NetEnt Strikes a Deal With Blueprint Gaming
NetEnt has announced a new partnership with Blueprint Gaming, which will see the Swedish developer making new headway into the UK market. NetEnt games will now be made available to players in a variety of locations across the UK. This will include arcades, bingo halls, licensed betting offices and pubs.
The deal will see two leading forces in the industry collaborating to offer a range of gaming products to more customers than ever. ©Oleg Magni/Pexels
Two Industry Titans Team Up
Blueprint Gaming is one of UK’s leading game studios and is part of Germany’s Gauselmann Group. The UK studio has built its reputation on providing innovative and entertaining games for the online and mobile slots market. Slotcatalog’s Top 10 Best Slot Games for 2019 ranked Blueprint titles ‘Eye of Horus Megaways’ in 2nd place and ‘Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways’ in 10th place.
However, Blueprint is also responsible for a “network of retail gaming machines in arcades, bingo halls, licensed betting offices and pubs across the UK”. It is this network that will be made available to NetEnt, allowing it to distribute its portfolio of award-winning games to a wider audience than ever before.
“This is a landmark deal for the NetEnt Group in our quest to build brand awareness and new revenue streams from new product verticals. Blueprint are the market leader in the UK, and we are delighted to expand our reach with them.”– Andy Whitworth, Chief Strategy Officer, NetEnt
NetEnt fans will be pleased to know that the deal is a long-term one. That means that the NetEnt’s exciting portfolio will be available to play indefinitely, once fully launched in the upcoming months. This will include the recently released title ‘Serengeti Kings’. The African safari-themed slot is rich on features, including the option to buy straight in to Free Spins. NetEnt Director of Games, Bryan Upton, was particularly excited at the launch of this new game.
“We’ve listened to regulators and have made our unique Feature Buy smart configurable, so our operators have a flexible game to offer to all their markets. A big release for us, looking forward to the success this title will bring!”
“The ability to offer our customers and players content from NetEnt is an exciting opportunity and we are delighted to be working closely together on offering UK players a truly compelling variety of market leading content.”– Matt Cole, Managing Director, Blueprint Gaming
Red Tiger Games Will Also Join Blueprint Network
As part of the distribution deal with Blueprint Gaming, Red Tiger games will also be made available across its network. NetEnt acquired Red Tiger Gaming Limited last September. Red Tiger is a rapidly growing casino games development company. First founded in 2014 by a group of professionals with industry know-how, the company has expanded to service European and Asian markets. Red Tiger is in particular renowned for its line of daily jackpot games.
The deal came as part of NetEnt’s bold expansion plan to boost its global infrastructure and further its customer outreach. Therese Hillman, NetEnt’s Group CEO said “We look forward to working with Red Tiger’s fantastic team to enhance our combined global reach and to offer further value to operators and players. The transaction will provide significant revenue synergies across our markets worldwide.”
Blueprint Gaming also made a significant acquisition at the end of last year, when it bought Livewire Gaming. The deal was intended to strengthen Blueprint’s leading position in the slots market, whilst simultaneously capitalizing on Livewire’s Category C games expertise. Livewire Gaming has more than a decade of invaluable experience in the land-based games niche, which will be a key asset for Blueprint.
Having previously collaborated together on a number of projects, the deal was a particularly amicable one. Sascha Blodau, UK General Manager at Gauselmann had this to say: “Livewire and Blueprint have had a close relationship for many years, so this merger makes perfect sense for both parties. We look forward to working with Livewire and building on our already successful partnership.”
NetEnt will be attending this year’s hotly awaited ICE conference. ICE London 2020 brings together professionals from across the iGaming industry, in an opportunity to network and unveil the latest industry launches. More than 35,000 professionals are expected to attend the event, which presents over 600 iGaming solutions. The event takes place from the 4th to the 6th of February at Excel London. NetEnt can be visited at stand N3-242.
Blueprint Gaming will also be there, at stand N4-210. The studio has revealed that it will be showcasing its new Auromax Cabinet at the event. Visitors to ICE London 2020 will also be lucky to see Blueprint launch the Evo Star and see the Avantgarde Trio available for the Casino Market. It will be the perfect opportunity for prospective buyers to try out Blueprint products, quiz the team and pre-order them.
