Zitro Digital Greenlit To Operate In Buenos Aires
After nabbing partnerships with multiple casinos in Argentina, local regulators have given the final go-ahead to Zitro Digital to operate online gaming. The approval means that Zitro Digital has permission to operate in the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and frequently a trendsetter for regulations nationwide. Since the end of 2020, Argentina has been working fastidiously to expand online gambling in the country.
Zitro Digital has been given permission to operate in Buenos Aires. ©Ximena-c/Pixabay
Zitro Digital’s Permission From LOTBA
In mid-March, 2021, Zitro Digital received coveted permission from Buenos Aires regulators, known as the Loteria de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Sociedad del Estado, or LOTBA SE, to operate online gambling in the city. The approval means that any casino which also as an iGaming license is now allowed to partner with Zitro Digital.
The approval specifically meant that LOTBA was signing off on certain Zitro games to be available for play at online casinos in Buenos Aires. This includes Zitro titles like Fortune Goddess, Maneki Neko, DaVinci Secrets, Hot Dice, Wild Mustang, and Double Bonus.
Zitro’s Most Famous Games Coming Soon
In a statement about LOTBA’s approval, Zitro CEO Sebastián Salat explained that more games from Zitro Digital will be coming to Buenos Aires online casinos soon. Even more specifically, Salat referenced that players will be able to access games in the Link King series, the company’s most iconic progressive multigame.
According to Salat, this will include the series’ namesake game, Link King, as well as 88 Link and Link Me. Salat indicated that more games will be coming soon from the developer, and that it looks forward to growing partnerships with local online casinos now operative.
Gambling In Buenos Aires: A Growing Industry
A recent report states that Buenos Aires, home to about 15.3 million, contains just eight casinos within its city limits. Despite this relatively small number, Argentina is working hard to grow its local gambling industry, in no small part because of significant economic turmoil ongoing in the country, worsening through the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first months of 2021 alone, officials in Argentina granted licenses to close to 10 local and international gambling companies, including Pragmatic Play, Play’n GO, Playtech, Intralot, and Betsson. Each company is responsible for paying the Argentine government a flat fee of $768,200, or ARS 65,000,000, as well as a significant additional fee later.
Shift To Online Before Country Re-institutes Lockdown
All of this shook down months — or in some cases, weeks — before the federal Argentine government made the difficult decision to re-implement lockdown. The decision was made in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide, and continued despite a growing number of COVID-19 vaccinations taking place in the country.
In Buenos Aires, Protests In Response To Lockdown
Despite the vaccination rollout, which has included the distribution of 6.2 million shots since December, Buenos Aires residents took to the streets in April to protest the new lockdown measures, which include closing schools for just over two weeks and a nightly curfew at 8 pm.
Zitro Digital Already Has Argentina Casino Partnerships
Prior to receiving approval from LOTBA to operate online gambling in Buenos Aires, Zitro Digital established business connections with three casinos in Argentina: Santa Fe Casino, Melincué Casino, and Casino de Santa Fe. The partnership with Santa Fe Casino and Melincué Casino came first, in early March, 2021.
Just a few days later, the companies announced yet another casino would be added to their Argentina portfolio: this time, Casino de Santa Fe. All of the casinos Zitro Digital and bplay have partnered with in Argentina are owned by the Boldt Group, which is responsible for a number of hotels, restaurants, wineries, and more.
Bplay Offers Zitro A LatAm Connection
The announcement that Zitro would be moving into Argentina, as well as its continued alliance with bplay, signaled a continuation of a growing relationship between two leading gambling companies. Just a short time before, bplay and Zitro announced that they would be working together to power an online casino in Paraguay.
Zitro and bplay In Paraguay
Just days before news broke of bplay and Zitro’s work in Argentina, the companies revealed their partnership for the first time. In late February, Zitro and bplay announced that they would be teaming up with a resort-casino in Paraguay called 7 Saltos Resort, a 3.5 star hotel between Paraguay and Brazil.
