Microgame (company)

Microgame S.p.A.
joint-stock company
Industry Online gambling
Founded Benevento, Italy (1996)
Founder Fabrizio D'Aloia
Headquarters Benevento, Italy
Key people
Fabrizio D'Aloia (President & CEO)
Massimiliano Casella (Marketing & Sales Director)
Revenue 248.67 mln (2009)[1]
11.76 mln (2009)[1]

Microgame S.p.A. is an Italian online gambling joint-stock company. The company operates both as an application service provider and developer of online platforms and integrated systems of service,[2] and through the online community People's Poker Network, which is made of more than 130 online partners in all Italy[3] and counts more than 1.5 million gaming accounts.[4]

Microgame has around 30% of Italian online poker market (as of October 2010)[5] and 27.1% of online sports betting market (9.4% of overall sports betting market,[6] as of July 2010).[7] Major shareholders in the company are private equity firms Monitor Clipper Partners[8] and TPG Growth.[9]

History

Microgame has been founded in 1996 by Italian engineer Fabrizio D'Aloia. Company's main activity was web applications development.[10]

In 1998, the company is along first movers in the online sports betting market, which at that time was just regulated. Subsequently, it became the first Italian service provider in the field,[11] and expanded services forniture also in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Georgia, Malta, Austria, and United Kingdom.[12] Between 2006 and 2007 (in this year, Microgame became a joint-stock company),[10] enters the online horse racing betting[13] and online instant lotteries markets.[14]

In 2008, Microgame expands its gaming services: in March, online version of several lotteries are released;[15] in May, launches the new integrated platform for members of the Microgame's network;[16] in July, is officially launched the People's Poker Network,[17] followed a few months later by a new online gaming portal,[18] after the regulation of online poker (September 2008).[19]

2009 is a year marked by an exponential growth: overall gathering from betting exceeded 1 billion euros; revenues exceeded 248 millions euros, producing a net income of 11 millions euros.[1] Microgame also established an online poker "pro" players team, the People's Poker Team Pro,[20] launched a new platform for online blackjack[21] and the first People's Network live event: the People's Poker Cruise (December 12–15, 2009), a Texas Hold'em tournament held on a cruise ship on the CivitavecchiaBarcelona route.[22]

In 2010, Microgame launched another live tournament, the People's Poker Tour, made of four legs to be held in four different venues: Kranjska Gora, Slovenia (April 9–12, 2010); Budapest, Hungary (June 9–12, 2010); Budva, Montenegro (September 15–18, 2010); and Nova Gorica, Slovenia (November 29-December 5, 2010).[23] More, also the new platform for online bingo is launched.[24]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Raccolta storica per Microgame: oltre 1 miliardo nel 2009" (in Italian). Gioco&Giochi.com. 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  2. "BOS - Betting Operating System". Microgame. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  3. "Gaming operators served by Microgame". Microgame. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  4. "People's Network, Italy's largest online player community". Microgame. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  5. "Poker on line: ad ottobre quote di mercato in crescita solo per Microgame, PokerStars, Snai e Cogetech (3)" (in Italian). AGICOS - Agenzia Giornalistica Concorsi e Scommesse. 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  6. "Scommesse: nei primi 7 mesi del 2010 raccolti oltre 2,6 miliardi di euro. A Snai e Lottomatica/Totosì oltre la metà del mercato (2)" (in Italian). AGICOS - Agenzia Giornalistica Concorsi e Scommesse. 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  7. "Scommesse on line: tra gennaio e luglio giocati online oltre 800 milioni di euro. Microgame ancora leader di mercato (2)" (in Italian). AGICOS - Agenzia Giornalistica Concorsi e Scommesse. 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  8. "Giochi: fondo Monitor Clipper entra in capitale Microgame" (in Italian). MF Milano Finanza. 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  9. "Gioco online: il fondo TPG Growth investe in Microgame" (in Italian). ANSA. 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  10. 10.0 10.1 "History". Microgame. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  11. "Scommesse: ad aprile Microgame conquista il 40% del mercato telematico (2)" (in Italian). AGICOS - Agenzia Giornalistica Concorsi e Scommesse. 2006-05-17. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  12. Jenny Giordano (2008-04-09). "Microgame fa giocare Europa e Asia". Il Denaro. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  13. "Ippica: Microgame pronta ad "accelerare" con la nuova licenza per l'ippica on line (3)" (in Italian). AGICOS - Agenzia Giornalistica Concorsi e Scommesse. 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  14. "Gratta&Vinci on line: Microgame al primo posto come volumi di gioco raccolto (2)" (in Italian). AGICOS - Agenzia Giornalistica Concorsi e Scommesse. 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  15. "Al via Totocalcio, Totogol, Big Match, Big Race e Ippica Nazionale online" (in Italian). Microgame. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  16. "Microgame: cooperazione per gli skill games" (in Italian). Gioco&Giochi.com. 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  17. "Nasce il People's Poker Network a "firma" Microgame" (in Italian). Gioco&Giochi.com. 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  18. "Microgame lancia People's, innovativo portale per il gioco online" (in Italian). 777click.com. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  19. "Microgame e Giocodigitale: oggi al via il poker con soldi veri" (in Italian). 777click.com. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  20. "People's Poker.it Team Pro" (in Italian). Assopoker.com. 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  21. "People's: blackjack "for money" in linea" (in Italian). Gioco&Giochi.com. 2009-03-17. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  22. "People's Poker Cruise" (in Italian). People's Poker. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  23. "People's Poker Tour" (in Italian). People's Poker. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  24. "D'Aloia (Microgame): "Il bingo online mercato di sicuro successo, attesa pari a quella del poker"" (in Italian). Gioconews.it. 10-02-2010. Retrieved 2010-08-26. Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links