Evolution Gaming, well known as live casino game specialists, thrilled audiences at ICE London with the reveal of Crazy Time. Billed as ‘the most fun casino game ever created,’ the title has been lauded for its striking visual style and unique mechanics. The game show-style presentation entertains while offering the chance at big wins.

Crazy Time has lived up to all the expectations and hype from its ICE London reveal, now that it has been released for public play. This game includes four bonus games, varying player interaction opportunities, enriching multipliers, and an immersive game show experience.

Nuts and bolts

Crazy Time stays true to its name by providing an over-the-top experience with some borrowed elements, such as the spinning money wheel which was previously seen in Evolution Gaming’s Dream Catcher. This isn’t a case of pure duplication as the spinning money wheel has been modified to include four bonus bets.

The bonus bet rounds have Pachinko, Crazy Time, Cash Hunt, and Coin Flip for you to play. These are all separate mini-games with their own specific presentation.

The development of this title was a triumph of ambition and many challenges were overcome to bring it to life. A spokesperson for Evolution Gaming revealed that this is the most expensive project the company has ever taken on.

Top-notch

The spokesperson further explained that the live casino game took over a year of production to bring it to the industry showcase, before its launch. Various teams collaborated, utilizing the latest technology to reach their combined objective. The result is an exhilarating mix of augmented reality, large scale Random Number Generator mini-games with an astounding variety that has delighted players worldwide.

Todd Haushalter, the studio’s chief executive product officer revealed that the central concept behind Crazy Time was creating an experience that is as engaging as watching the most popular TV game shows. According to him, this was achieved by packing as much variety as possible into the game and providing constant opportunities for ‘audience’ interaction.

The game available to play now and is rapidly gaining a dedicated fan base.​

The 24th of June saw Canada, New Zealand and Ireland which are part of a larger expansion push, gain access to LiveCasino. The site was recently launched and is exclusively dedicated to casino games, centred on live casino. LiveCasino is a component of LeoVegas Mobile Gaming.

There are over 2,000 live casino and casino games on the website, with the added benefit of daily cash drops. LiveCasino.com offers an efficient signup procedure with registration taking less than a minute. This efficiency extends to the site’s prompt cash-outs.

In order to provide a premium, varied gaming experience LiveCasino has formed partnerships with some of the biggest names in the industry like Evolution Gaming, NetEnt, Red Tiger, and Microgaming, along with their famous catalogues of slots and casino games. Players will have their choice of Blackjack, Roulette, Game-Shows, and Baccarat and their favourite slots.

Head on over to LeoVegas today to join in some live casino action!

Following an initial period of gradual re-opening, casinos in New Zealand are now open for business and free of any pandemic-related restrictions. This follows Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern dropping the nation’s alert status to its lowest level after several weeks free of new COVID-19 cases.

Coronavirus and NZ

The country’s first COVID-19 case was discovered on February 28^th and since then; the nation has reported a total of 1,504 infections and 22 deaths.

The last known case was observed on May 24^th with the final recovery being recorded on June 8th. The nation is tentatively proud to be a global exception, having freed itself from the deadly pandemic.

Threat levels

New Zealand created a special set of threat levels to aid in its fight against COVID-19. The levels themselves are quite detailed, but this is a summary of the most impactful measures.

Level 4 – Lockdown

• Citizens should stay home, except for essential movements.
• Closure of public venues and prohibition of public gatherings.
• Institutions of learning are closed.
• Except for essential services, all businesses are closed.

Level 3 – Restrict

• Individuals maintain a distance of at least 2 meters from other people outside of the home.
• Work from home wherever possible.
• Schools opened at limited capacity.
• Gatherings up to 10 people are permitted.

Level 2 – Reduce

• Gatherings up to 100 people are allowed.
• Businesses may reopen to the public.
• Sports and recreation activities are back on the cards.
• A physical distance of 2 meters in public and 1 meter in the workplace must be maintained.

Level 1 – Prepare

• Restrictions on personal movement and domestic travel are all waived.
• Schools and workplaces may reopen completely.
• Any size of gathering is permitted.
• International borders remain closed.
• Intensive testing.
• Rapid contact tracing for any positive cases.

SkyCity opens its doors again

SkyCity was forced to close its Queenstown, Hamilton, and Auckland casinos on March 23^rd. They were, fortunately, able to reopen on May 14th on condition that they maintained certain safety measures:

• Elimination of “back betting.”
• The gaming floor was divided into zones, with a limit of 100 people in each zone.
• Fewer seats at gaming tables.
• Increased distance between pokies.
• Casino access restricted to premier rewards members.

With the alert level being lowered, casinos can now operate restriction-free. Social distancing guidelines are a thing of the past, so both table games and electronic machines can resume normal operations.

Aside from its Queenstown venue, SkyCity properties are also due to resume normal business hours. The group’s Adelaide location is likely reopening in late June or early July, as Australia makes progress in its battle against coronavirus.

Online gaming boom

The drop-off in business seen by land-based casinos has been inversely mirrored by the growth of online gaming. SkyCity’s online gaming platform has helped the group mitigate the effect of the closure of its venues. The site saw explosive growth with 21,000 new customers signing up as of May 31st; a significant number of the new members are younger players.

The relaxing of restrictions is great news for New Zealand, which has a strong gaming culture that rivals even Australia. Recent studies have reported that New Zealanders spend more than $2 billion per year on various forms of gambling.

SkyCity workforce cuts

The reopening, unfortunately, comes too late for many now-unemployed former employees. Factors resulting from the nationwide lockdown, including reduced disposable income, a weaker economy, and a ban on travel into the country prompted SkyCity to launch an employee reduction scheme which is projected to save the company close to $50 million annually.

The most recent cut saw 700 staff members being let go.  SkyCity has indicated that in the interim it intends to focus on operating as a “smaller, domestically-focused business.”

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New Zealand casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited has broadcasted that its 3 gambling-friendly facilities have been fully re-opened without Coronavirus-related social distancing protocols.

In an official filing, the corporation revealed that this decision followed the New Zealand government’s amendment of its four-tier Coronavirus alert warning to Level One. This effectively eliminates all of the previous national pandemic-associated restrictions except those concerning foreign travel.

Synchronized shutdown

SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited has casinos in the New Zealand districts of Auckland, Hamilton, and Queenstown and was mandated by the government to temporarily cease operations at these three venues from March 23 as part of a government-led campaign to curb the spread of a Coronavirus strain that killed 22 locals.

Reopening with caution

The operator was permitted a partial re-opening of these venues in May, under a new governmental ‘health management framework’ which required that gaming floors be split into distinct ‘zones’ that could not simultaneously contain any more than 100 people. The distance between slot machines was increased, and the number of seats at their gaming tables was reduced.

Back to normal

SkyCity CEO, Graeme Stephens, declared in the short filing that all of the mass gathering and social distancing constraints had been removed and that his firm’s venues would soon be returning to ‘normal hours’, resuming their regular promotions and events. He seemed upbeat at the prospect of getting back to work.

“We are extremely excited to be welcoming real money casino players back to our precincts. It will be fantastic to be busy again and able to have the public enjoy the many different facets of our properties. We remain committed to maintaining robust health and safety standards to manage the risks associated with coronavirus and will be encouraging customers to maintain contact tracing via the government’s NZ COVID Tracer app.”