Evolution Forced to Close Live Dragonara Roulette Dual Play in Malta!

‘Evolution Forced to Close Live Dragonara Roulette Dual Play in Malta!’ (image source: pixabay.com)

The company that operates the Dragonara Casino establishment in Malta, where Evolution Dual Play Dragonara Roulette streams live, is being forced to close the casino after Maltese government bigwigs recently refused to extend the original 10-year concession.

With the current situation, the entire establishment located in San Giljan on the East coast of Malta will need to shut down by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, the government is accepting proposals for a new casino to be opened in one of the islands approved tourist spots.

For Evolution, it spells the end of its Dual Play Dragonara Roulette table which is currently available across Europe, Oceania, and North America via most UKGC, MGA, and Curacao casinos. Although, news of a new land-based casino coming to the island, and slap bang in the middle of a tourist hot spot for that matter, the closure of the Dragonara Casino could offer Evolution an unexpected opportunity to enhance the brand.

As the Maltese government are adamant any new land-based casino establishment needs to open within a tourist mecca, it could mean more foot traffic into the casino and increased brand exposure. Therefore, negotiating a fresh contact with the would-be new casino operator will allow Evolution to continue its Dual Play Roulette tables on the island of Malta where the live casino software provider also operates a live casino studio.

Time Out: One of the downsides to the closure of the Dragonara Casino is that there may be a long lapse of time between closure and the opening of a new casino which Evolution will need to write off as just another nuance of doing business in the fast-moving iGaming industry as the firm has already had to deal with dual play table closures in London last year!

Could Evolution Reopen its Dual Play Roulette in Malta?

Should Evolution negotiate a new deal the live casino software provider will need to change the live dealer game’s Dragonara portion of its title to the new casino name.

A new deal will also mean that Evolution is hit with double expenses to keep its Maltese based Dual Play Roulette table title alive. The firm will need to foot the bill for rebranding and likely accept a less profitable deal with any potential new owners. The latter suggestion is simply because the new license to open a brand-new establishment has an €11m price tag which any potential new owner will want to recoup as quickly as possible.

Nevertheless, knowing how Evolution likes to operate, the company will not be held to ransom when signing any potential new deal if it means a significant reduction well below the current revenue via its existing Dual Play Dragonara Roulette. And we know how cutthroat the software provider can be when it comes to costs that don’t make financial sense after the company closed NetEnt live studios in Malta last year after it acquired NetEnt and Red Tiger!

There is also the possibility that Evolution will simply rely on Ezugi operations which operates its Ezugi 360 Over-The-Table system (OTT) tables in the Maltese land-based establishment – Portomasso Casino. Ezugi 360 OTT live tables are Ezugi’s version of Dual Play!

Dragonara Gaming Limited May Retain Control Pending Negotiations

It is also the second time a week Malata hits the news headlines for a similar, although unrelated topic after we reported that the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) revoked multiple online casino licenses.

For Dragonara Gaming Limited the news comes as a shock as renewal for another 10 years was something that the company expected to run on autopilot.

However, the ‘Maltese Privatisation Unit’ in charge of the situation has other plans that can be translated as being financially motivated but also a way to stimulate the tourist economy which is in dire need of more overseas visitors after the current Pandemic severely slowed world travel. Unfortunately, these plans come at the expense of the Dragonara Casino.

Soon after refusing the renewal of the 10-year concession, the Privatisation Unit authority announced that it is open to proposals from new parties interested in opening a new establishment in one of a handful of designated tourist spots albeit Dragonara Gaming Limited is welcome to submit a proposal.

For the time being, it is unclear as to whether Dragonara Gaming will bite the bullet and submit a bid or walk away with their tails between their legs in search of pastures new.

Terms of Proposals to Take Over the Casino Building

What is clear is that any new proposal to open a new land-based casino on the island will need to be submitted by 7 April 2021. The cost of taking on the project is a payment of €11 million to the ‘Privatisation Unit’. A hefty fee, but if it is for another 10-year concession, then that works out as €1.1 million per year.

All applicants must meet the Privatisation Unit’s minimum requirements which will require at least 15 table games and another 225 gaming machines such as video slots, auto-roulette, and electronic gambling devices. The proposal can include a long list of tourist hot spots but Comino and Gozo have been excluded.