iGaming Business – Server-based gaming specialist Inspired Gaming Group has moved to strengthen its presence in Italy by opening a new corporate office in Rome. The firm’s Italian business has experienced rapid growth in recent times following deals with a number of companies including Italian gaming operator Cogetech and iGaming operator and platform provider Microgame. Inspired Gaming now operates 7,000 video lottery terminals in the country and has successfully launched the game Merlin for Comma 6a slot machines. The company’s Inspired Virtual Sports are also live who six customers, with a further seven clients in homologation or just about to…

Gaming Intelligence – South African online gaming operator BetFlash has bolstered its offering with the launch of Betradar-powered in-play betting, which is now live online and for mobile and tablet devices. BetFlash is initially offering in-play betting on rugby, football and tennis, with more sports to follow, using Betradar’s live odds solution. The company’s general manager Samantha McMurtrie said she was very proud to have launched the live betting offering, which she said was “superior to any other in-play product currently in the South African market.” “We have focused on a clean, easy to use screen layout, as well as…

Joystiq – Since China temporarily lifted its ban on foreign video game consoles in January, it was a matter of time before the government offered new rules to regulate console and game distribution. According to a Shanghai government release translated by Games in Asia, those rules will dictate the kind of content that won’t be allowed to be sold in the country, such gambiling-related game features. Additionally, anything deemed threatening to “China’s national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity” and content that “instigates racial/ethnic hatred” won’t be distributable in the country. Games also may not promote “obscenity, drug use, violence or…

Online Poker – Over the past few years gaming analysts have pondered over gambling billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s real motive for wanting to see online gambling disappear altogether from the US. If one was to take Adelson’s explanation on face value then apparently the Las Vegas Sands CEO is primarily concerned with the moral fibre of US citizens and sees online gambling as a potential  “societal train wreck waiting to happen.” However, few people believe Adelson’s so-called ethical stance, especially seeing his $40 billion fortune has been built on the money lost by gamblers at his numerous casinos. Furthermore, how much…

Biz Journals – Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, the once-super fast growing gaming company, is leaving his operational role as chief product officer, but will stay on as as chairman of the board. Zynga also named a raft of new top executives. The announcement is part of the founder’s shift away from day-to-day management of the gaming company. Pincus remained chief product officer when he relinquished the CEO role to former Microsoft and Electronic Arts executive Don Mattrick. Pincus recruited Mattrick to the position last July. Mattrick relayed Pincus’ decision in an email to employees, which was disclosed as the company announced quarterly revenue of $168 million, a 36 percent…

Forbes – Anointment of the 2016 Republican presidential nominee is far off, but one thing already seems clear: Sheldon Adelson will have the victor’s full attention. The billionaire CEO of Las Vegas Sands recently convened a meeting in Las Vegas to which likely contenders for the nomination flocked. They covet the massive scale of financial support that Adelson lavished on Newt Gingrich, and later Mitt Romney, in 2012. “Everybody knows that, behind closed doors, politicians often sell themselves to the highest bidder; this time, they were doing it in public, as if vending their wares at a live auction,” commented…