Press Releases
Jade Entertainment unveils three new senior additions to its expanding team
Key recruitment embraces the convergence of land-based and digital gaming seen as essential for modern business continuity
22nd February 2021 – Leading Asian supplier Jade Entertainment has recruited three key senior hires, significantly strengthening its status as a definitive “one stop shop” for sports betting and gaming technologies operators across Asia.
This triple-pronged recruitment strategy sees Jean Rose Buenaventura take up the role of Chief Financial Officer, and Gary Hann become VP – Business Development, while Joseph Del Duca joins as VP – International Marketing. Their combined expertise, experience and sectoral contacts are second to none, as eloquently demonstrated by their respective career histories which bring an eclectic range of skills to bear at Jade.
Jean Rose D. Buenaventura, CPA joins Jade as Chief Financial Officer. Jean has 15 years’ experience in the online gaming industry. She has worked with top gaming brands in Europe (William Hill, Ladbrokes, Winner & Caliente) as well as Asia (Mansion 88 and Happy Luke brands). She was also part of the online gaming tech giant, Playtech, where she established several of its back-office and operation-support functions to Manila from Tel Aviv, Leeds, and Gibraltar. Among her many successful deliveries in the past is the setup of payment-process operations for premier customers at some of the UK’s leading brands with special SLA and secured data handling.
Gary C. Hann joins Jade as Vice President – Business Development. Gary comes with 30 years’ experience in land-based gaming. He has held multiple senior management roles in North America and Asia. Among the IR predevelopments, operations and openings he has taken part in over the past 12 years are the Venetian Macao, Four Seasons Macao, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Solaire Resort & Casino in Manila and City of Dreams Manila. Gary’s wealth of market knowledge will help Jade drive Product Sales in the region.
Joseph Del Duca joins Jade as Vice President – International Marketing. Joseph brings expertise across the entire gaming landscape, including online, land-based, social and real money whilst specializing in marketing, communications, media and government relations. He has worked with both startup-level and well-established gaming businesses including PokerStars, The Star, VGW and PokerNews. Joseph is a self-confessed poker and gaming enthusiast which allows him to look at business opportunities from the perspective of both a player and an operator. Joseph’s passion for players’ rights saw him create and lead the Australian Online Poker Alliance, the leading body advocating for player rights and a safe, fair regulatory process in the Australian market.
Jade offers a wide variety of products and services, providing both land-based and digital operators with the tools and services necessary to establish successful gaming operations. Its progressive global influence extends from the Philippines to Vietnam, Malaysia, Macau, Saipan, Australia and New Zealand, and continues to grow via a portfolio of partnerships with global gaming leaders and emerging technology companies.
Joe Pisano, CEO of Jade Entertainment, said: “This is a time of great change in the gaming industry and the events of the past year have shown us that a convergence of land-based and digital gaming is essential for business continuity. Jade continues to expand its team with the expertise to address this convergence.
“I, together with the team at Jade, am thrilled to welcome Jean, Joseph and Gary on board. As we continue to make strides into the Asian gaming scene, we are also developing a framework with great partners to move beyond our borders and grow our international footprint.”
Amidst an evolving economic landscape, gaming executives report a positive outlook on future industry business conditions while remaining satisfied with the current business environment, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Gaming Industry Outlook.
Nearly all gaming executives surveyed characterized the current business environment as good (44%) or satisfactory (50%), mirroring similar sentiment from Q3 2023. Meanwhile, executives are more optimistic about future conditions, with 32 percent of CEOs expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months, up from 20 percent in Q3 2023.
“Gaming’s record-setting growth over the last three years has set a new standard for industry success,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “However, as we enter a period of market normalization, continued investment and innovation in offering world-class, responsible entertainment experiences will be required to maintain industry momentum.”
Gaming Executive Panel
Gaming executives have become more positive in their views that overall balance sheet health will improve over the next 6 months (42% net positive), but they expect the pace of revenue growth (13% net negative) and new hiring (22% net negative) to slow. These expectations for decelerating growth have influenced expectations for increases in capital investment and gaming units in operation, with smaller net positive sentiments than before.
- In contrast to past Outlooks, gaming equipment suppliers are slightly pessimistic about the sale of gaming units for replacement use and new or expansion use (both 13% net negative). However, they remain optimistic about the pace of capital investment (38% net positive).
- Half of operator CEOs expect capital investments in hotels over the next year to be higher than normal, and compared to last fall, more also expect higher than normal levels of capital investment in meetings and conventions and table games (28%). Meanwhile, 44 percent of CEOs expect increases in food and beverage investment, down from 67 percent in Q3 2023.
These expectations are also informed by evolving macroeconomic challenges. Executives report that inflationary or interest rate concerns continue to be a major factor limiting operations (28%), but these have been overtaken by geo-political risk (34%) and uncertainty of the economic environment (34%) as the biggest limiting factors in the most recent Gaming Executive Panel.
Current Conditions Index
The Current Conditions Index of 102.8 for Q1 indicates solid annualized real economic growth in the industry of 2.8%. This includes gaming revenue, employment and employee wages and salaries. Notably, the Current Conditions Index shows gaming expanding faster than the overall U.S. economy which last week reported 1.6 percent GDP growth in Q1 2024.
Future Conditions Index
The Future Conditions Index stands at 102.2, indicating annualized industry economic activity, after controlling for underlying inflation, is expected to moderately increase over the next six months. This outlook reflects Oxford Economics’ forecast that the U.S. economy will slow during 2024 but avoid recession. Despite a projected economic slowdown, consumer survey results continue to indicate that more than one-third of adults expect to visit a casino during the next 12 months, consistent with prior quarter results.
About the Outlook
The AGA Gaming Industry Outlook is prepared biannually by Oxford Economics. It provides a timely measure of recent industry growth and future expectations. The Q1 2024 survey was conducted between March 28 – April 10, 2024. A total of 32 executives responded, including executives at the major international and domestic gaming companies, tribal gaming operators, single-unit casino operators, major gaming equipment suppliers, and major iGaming and/or sports betting operators.
Slots players are taken on a swashbuckling adventure as they seek to unlock the Golden Chest in latest release from Fantasma Games
Pirate Multi Coins, a 6 reel, 5 position slot, is the latest title to hit the market from the Stockholm-based developer, Fantasma Games.
Golden Multi Coins are the key to unlocking big wins and features, with a random number of Coins appearing on each spin. Coins can hold either a monetary or multiplier value, and landing five on a spin awards all values shown.
In a break from standard slots, Pirate Multi Coins features no set paylines, with wins achieved when eight or more matching pay-symbols appear anywhere on the thirty-position matrix. Each win combines those symbols into another Coin, helping trigger the Multi Coin feature. The remaining spaces are filled by an Avalanche, which is Fantasma’s proprietary take on cascading reels.
Another air of suspense comes in the form of the Golden Chest at the top of the playing area. Any Coins landed during a spin which does not trigger the Multi Coin feature are added to the Golden Chest. The Golden Chest can trigger during any base-game spin where a coin is added to the chest, which rains more coins down upon the reels, guaranteeing a Multi Coin feature.
Finally, there is also a Free Spins feature, where landing four or more Scatter symbols awards fifteen free spins. Retriggers are also available during the feature, with three Scatters awarding five more free spins, and four Scatters awarding an additional fifteen spins!
Pirate Multi Coins comes with RTP options of 86%, 94.35% and 96.08%, sits at the medium range of the volatility scale and has a max win potential of 4999.x. It features a Scatter Boost option as well as a Bonus Buy for jurisdictions where this is applicable.
Fredrik Johansson, Founder and CEO of Fantasma Games, said: “In our first venture into the quintessential Pirate slot theme, Pirate Multi Coins brings a host of great features to all types of players.
“With multiple ways to trigger our various features as well as a medium level of volatility, we hope that it really appeals to every type of slots’ fan looking to find some buried treasure.
“Pirate Multi Coins takes to the high seas in thirty-four languages across our network of amazing operator partners on April 30th.”
The post Pirate Multi Coins – Feature-rich New Title from Fantasma Games appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
PHOENIX – Bettors in Arizona wagered approximately $637.5 million on sports in February of 2024, according to a new report by the Arizona Department of Gaming. This represents an approximate 4.6% increase when compared to February of 2023.
The state collected approximately $2.8 million in privilege fees in the month. You can view the full February report on the ADG website: LINK.
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