Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | October 2009 20 coupled with the advanced graphics and realistic audio that characterise the company’s entire product offerings, will ensure that Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk will expand our clients’ player base and support their growth. Popular “Following the overwhelming success of Playtech’s Gladiator branded slots, Playtech is delighted to enable our licensees to add Marvel brands to their games offering,” says Shahar Sella, Playtech’s Head of Casino. “We are confident that these remarkably popular, well-known Marvel slots, with their established mass market appeal will attract a large audience of new and existing players. This will support our licensees’ acquisition and player retention efforts, by raising the profile of their games portfolio and further enhancing the gaming experience for the players.” Playtech develops unified software platforms for the online gambling industry. The company primarily targets as clients existing online operators wanting to upgrade their systems; sports books looking to diversify their products; and land-based operators making their online debut. Playtech gaming applications—online casino, poker, bingo, mobile gaming, live gaming, land-based kiosk networks and fixed odds games—are fully inter- compatible and can be freely incorporated as standalone applications. They can also be accessed and funded by each player through a single user account and managed by the operator by means of a single powerful management interface. The company was founded in 1999 and has over 800 personnel distributed globally. Playtech says three quarters of them are engaged in research and development of current and future gaming technologies. Deal Earlier this year Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, announced the company had signed an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement with Marvel Characters B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc., to use Marvel’s motion picture brands. Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s most prominent character- based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 5,000 comic book characters that have featured in a variety of media for more than 70 years. Marvel utilises its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation) and publishing (via Marvel Comics). The organisation’s product range includes: feature films; consumer products; toys, video games; animated television; direct-to-DVD features and online products, available in a wide range of markets around the world. Playtech says the mass-market appeal and broad recognition of the Marvel brand, Playtech Playtech, a leading international designer, developer and licensor of software to the online and land-based gaming industries, has announced the release of the first two titles in its Marvel Slots Series. They are Iron Man™© and The Incredible Hulk™© . The titles are well known to older players from the original Marvel Comics series and to younger players in particular from the recent Hollywood film franchises based on the characters of the same name, their associates and enemies. Playtech’s new Marvel Slots Series products are 3x5 reel, 20-line games with what the company describes as innovative features. Iron Man contains a Missile Attack Bonus, an expanding wild feature, and a top prize of 5,000 times the player’s line bet. The Incredible Hulk offers rapid-fire action with a special Hulk Smash Bonus Round—where players destroy on-screen cars and helicopters—and a top prize of 4,000 times the player’s line bet. Modern Marvel Playtech launches Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk slot games