Yggdrasil launches in Czech Republic with Tipsport

Cherry-owned igaming solutions provider Yggdrasil has expanded its services into the Czech Republic through a new content partnership with betting and gaming operator Tipsport.

Tipsport customers will now be able to access Yggdrasil’s portfolio of locally certified games including Luca Maniacs, Valley of the Gods and the Vikings trilogy.

The operator will also be able to used BOOST, Yggdrasil’s in-game promotional tool, to run in-game tournaments, prize drops and player missions.

“Going live with Tipsport is another important milestone for us as we continue to implement our growing regulated markets strategy,” Yggdrasil chief executive, Fredrik Elmqvist, said.

“As the country’s largest operator, Tipsport is the perfect partner for us and we are looking forward to working together.”

Jiří Švarc, online casino director at Tipsport, added: “Adding Yggdrasil’s games to our expanding offering is very exciting, and we are confident our customers will enjoy the engaging and immersive content they provide.”

The launch comes after the Czech Ministry of Finance last month confirmed that it will increase the tax rate on certain gambling activities in the country from January 2020.

Lotteries, live games and bingo operators will be taxed at 30%, up 23%, while the rate for fixed odds betting will also rise from 23% to 25%.

This month, figures provided to iGamingBusiness.com by the Czech General Directorate of Finance showed a 21.3% drop in revenue from regulated gambling in 2018, due to a lower contribution from slot machines.

Revenue for the year amounted to CZK31.3bn (£1.09bn/€1.22bn/$1.38bn), with the slot vertical hit by new bonus and player verification controls. This saw land-based slot revenue fall 39.3% year-on-year to CZK14.8bn, with online revenue falling 4.8% to CZK1.9bn.

Image: Max Pixel