down of Entraction.
IGT purchased the Entraction network in 2011 for $108.2 million, changing its name to IGT network but not introducing significant improvements or changes above that. IGT was the least profitable network last year on the European market, losing 50% of its cash game traffic.
While this can be credited, among other things, to the territorial restrictions, that is, leaving the “grey areas” like Spain, Belgium and Cyprus, IGT remained active in Italy, where the company has never had a licence to begin with.
IGT is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and its shares are worth 30% less than last year’s peak. The primary incomes of the company are from casino and slot games, contributing 50% of its total profits. Online poker has always been of little importance to them, making up only $4.5 million of their $2 billion total annual income.
IGT has recently started to gain ground on the social gaming market by purchasing social casino provider DoubleDown for $500 million.