Synergy Blue and Spirit Gaming have announced a distribution agreement for European skill-based and chance-based games.
Georg Washington, CEO of Synergy Blue, said the arrangement calls for Spirit Gaming to provide sales distribution and localized support for the California-based company’s HAWG (Hybrid Arcade Wager-based Gaming) platform and skill- and chance-based games.
The initial efforts will focus on Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Belgium.
Washington added that Spirit Gaming is strategically positioned to support Synergy Blue’s games from the company’s Germany headquarters. “Understanding the gaming landscape throughout Europe, where some countries allow skill and others don’t, is an important piece of the puzzle,” Washington said. “Distributing compliant games that are fun and a new way to gamble allows European casinos to provide new offerings to attract new demographics.”
Synergy Blue’s HAWG platform is a Class III certified product that blends skill-based or chance-based gambling, allowing for regulatory compliance in multiple jurisdictions.
“Synergy Blue’s unique HAWG system provides a level of flexibility needed to compete in the heavily regulated markets of Europe,” said Frank Ziegler, managing director of Spirit Gaming. “Their arcade style games with skill or chance components allow for an overall more engaging experience for the new generation of player.”
HAWG and its games are meant to appeal to a new generation of gamers, “providing an engaging experience through a seamless entertainment component and uninterrupted arcade-style entertainment,” Washington said.
“We focus on entertainment-style games for a new demographic,” Washington said. “We hear of millennials, but it’s really the contemporary baby boomers and Gen Xers because they’re the next stage of gambling.”
Still, Washington said Synergy Blue does consider games for millennials.
“But, (millennials are) still coming of age with disposable income,” Washington said. “We have games that hit that 50-year-old to the 65-year-old player, and games that hit anywhere from a 22-year-old to a 48-year-old player.”
Earlier this year, Synergy Blue placed some of its first skilled-based games—Zombie$, Safari Match, and Lucky Karts—on the floor of the Augustine Casino in the Coachella Valley in Southern California. Zombie$ is a first-person shooter game, while Safari Match is a match three puzzle game. Lucky Karts is a modern kart racing game.
“Safari Match is for that (older) demographic at Augustine and works well,” Washington said. “It fits the contemporary baby boomers. The average seat times are very long with that game. We’re quite happy with it.”
Washington said baby boomers will spend up to 4.5 hours on a Safari Match. The average time on other games is roughly one hour.
