U.K.-based Inspired Gaming Group now has its virtual auto-racing game available in 1,000 betting shops in China. The games are being provided to players by a joint venture between Ladbrokes Plc and AGTech Holdings Limited.
Lucky Racing is the first of the Inspired fixed-odds, virtual games to be approved by China’s lottery regulator. The game, supported by a bet management system developed with OpenBet, has been operating in a small number of shops since June, and is now available throughout Hunan province.
Inspired’s Virtual Sports suite of games generates more than $7 billion in turnover worldwide.
Steve Rogers, managing director for Virtual Sports at Inspired Gaming Group, said, “The launch of Lucky Racing is an extremely important milestone for Inspired in China, and we’re excited to be exploring a new territory with Ladbrokes and AGTech.
“We will be looking to develop new content tailored specifically to the Chinese customer and remain committed to providing the most diverse range of sports at the highest quality in all of the 22 countries we currently serve.”
The Virtual Sports game suite includes soccer, horse racing, tennis, greyhound racing, speedway, roulette, lotto and cycling. It is available in 22 countries, in 16 different languages, and is fully configurable and customizable.
David Loveday, CEO of OpenBet, said, “This is yet another project that demonstrates how OpenBet works in partnership with its customers and other providers to deliver an all-around successful sports book solution.
“Lottery businesses are at the forefront of what we do and where we are going as a business, and being able to bring our product to China, with Inspired Gaming and Ladbrokes, is very exciting for OpenBet, and marks yet another milestone in our international expansion and expertise.”
Inspired Gaming Group and OpenBet are both owned by London investment firm Vitruvian Partners, the largest new private equity fund in Europe.
Inspired is the leading gaming machine operator in the U.K. for the gaming and leisure markets. The company also provides its trademarked Open SBG software systems, terminals and virtual sports products in 19 other countries, including Italy, where it is one of the top VLT suppliers to casinos and betting shops.
The group operates approximately 50,000 machines on a participation basis, more than 35,000 of which are on the Inspired Open SBG platform.
Customers include Sisal, William Hill, Gala Coral Group, Betfred, Ladbrokes, Genting, Paddy Power, Codere, Sky Vegas and bet365.
