Microgaming is celebrating 10 years of its Lara Croft: Tomb Raider™ online slot.

Having signed an exclusive deal with Eidos for the Tomb Raider brand in 2004, Microgaming has the longest-running brand partnership in the industry. Through this agreement, Microgaming launched the world’s first branded online slot, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider™.

Upon its release the slot was an instant hit. But more importantly, it has remained a highly popular game for an entire decade.

High in demand and in anticipation of the explosion of mobile gaming, in 2006, Microgaming developed the branded game in J2ME for use on mobile. Web App, Android and HTML5 versions followed, extending the game’s reach across mobile and tablet devices. The game was also configured for use in a tournament environment, when Microgaming launched its multi-player software in 2007.

Following the success of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider™ online slot, in 2008 a hotly-anticipated sequel was released, Lara Croft: Secret of the Sword™, sending players on a brand-new mission to track down fragments of a lost sword.

Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming, comments: "The Tomb Raider brand is instantly recognisable, so when we signed the licensing agreement back in 2004, we were incredibly excited. As the industry’s first branded slot, we knew the game would be popular; it has now become a Microgaming classic!"

In December 2013, Net Entertainment signed an agreement with one of the world’s leading online gambling groups, bet365. Net Entertainment is today pleased to announce that a comprehensive selection of the company’s best titles is now offered via desktop and mobile channels to bet365’s player base.

Björn Krantz, Chief of GMO and MD at Net Entertainment Malta Ltd, said: "We are very excited and proud to realize a successful launch of our games on Vegas at bet365. I am positive that our innovative and exciting portfolio of best of breed games will be well received by bet365 and its players."

It has only been a couple of years since casino type games went live on Facebook. At one stage this social networking site would not even allow casino game ads at their site. It appears that they have seen the error of their ways, and the effect of supply and demand now dictates what is popular or not.

In a recent list of the top twenty-three games played at this site, it seems that five of these are casino type games. Gaming in a social media type environment has grown in popularity, and grown exponentially for users at many of these sites. So, the 2013 top “Games of the Year” list was put together based on a selection of criteria. Facebook complied data from "user ratings, implementation, growth and overall quality."

The increase in mobile social media activity has also seen an increase in gaming, and gambling over this channel. This led to the fact that many in the top twenty-three can be enjoyed on both Internet and mobile platforms. Pundits are saying that approximately $12 million will be spent on mobile gambling this year (2014), so, the possibility exists that 2013 mobile growth may have contributed to the Facebook growth in gaming popularity. Hence the reason why five gambling games also made it into their favourites list.

Most online gambling operators are not surprised by the fact that despite the diversity of games available in this space – Hit it Rich Casino Slots, Double Down Casino, Slotmania, DoubleUCasino, and Heart of Vegas, made it to the top. Hit it Rich Casino was also dubbed the Best New Game of the Year. Consumer behaviour seems to be dictating that the Facebook space will soon be inundated with popular online gambling games.

We are not in the least bit surprised by this latest list. The online gambling industry has turned into a mainstream industry Globally, and looks set to grow even more with doors opening in the USA. There are still quite a few global market places that still remain untapped, and with the spread of high speed broadband into Southern American Countries, Africa and Asia, even more growth is bound to be the order of the day. Add to this the fact that mobile, and smartphone use is spreading across the world, and it appears as though the industry might be in for a nice growth surprise. In fact this growth has been speculated on, but could even turn out to be better than the industry is betting on.

When a job is done well it is natural to praise the persons or business that did the job well. This is the natural order of things. When we first played a Net Entertainment game, we were enchanted, thrilled and yes… very well entertained. All those years ago we predicted meteoric success for this company.

This prediction has come true, and no… we are not fortune tellers. The simple fact of the matter is that this dynamic software development firm has continued to challenge its own boundaries, and excel at everything single thing they do.

Net Entertainment has become a powerhouse in the online gambling industry where innovation is king. This innovation shows in the games that they produce, as well as on their bottom line. Third quarter results have seen revenues increase by a massive 25% to SEK 153.1 million. The Swedish firm has therefore seen operating profits climb to SEK 44.5 million, and is also enjoying big profits after tax.

There are now another nine online casinos that have launched with this award winning software, so that is nine more places for us to choose to play these fabulous games. Agreements have also been inked and signed with five more clients, so, if you favourite online gambling brand happens to be William Hill or Ladbrokes, these are two of the new signees.

These two operators are also best of British brands which operate off the Playtech platform, which tells us they are hoping for better performance by adding or switching to Net Entertainment.

We are also not entirely sure of the nature of these agreements. But then the largest gaming operators in the world cannot be wrong by choosing this brand. Ladbrokes has struggled in the past to get their online gaming operations profitable, but with NetEnt gaming on board, perhaps this will change for them.

In the last twelve months Net Entertainment has signed a total of twenty-two new customers, so, no wonder financials are revealing dynamic results. But not only results for NetEnt, for their customers too! This firm has also broken records for giving away the largest progressive jackpot prize money of any other developer globally.

For players to get their hands on the share of the big bucks they give away, check out the MegaFortune PJP networked games, these are the best games to play to win big. New slots games release also include “Secret of the Stones”, set in Stonehenge, and "Magic Portals" in its Touch™ catalogue.

The very first time we saw Net Entertainment (NetEnt)games and websites, it was hard not to believe that this online gambling, gaming developer was not going to do big things. They have since divested themselves of operations in this field, to concentrate on development as well as turnkey solution for the industry from a back office perspective. Dropping the gambling website business meant ridding themselves of “conflict of interest” issues, and they have gone from strength to strength since then. Every operator who is anybody should want NetEnt games on their websites.

Already an award winner, this prominent Swedish software provider for online casinos has landed a hat-trick at the recent EGR B2B Awards. Any player in this industry wants these prestigious awards in their trophy cabinet, and NetEnt took three! These awards are:

• Innovation in Slot Provision
• Innovation in Mobile
• Mobile Supplier of the Year

This company’s commitment in the development of a top-notch mobile platform has paid off, for sure. “Touch” (the mobile platform) is thought to be the best in the business, and the awards it has won contests to that. The online gambling audience is now more sophisticated than ever before, and amore players move to the convenience of mobile to play on the go, NetEnt products adapt to this growing demand. Players want quality mobile casino games, and quality is what they get.

The Award for innovation in slots provision is highly commendable too – if you have not seen their great games – do yourself a favour and check out: Jack and the Beanstalk, Gonzos Quest, BloodSuckers, Egg-o-matic, Zombies, Starburst, Evolution, Jack Hammer…there are just so many to choose from.

Per Eriksson – the President and CEO of Net Entertainment, was understandably thrilled to share this good news with the industry. He said that "Innovation is at the core of everything we do and these three prestigious industry awards are a product of all the team’s hard work." He also commented that their team had been focussing heavily on mobile development during the past eighteen months, and this focus had paid off.

Mobile is without any shadow of a doubt a high growth area, and being regarded so highly at the EGR B2B Awards will only stand the brand in good stead for a very good future. These awards recognise achievements across all e-gaming segments, including networks, payment solutions, IT and infrastructure, mobile gaming, software, and so on.

Whilst speaking of Net Entertainmednt, you might also be interested to know that another recent BIG win took place on Mega Fortune™. It paid out a handsome prized of €5.3 Million at BetVictor Casino during the May Bank Holiday weekend. This prize was the 4th biggest in their history.