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Nepal proposes new casino law to restrict foreign investment and ensure compliance

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The Nepali government has proposed a new casino law aimed at tightening regulations and reducing foreign investment in the gaming sector.

This legislation forms part of the Integrated Tourism Act and introduces measures such as ownership caps, stricter licensing requirements, and enhanced compliance protocols.

According to The Katmandu Post, the proposed changes include allowing foreign investors to hold only 49 percent equity in joint ventures, a significant reduction from the current allowance of 90 percent, with concerns existing that these provisions may deter global operators rather than attract them.

Historically, the casino industry in Nepal has been governed by the Casino Regulation of 2013, but recent developments have prompted a reevaluation of these laws. The original plan to create a standalone Casino Act has shifted to embedding the regulations within a broader tourism framework.

This change reflects the government’s response to the rapid growth in hotel infrastructure, with an increase in five-star and four-star hotels across the country, which are seen as vital for boosting tourism.

The proposed law also addresses issues related to the location of casinos, reinstating a 5-kilometer distance requirement from international borders while allowing existing casinos within 3 kilometers to continue operations.

This inconsistency has drawn criticism from industry stakeholders who argue that arbitrary location rules can hinder business growth. Additionally, the bill stipulates that potential casino operators must establish separate companies and secure agreements with hotels, which complicates the licensing process.

ProgressPlay secures spot at the SBC Awards Europe 2025 shortlist

ProgressPlay has firmly positioned itself at the forefront of the fast-moving iGaming industry, earning a prestigious shortlist spot for “Industry Innovation of the Year” at the SBC Awards Europe 2025.

The story behind this recognition begins with a simple but radical idea: what if operators weren’t constrained by their platform? While many providers offered rigid solutions, ProgressPlay bet on flexibility, building a standalone system that hands operators the keys to their own destiny; customisable branding, agile market entry, and tools to adapt to regulations in real time.

The industry took notice. From the moment the platform launched, partners reported 40% faster deployment in new regions and unprecedented control over player experiences, proving that innovation isn’t about flashy features, but real-world empowerment.  

But the SBC nomination speaks to something deeper: impact. This year, ProgressPlay’s technology became the backbone for operators navigating Europe, Latin America and Asia’s most complex markets. Meanwhile, the multi-brand deployment toolkit turned what was once a logistical nightmare into a seamless process, letting partners launch tailored experiences for diverse audiences, all from a single, unified system.  

Marina Nahhas, Head of B2B Sales and Marketing, explains: “What sets this nomination apart is its timing. The iGaming industry stands at a crossroads, where scaling responsibly is no longer optional. ProgressPlay’s recognition by SBC underscores that the future belongs to platforms that marry innovation with integrity, where cutting-edge tech serves not just profits, but sustainability.”

At the heart of ProgressPlay’s standalone technology is its unparalleled flexibility. Unlike traditional white-label offerings, this standalone platform is a true turnkey solution, allowing operators to craft their own brand identity, select their preferred gaming content, and integrate the most effective payment methods suited to their target audience.

With full autonomy over the gaming portfolio, operators can curate a mix of casino games, live dealer experiences, and sportsbook markets tailored to the preferences of players in their chosen markets. This ability to fine-tune every aspect of the standalone platform ensures that businesses remain ahead of the curve, delivering experiences that resonate deeply with local players while maintaining a globally competitive edge.    

ProgressPlay CEO Itai Lowenstein added: “As the awards night approaches, this shortlist is more than a milestone, it’s validation for every partner who took a chance on reimagining what an iGaming platform could be. For the ProgressPlay team, it’s a reminder that the boldest ideas often start as whispers before they become benchmarks.”

PopOK Gaming spins up the fun with new slot-Rico DJ

With a unique 3-4-3 layout and 10 fixed paylines, Rico DJ offers a colorful, fast-paced experience. Think neon lights, pulsing music, and non-stop action that keeps players on their toes.

What makes Rico DJ a total crowd-pleaser

  • Wild Symbols – Wilds can land anywhere and help complete winning combinations. More chances to win, more reason to celebrate.
  • Random Respin Feature – Reels 1 and 3 can suddenly match up with the same symbols, triggering respins that keep going until a win lands. It’s like a surprise drop in the middle of the set.
  • Wild Multiplier Feature – Land 4 Wilds on Reel 2, and you unlock a 10x win multiplier, turning up both the heat and the payouts.

Rico DJ brings together PopOK Gaming’s signature style – fun visuals, smooth gameplay, and a story that keeps players coming back for more. With its fresh theme and exciting features, it’s already making waves. Rico DJ is now live across all PopOK Gaming platforms.

Winning Strategy: How 1xBet boosted active players in India by 68%

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The renowned global betting brand 1xBet reveals how it achieved a significant surge in customer activity in India. The figures speak for themselves—monthly active users (MAU) in the first quarter of 2025 skyrocketed by 68% compared to the previous quarter.

“We are proud of this quarter’s results, proving that investments in high-quality content and innovative entertainment truly create value for our players. Developing promotions tailored to the preferences of Indian users and expanding our portfolio is just the beginning of our large-scale efforts in 2025,” said a 1xBet brand representative.

New hits were added to game library

Throughout the last quarter, 1xBet signed new agreements with several leading developers and gambling entertainment providers. These partnerships enabled the platform to add more than 50 new games, including such hits as:

  • Ocean Legacy, Lucky Forest, and Croco El Loco from Mancala Gaming;
  • Snow Beast from Winspinity;
  • Gems of Olympus x5000 from Gambit.

The carefully selected slots package from Mancala Gaming features the latest technical solutions and a unique Trigger Bonus System. Trigger Bonus System is a flexible tool that allows operators to activate bonuses automatically when a player meets predefined conditions. The system works in real time and can be customized based on a wide range of parameters, such as player activity, deposit amount, betting frequency, preferred games, and more.

A decisive factor in 1xBet’s success has been the addition of new hits that have become rabidly popular in India, including crash games and dynamic slots from new partners:

  • Chicken Road, Hamster Run from Inout;
  • Money Coming, Fortune Gems 2 from Jili;
  • Hot Balloon from Macaw Gaming;
  • Astro, Stellar from Orbital Gaming.

The wide selection of these and other new 1xBet slots actively and continually attracts new users to the platform.

Live Casino fans are happy with interactive innovations

Winfinity, a premium live gaming provider, holds a leading position in the Live Casino category. Its products elevate the classic casino experience to a new level through meticulous attention to visual, gameplay, and interactive details.

As part of a partnership with Winfinity, the 1xBet brand launched two exclusive Shangri-la Baccarat tables with live dealers, specifically tailored to the premium player segment. The move proved highly effective in practice, as the premium tables quickly gained popularity and consistently attracted users to the Live Casino section.

One of the biggest sensations in the gambling industry was the launch of Agent Spinity — India’s first interactive game show that blends real and virtual gaming experiences.

Tournaments and competitions sparked excitement in tens of thousands of customers

For the Casino section users, the 1xBet platform regularly holds tournaments with guaranteed prize pools, helping to strengthen the community and increase player engagement.

For instance, over 14,000 participants from India joined the Indian Casino League tournament, dedicated to the new IPL 2025 season, competing for a prize pool of ₹363,500.

Meanwhile, the 1x Grand Cruise tournament featured a special selection of games from top providers, where players collected ranking points and competed for a prize pool of 100,000 EUR!

1xPartners members joined the promo for these tournaments and earned generous commissions for it. To make good money, all they had to do was use special promo materials and bring in players.

Promos for every taste — even for the most demanding clients

1xGames especially attracts players because of its wide selection and lucrative bonus offers.

To all new clients, 1xBet offers a generous casino welcome bonus of up to ₹1,50,000 + 150 FS for the first four deposits. Additionally, for all 1xBet users, there is a Casino VIP Cashback loyalty program of 8 levels, where players receive cashback for their activity. The higher the level in the loyalty program, the higher the percentage of cashback from the amount of lost bets: from 5% for the first Copper level to 11% for the seventh Diamond level. The players who have reached the highest eighth level of VIP status receive cashback from all bets, as well as exclusive offers and VIP level support.

1xBet offers a variety of promos aimed at players with different demands. For example, Friday entertainment fans choose the Weekend Booster, while those who enjoy Sunday fun prefer the Big Play Day. Meanwhile, Daily Tournament is specially designed for active clients who get bonus points to win Samsung, iPhone, Apple Watch, and FS.

1xPartners participants understood players’ interest in good promos. Their well-earned reward for bringing in customers was the commissions from the affiliate program.

Wide range of payment methods

The 1xBet platform offers Indian players over 30 payment methods to choose from, including:

  • E-wallets – UPI, PayTM, PhonePe, Bharat, PayZapp, Netwallet, etc;
  • Bank transfer – Neft, IMPS, BHIM, CentPay, Freecharge, etc;
  • Payment systems – UPI Fast, UPI Collect, UPI Multi Pay;
  • Money transfers and mobile phone shops – Cash on delivery.

For account replenishments with the Jeton Wallet promotion, players receive 20% cashback from the deposit amount, and bonus points with the Crypto Miracle promo. Both promotions also offer the chance to win top electronics from Apple and Samsung.

Thus, the record growth in the number of active 1xBet users in India is directly linked to the integration of new providers, the expansion of the gambling catalog, a wide range of promos and tournaments, and support for all popular payment methods in the country.

Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 2025

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The Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 2025 returns on July 10th to celebrate groundbreaking achievements, visionary ideas, and exceptional talents.

This year’s FTN categories will honour the most thrilling games, daring innovations, standout operators, and the next generation of industry leaders.

With select categories offering a 10,000 FTN prize pool supported by leading sponsors, the awards provide a unique platform to showcase excellence, spark innovation, and gain well-deserved recognition on a global stage. Participants are invited to explore the categories, prepare their standout submissions, and seize the opportunity to make their mark at one of the year’s most anticipated events.

Evolution partners with Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 2025 as official sponsor

Evolution, a leading provider of B2B online casino services, has announced its strengthened commitment to gaming excellence by sponsoring the Best FTN Game Design category at the Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 2025, contributing a 10,000 FTN prize pool.

The Harmony Meetup 7 and Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 2025 will take place in Yerevan, Armenia from 8 to 11 July, gathering industry leaders to celebrate innovation in iGaming. With 8 categories already backed by a 10,000 FTN prize pool, this event offers a unique opportunity to sponsor and gain exclusive visibility. Join us to showcase your brand and connect with key players in the industry!

BetConstruct is delighted to have Evolution joining the Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 2025 as a sponsor for the Best FTN Game Design category, contributing a 10,000 FTN prize pool. This award recognises the outstanding casino game that best incorporates the FTN (Fasttoken) brand, celebrating exceptional design, innovation, and user experience. The winner will be honored for their creativity in integrating FTN technology to enhance gameplay and player engagement.

SBC Summit Malta 2025

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SBC Summit Malta, the newly rebranded continuation to CasinoBeats Summit, will take place June 10-12, 2025, at the InterContinental in St Julian’s.

SBC Summit Malta is the definitive casino and betting event where European companies and professionals converge to explore cutting-edge insights, gain transformative skills, and forge impactful connections with senior decision-makers.

1xBet among the best at SBC Awards Europe 2025

With 3 nominations at the SBC Awards Europe, the global betting giant 1xBet strengthens its position as a top player in the iGaming industry.

The award ceremony will be held on June 12, 2025, as part of the prestigious SBC Europe Malta summit. An authoritative jury will name the winners. 

At the 2025 edition of the SBC Awards Europe, 1xBet will compete for victory in the Sportsbook Operator of the Year and the Marketing Campaign and Sponsorship of the Year nominations, while the 1xPartners brand affiliate program is included in the shortlist of contenders for the title of Best Affiliate Program. 

“We are pleased to be among the nominees for the key European iGaming award. High marks from the expert jury confirm the correct development vector of the 1xBet brand and the 1xPartners affiliate program. Over the past year, our team has done much work to implement innovations, and the SBC Awards Europe 2025 nominations have become recognition of our achievements. We plan to continue improving the bookmaker platform, as well as the collaboration terms with our partners to maintain our status as one of the iGaming industry leaders,” said a 1xBet representative.  

Over 400 guests, including CEOs and presidents from leading companies in the betting, gambling, and affiliate marketing sectors, will attend the event at the Hilton Malta.

Global betting company 1xBet has had a productive first half of 2025 and has won many prestigious prizes: Best Sportsbook Operator at SiGMA Americas 2025, Mobile Sports Product of the Year at the International Gaming Awards 2025, and Best Crypto Operator at the SiGMA Eurasia Awards 2025.

Brazil and IBIA join forces to safeguard Sports Betting integrity

The agreement brings together the governmental body tasked with safeguarding the integrity and development of Brazilian sport, and the largest international betting integrity monitor for private operators in the world. Leading industry data and intelligence company H2 Gambling Capital has forecast that IBIA covers more than 70% of Brazil’s licensed remote gambling market.  

According to ‘The Availability of Sports Betting Products: An Economic and Integrity Analysis’ study published in 2024, the sports betting regulatory regime in Brazil is projected to create $34bn (R$191.7bn) in sports betting turnover by 2028. With this increased growth comes a greater responsibility to protect customers, sports and betting operators from match-fixing. 

A key element of the new Brazilian regulatory framework is the requirement that operators seeking a licence must join an independent sports integrity monitoring body. This licensing requirement is helping to strengthen IBIA’s capacity to monitor, assess and protect betting transactions in Brazil’s regulated sports betting market and maintain the integrity of Brazilian sporting events.

Andre-Fufuca-Sports-Minister-of-Brazil
André Fufuca, Minister of Sports of Brazil

Minister of Sport, André Fufuca, said: “Today we are signing a milestone in the fight against match-fixing in Brazilian sport. Integrity must be a constant principle when it comes to transparency, ethics and, above all, the correctness of sports results. With these agreements, we will have more than enough instruments to curb this practice and guarantee greater transparency in competitions. Thus, athletes, clubs, organizations, fans and the entire population will be able to fully trust in the fairness of the results and, with this, will have peace of mind to develop the full potential of Brazilian sport.”

Khalid Ali, CEO, IBIA
Khalid Ali, CEO, IBIA

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, added: “IBIA welcomes this important partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Sports. As the market grows, so too does the responsibility to ensure that robust integrity safeguards are in place. This agreement will ensure that information on suspicious betting is swiftly shared with the Ministry to support effective integrity actions. This includes access to detailed, account-level data available only through IBIA’s unique network.”

IBIA is a globally recognised non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard the integrity of the sports and betting sectors by fighting betting-related match-fixing and fraud. It provides a free integrity monitoring service to sports governing bodies, regulatory authorities, government ministries, and law enforcement agencies that, importantly, has no potential conflicts created by the provision of competing commercial services, enabling all parties to efficiently and effectively cooperate in investigating, prosecuting and deterring sports betting-related match-fixing. 

IBIA monitors over $300bn per annum in betting turnover across more than 140 sports betting brands globally, making IBIA the largest betting integrity monitor of its type for private operators in the world. The association’s unrivalled access to detailed global customer transactional data has, and will continue, to play a pivotal role in protecting the Brazilian sports betting market and sporting events from corrupt activity.

IBIA recently released its global alert data for the first quarter of 2025, detailing that 63 cases of suspicious betting were reported to the relevant authorities.

Daily Asia Gaming eBrief: Lagging Chinese visitation hurts PH operations

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Good Morning. The Philippines is a huge growth market, with massive gains seen in recent years as the nation fully utilizes its potential. But for land-based operations, there is still a strong dependency on the daily punter, and many of those tend to come from China. Or at least they used to. Now, a drop in this key market is having a ripple effect, with operators concerned about how to make up the missing revenue. Meanwhile, Genting Singapore saw a sharp contraction in the first quarter, but expectations are for an uplift, as VIP returns.

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AGB Intelligence

PHILIPPINES

Slot market drops as Chinese visitation slows

The Chinese market continues to be key for gaming operators, who feel any inflection based upon changes in the home scenario. But a combination of increased regulation, tightened purse strings and general sentiment has caused a ripple effect, this time concentrated in the Philippines. Chinese visitation has dropped sharply, with an accompanying fall in GGR. Operators are struggling to make up for the lost revenue, with hopes for a rebound.


Corporate Spotlight

Bettorify bridges European operators to Asia’s gaming markets

Beyond Ordinary Platforms: Bettorify bridges European operators to Asia's gaming markets

With over 30% of global gaming revenue projected to come from Asia soon, the window of opportunity is wide open. Bettorify’s white-label and turnkey solutions deliver what most platforms miss: sharp execution backed by real local expertise.


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