It’s official – leading gaming developer Betsoft has had its license suspended…
That’s right! In a letter dated 3 July, 2014, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC), the gaming regulator based on that small Channel Island, which plays host to, or at least regulates, around a dozen betting sites, wrote to Digitus, BetSoft’s parent company, doing just that - requiring the company to ‘…suspend operations immediately’.
Why the licence has been suspended is not immediately clear, with executive director of the AGCC, one André Wilsenach, stating that the organization felt that Digitus was no longer fit to hold its licence, and that a hearing would follow ‘in due course’ in accordance with Regulation 90 of Alderney’s eGambling Regulations.
Mr. Wilsenach did not provide any further details at this stage.
Some Background
BetSoft have until now been at the cutting edge of slots development in particular, with their Slots3 range of 3D games bringing such winners as Whospunit?, Sugarpop!, and the just-launched FruitZen to the marketplace.
Some insiders have speculated that BetSoft may apply for a licence with another regulator — the Maltese LGA for instance — though it is not apparent how successful this would be in the light of the suspension and pending hearing. Clearly the suspension is damaging for the company, come what may.
At the same time, the AGCC undoubtedly takes its role seriously; the last high-profile suspension of a developer was that of Sheriff Gaming in October 2013, also by the Alderney Regulator.
Sheriff had been charged with criminal offences and had their assets seized by the Authorities in their native Netherlands; much of the Sheriff inventory was picked up by another developer called Blue Gem Gaming — only for the latter site to disappear off the face of the earth in turn, in April of this year.
All of this followed Sheriff’s parent company, Bubble Group BV being sued by another developer a few months earlier for intellectual property rights infringements, specifically concerning the look and feel of some zoom features of the games.
The case was later overturned after Sheriff successfully appealed in the Netherlands in July 2013.
The ‘other developer’ in that case was…none other than BetSoft…
Clearly this story is set to run and run, and we will keep you abreast of all developments as and when they happen, but for the meantime, it appears you won’t be able to play BetSoft games anywhere they have been hosted, including at 7Red, RedBet and Comeon!.