In this consolidated geo-report, we’ll take a look at RAW iGaming of Malaga’s new innovative game engine that expands the company’s repertoire of chame-changing slots mechanics – but when does a game without spinning reels in slots with reel strips of symbols stop being a slot at all and become something else altogether? We’ll leave that question for the reader to explore.

We also delve into the business end of things with the Blackstone-owned Spanish gaming giant Cirsa’s recent major bond launch worth €650 million (US$700m+) that the company plans to use in order to pay down some of its debt.

And finally, back to gaming for the people with the announcement that SkillOnNet has launched Slingo games, a popular hybrid of slots and bingo, in the Spanish market through PlayUZU and more than two dozen other Spain-facing casinos it owns or services with content.

RAW iGaming Rolls out SuperSymbols Mechanic

The RAW Group’s in-house studio RAW iGaming has released another game-changer to go along with its innovative boredom-killing mechanics, SuperSlice, SuperTracks, and SuperStretch. The new way to play online slots is called SuperSymbols.

With this mechanic, adjacent matching symbols in groups consisting of at least 2×2 icons will merge to form larger shapes for bigger payouts that expand when matched symbols land next to the SuperSYmbol.

Pay is based on pixel count so in a nutshell, the bigger the symbol, the higher the payout! The concept is easy to see and understand even on a small handheld device and gives players another brand-new way to experience gameplay.

SuperSymbols, however, are not a stand-alone phenomenon inside the games they reside in, they can also be combined with additional bonus features like progressive multipliers, cascading symbols, free spins, and more. Players will find the new mechanic debuting in Mighty Buffalo SuperSymbols, the company’s most recent release, and should appear next in the upcoming Raging Super2Ways.which is expected to be launched soon

Slowly but surely, RAW is rewriting the history books on how games can be played online and how wins are paid out.

The company’s first major mechanical innovation was the SuperSlice engine. This innovation uses slices of a wheel rather than reel strips with symbols to match whilst the SuperTracks® engine uses tracks or pathways to illustrate wins.

RAW Group,’s CEO, Tom Wood said the company’s commitment bring players new experiences and disrupting the “status quo” with innovations such as these is what has helped the company become seen as a “must-have” developer for major online gaming operators around the world.

“At RAW, we see ourselves as a pink shark in the sea of sameness and go to great lengths to develop new player experiences through thrilling mechanics. SuperSymbols is a great addition to our roster of mechanics, especially because it is so easy to understand which is not always the case with next-gen mechanics.

“It is features such as this that have allowed us to stand out not through novelty but through delivering engaging and compelling experiences that players actually enjoy. SuperSymbols will appear in some truly incredible games over the coming months and we look forward to players seeing the symbols merge and expand and the big wins land.”

Cirsa holds $700m Bond Sale to Redeem 2018 Bond Issue

Spanish gaming giant Cirsa reportedly planned to offer up nearly a billion dollars in bonds recently that come due this year. The tranch would redeem all senior guaranteed bonds issued in 2018 carrying a 6.25% interest rate, according to CDC Gaming Reports.

Floating rate notes, that come due in 2025 would also be paid down if the entire sale is successful. Unpaid interest and expenses accrued across both vehicles would also be paid down. Barclays, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank were among the banks mentioned in leading the placement. Other financial institutions testing the waters for investor interest and helping to determine pricing included BBVA, Jefferies, and UBS. The new bonds would expire in 2028 as envisioned in the company’s announcement.

The company’s last placement, in October 2022 yielded more interest than expected and resulted in a better price than Blackstone had anticipated for the vehicles with US$462 million worth of notes entering the market even though advisors had only anticipated US$380.5 million. Those bonds are set to mature in 2027 and were picked up by more than 70 different investors worldwide.

The company had a good year in 2022, finally pulling away from a mostly Covid-caused downward swing, posting an operating income of US$1.9 billion and closing out the year with operating profits of US$600.7 million. Slots were the company’s biggest income producer with casino kicking in US$267.47 million EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).

Coming in at number three in the income generator race to the top was Gaming which increased about 80% to hit a quarter of a billion dollars for the company. Once Cirsa got on a roll things just kept looking brighter and brighter for it with a Q! 2023 increase in operating income of over half a billion in US Dollars or 29.2% in pp over the first quarter of the previous year. Profits tripled on that volume to a bit over twenty-million dollars.

Cirsa continues its global acquisition strategy by springing for a new casino in Mexico as well as a land-based gaming operator and online sportsbook in Italy – all counted in the 2022 growth numbers along with consummations that occurred in toto in 2022 like a Moroccan casino (Tangiers), a majority stake in E-Play24 (Italy) and Mexico’s fifth largest online sportsbook, Ganabet.

Blackstone acquired Cirsa in 2018 for about half of what the company was appraised for earlier in May when the private equity firm shopped Cirsa as an IPO in May. However, there don’t seem to be any plans to activate the public offering further due to instability, volatility, and turbulence in the international banking space that has not settled out completely due to various factors that many investors still see as being in play. However, some observers and analysts expect the turbulence and fallout from the Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank deflations to settle out and for the IPO to go forward before the start of 2024.

SkillOnNet Spain Network Launches Slingo!

Spain hosts over 3,000 gaming salons and bingo halls with major companies like Zitro and IGT found in many or all of them. With that as background, it then comes as no surprise that a global online provider such as SkillOnNet with over 30 online casinos operating in the country would decide to offer Slingo games there, especially at its flagship PlayUZU site – a brand that has become almost a kitchen-table name in Spain.

Slingo games are about fun and fusion and are unique in their mechanics, offering a sort of hybrid model of bingo and slots in a single game. Some of the most popular titles worldwide include Slingo Extreme and Slingo Rainbow Riches. Spanish players will now find those titles as well as branded games like Slingo Monopoly and Slingo Deal or No Deal at their favorite SkillOnNet online casinos.

SkillOnNet casinos are also found in other realms such as the UK and increasingly across the whole of Europe including Germany and Portugal.

SkillOnNet’s Head of Games, Jani Kontturi recently said in a prepared statement that Slingo has been a “smash hit” in every new market the company has introduced them in and is confident the same will be the case with Spain.

He continued, “Most of all, we’re excited that games that revolutionized the online casino space almost 30 years ago are finally coming to Spain. When it comes to fusing bingo, slots, and social gaming, Slingo is the original and still the best.”

Gaming Realms is the intellectual property owner of the Slingo brand. The company’s Ian Ribson said of the partnership: “We are thrilled to be building upon our successful partnership with SkillOnNet by launching our high-quality titles with them alongside Slingo.es. Already proving a triumph across other jurisdictions such as the UK, Slingo.es will offer players a familiar platform to enjoy a variety of verticals and games on.

“The Spanish market has provided the Slingo brand with an immense amount of growth in recent years and launching our advanced platform there, whilst simultaneously offering even more places to enjoy our portfolio, will allow both new and existing players to become more familiar with our offering.”

Slingo was also recently launched in Portugal and Spain at GoldenPark.

Source: SkillOnNet rolls out Slingo games for the Spanish Online market, G3 Newswire, July 6, 2023

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