GameAccount Network Rebrands to GAN
B2B online gaming software developer and supplier GameAccount Network announced a rebranding on Tuesday, as it will now transition to the name “GAN.” The company unveiled its new logo Wednesday at the eGaming Review North America’s “Power50” Internet gaming conference and plans to complete the metamorphosis over the next few weeks.
Now, one would not normally consider a rebranding from a full name to an acronym a big deal, but then again, Kentucky Fried Chicken’s switch to simply “KFC” blew minds. And Domino’s Pizza just had a whole ad campaign about changing its name to “Domino’s.” So maybe GameAccount becoming GAN, an acronym it already went by anyway, is momentous.
Let’s at least enjoy the incredible corporate-speak from GAN’s Chief Executive Officer Dermot Smurfit from yesterday’s press release:
GAN has been our adopted acronym in the United States for years. Effective immediately we become GAN as a Company and from G2E later this month we will also become GAN.com. The three-letter domain name GAN.com better-reflects our corporate identity as a highly specialist B2B Internet gaming technology company which is uniquely focused on bringing land-based casinos online and supporting them in the competitive online operating environment with a wide range of support services. The GAN brand is already a valuable asset and will become increasingly important over time as we continue to expand our market share in the United States and other selected land-based casino markets worldwide.
The domain name “better reflects our corporate identity,” etc. Okay. It’s definitely easier to type into the address bar.
Dana Takrudtong, Vice President Sales & Marketing of GAN, added, “We strongly believe GAN already reflects the values inherent in our well-earned reputation…”
She also already has a great catch phrase: “If anyone can, GAN can …”
GAN, as it will now be called, provides platforms to land-based casinos that allow them to offer online gaming to their customers. As unsexy as that sounds, it is actually a very useful niche, and the somewhat cool part about it is that GAN’s platform is provider-agnostic. That is, GAN can take most any game from any provider, package it up, and integrate it into a casino’s online offerings without a problem. GAN even has its own games, as well. So if a land-based casino already offers customers games from provider ABC but decides it wants to add some kick-ass multi-line, progressive slot game featuring the latest cartoon character craze from provider XYZ, GAN can make it happen.
Last October, GAN signed a deal with New York’s Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway to provide it with what it calls a “Simulated Gaming” website, which is really just a different way of saying a play-money online casino. It is basically what one would expect from an online casino – it has all sorts of slots, video poker, blackjack, roulette, and some skill games like backgammon and gin rummy. Though it is play money, only people 18-years of age and older are permitted to play.
Though no real money is required to play, players can buy “Virtual Credits.” Why someone would want to, I don’t know, but hey, I guess we all spend our money on some sort of entertainment, so for some this is where their entertainment dollars go. It can get expensive in a hurry, so even though it is not real gambling, people do need to watch out and make sure it doesn’t get out of hand like real gambling can. The least expensive Virtual Credits package is 7,000 for $4.90, but Empire City Casino allows people to buy a package as large as 900,000 Credits for $199. That’s a better value in terms of credits per dollar, but good lord…$199?
Players can receive 500 free credits each day if they run out.
For those of you who can’t fathom gambling for play money on any sort of regular basis (I suppose it can be fun for a few minutes every once in a while), you might be surprised to know that this online casino easily attracts over 4,000 players at a time during peak hours. Hell, right now, at about 2:30pm ET, there are over 3,500 players online.
Nothing of value whatsoever can be won at Empire City Casino’s online site, though the site does have a tie-in to the brick-and-mortar casino’s loyalty program. Players who purchase online Credits (minimum $40 in a given week) are rewarded with Empire Points that are added to their Empire Club accounts. These points can be used in the brick-and-mortar casino for things such as meal and room comps.
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