GameAccount to launch skill games suite for SNAI 12/08/2008

Jake Pollard

GameAccount will launch a suite of skill games for Italian operator SNAI in September, in a multi-year deal which sees SNAI become the first Italian-licensed operator to offer skill-based games to the Italian online gaming market.

The multi-year deal will enable SNAI’s online customers to play GameAccount’s portfolio of skill-based games, including solitaire, poker dice, gin rummy, multiplayer blackjack and backgammon.The deal means SNAI is the first regulated licensed operator in Italy to join GameAccount and is another step in the gradual loosening of the type of games allowed to be offered to Italian players as shown by Playtech's launch of SNAI's poker room (see related story: Playtech live with Italy's SNAI poker room).    

Kevin Dale, GameAccount chief executive, said: "We are delighted to partner with SNAI as the founding member of the Italian Skill Games Network and hope other Italian gaming operators will join them in maximising revenues through shared Italians-only player liquidity.”

Lorenzo Stoppini, director of communications for SNAI, said: “GameAccount’s games broaden the demographic appeal of our online sports betting portal and provide proven unique marketing opportunities in Italy’s new regulated market for skill-based gaming. GameAccount was chosen after an exhaustive process investigating the potential for these skill games, the appetite in Italy for skill-based gaming, the experience of potential suppliers and the technical and regulatory capabilities of their respective platforms.”

Dermot Smurfit, GameAccount chief operating officer, added that the company’s offering enabled their blue-chip licensee operators to ‘look beyond poker’ when considering how best to realise the largely untapped potential of the Italian online gaming market. “Our partnership with SNAI will bring our existing skill-based games to the Italian market and in due course they will be joined by bespoke games developed to meet the particular cultural appetites of Italians," he said.

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Posted: 12/08/2008