Yggdrasil signs first retail deal with Veikkaus

The online gaming solutions provider will repurpose and provide slot games for the Veikkaus retail estate in Finland over Veikkaus’ proprietary Video Lottery Terminals (VLT). Yggdrasil already supplies Veikkaus with slot content in the online channel.

Yggdrasil’s first retail games are expected to go live in Finland with Veikkaus across their retail network in the middle of next year. The supplier said an early proof of concept has already been achieved.

Bjorn Krantz, chief of global market operations at Yggdrasil, said: “We are delighted to extend provision of gaming content to Veikkaus in their retail environment. Expansion of partnership into retail fits perfectly into our own and Veikkaus omnichannel strategy, were we effectively can scale business operations, drive improved total player value, and content familiarisation.

“It has been a thorough selection process by Veikkaus, and I am very proud of the teams involved driving the successful process. We really look forward to a long and mutually beneficial retail relationship with Veikkaus.”

Jan Hagelberg, VP casino games at Veikkaus, said: “So far, the retail VLT distribution has been dedicated to our in-house content only, but we are now ready to host a technical pipeline that enables trusted online partners and 3rd party studios to supply their games to our retail customers.

“We’ve chosen Yggdrasil to be our first partner to pilot this because of their innovative content, proven technical capability and capacity to deliver swift time-to-market with Veikkaus team. We are excited to expand our strong partnership from online to cover also retail.”

Last month, Veikkaus confirmed that compulsory identity verification controls will be in place across its network of slot machines from 12 January, 2021.

Its introduction follows efforts by Veikkaus to reduce the number of slots in operation across the country, with 8,000 to be taken offline by the end of the year. Having originally committed to taking 3,500 devices out of service, it increased this number in June.