Play’n GO Strikes New Deal with Codere
In a fruitful recent arrangement between Spain-based casino giant Codere and content provider Play’n GO, gamers in countries with Codere casinos can access Play’n GO’s extensive catalog. This will include familiar games like Rise of Olympus and Mahjong 88, as well as newer releases like Rainforest Magic and Demon.
Mahjong88, just one of the games that will now be available to Codere gamers ©Play’n GO
A Steady Stream of New Content for Codere
Codere has been on a roll acquiring new content and reaching lucrative business arrangements with international companies. In addition to the Codere-Play’n GO deal, announced at the end of September, Codere also made public similar agreements with Pragmatic Play as well as welcoming UK/Isle of Man-based casino aggregation platform provider Iforium to the ever-growing Latin American gaming market.
On the recent new deal with Play’n GO, Codere digital operations manager Salo Leder, said
“In Play’n GO we see a content provider that has invested in being fully certified in each regulated market they enter into, and this facilitates a more fluid and joint expansion into new territories, as they open up.”
The new games available to Codere gamers through Play’n GO’s catalog will be first offered to consumers in Mexico and Colombia, then to those in Europe and Latin America.
Where Else are Play’n GO Games Available?
This new Play’n GO-Codere agreement marks the continued globalization of the Play’n GO catalog. Throughout 2019, Play’n GO has been striking strategic deals with regulators and casino operators around the world. This past March, the company was authorized to supply its content to the market in the Philippines and has also been approved to move into the casino markets in Sweden and Portugal as well.
“We want as many people as possible to enjoy our games, and we also want our clients, both current and future, to be able to rely on us to have a presence wherever they seek to develop their operations.”– Johan Törnqvist, CEO, Play’n GO
Codere: Maestros of the Latin American Market
Codere is a longstanding staple of the gaming industry. The company started as the brainchild of two Madrid families in the early 1980s: the Martínez Sampedro family and the Franco brothers, who already were titans of Spanish slot machine manufacturing.
Within a few years of becoming operational, Codere was seeking to expand from its Madrid base. By 2000, the company had opened business throughout Spain and had begun to spread to Latin America, with bingo halls in Argentina and Mexico and casinos in Colombia.
Beginning in the new millennium, Codere began acquiring small local operators, and continued to expand into countries and locations like Italy, Uruguay, Brazil, and Panama. Codere now operates bingo halls, racetracks, racinos, casinos, and sports betting facilities, spearheading sports betting in Spain. In fact, as of 2008, Codere is the only company in Spain with a license to operate sports betting facilities in Madrid and Basque Country, which are the regions where sports betting is legal in Spain.
All of these businesses in Codere’s international locations will now be able to play Play’n GO games under the new Codere-Play’n GO agreement.
Recently, Codere has run into some financial downturns, sparking talks that the company was considering selling its Uruguayan business — including 26 sports betting points, six gaming halls, two racetracks, and thousands of gaming terminals — to Chile-owned company Sun Dreams. According to Spanish publication El Confidencial, Sun Dreams had made an offer to Codere in exchange for 50% of their Uruguayan business, which El Confidencial estimates being worth €150 million ($165.3 million).
The Latin American Casino Market: El Dorado?
With increasing openness to casino regulation and licensing, markets in countries like Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina have been increasingly interesting to casino developers, while markets are just beginning for countries like Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, and Panama.
These developments are not always easy, as ongoing debates in Mexico and Argentina have shown. Mexico’s President Obrador has made clear his opposition to approving new casino licenses during his administration, and upcoming elections in Argentina threaten casino-friendly legislation proposed in Buenos Aires under current governor María Eugenia Vidal.
But it’s not all bad news. Colombia, conversely, has been increasingly friendly to gamers. In the first half of 2019, online gaming in Colombia swelled two-thirds, and Coljuegos, the gambling authority for the country, has been increasingly lenient in granting internet gambling licenses to gamers.
