It has been announced that the online platform Highroller Casino has been closed with immediate effect.
Customers have until the end of August 26 to withdraw their balance from their account, or face the risk of losing it altogether.
No reason has been given for the closure, although Ellmount Gaming Ltd – who acquired the casino in 2019, are already pointing players towards another platform of theirs, Casino Room.
The nature of the message sent to customers suggests that the closure will be permanent, and that comes as something of a surprise given that Ellmount Gaming are still, presumably, paying off the €7 million they agreed to pay former owner GiG for the casino.
The Stockholm market listed firm confirmed they were ‘divesting’ the platform to Ellmount, and that the €7 million consideration would be paid off over the course of 48 months.
Well, just 24 months into that deal and Highroller Casino has been shut down….will GiG see their debt recouped?
Low Ebb for Highroller
When they launched Highroller Casino back in 2017, GiG had high hopes for the brand.
They had created the platform as a way of engaging with a wider audience than usual, introducing ‘gamification’ features like a unique universe that players could navigate while customising their in-game avatar.
Quite whether that worked as a plan or not remains to be seen, although GiG did report that Highroller generated revenues of a cool €1.4 million in the first half of 2019 – just prior to the sale to Ellmount.
The deal was confirmed by the firm’s CEO, Robin Reed, who said:
“The sale of Highroller is a confirmation of our discipline and focus as we are growing Rizk.Com to become a Tier 1 casino operator in select markets.
“Through this agreement, we gain increased cash flow, a strong B2B partner and Highroller will get the marketing muscle and focus it deserves. The brand was launched only two years ago and with this sale, it has returned three-digit ROI for GiG.
“I am looking forward to seeing the brand prosper in the hands of very capable owners, empowered by our full suite of products and services.”
The sale came as part of GiG’s desire to divest some of their online properties and instead focus on their casino/sports betting hybrids that have proven particularly popular in parts of continental Europe and Scandinavia – Rizk, Guts, Kaboo and Thrills.
Another part of the deal had Ellmount agree to become a B2B customer of GiG’s, and so they would be operating Highroller casino using the brand’s platform services, front end solutions and ‘managed’ services – pretty smart on the part of GiG, you’ll surely agree.
The Scandinavian firm even retained the licence for Highroller Casino until a subsequent ‘migration’ to Ellmount’s own licensing was approved by regulators, and so it’s easy to see who got the better end of the deal.
That is, until the announcement of Highroller’s closure was confirmed with many months left on the original payment deal. Has that been signed off as bad debt, or will Gig get to see the full fruits of their labour?