Surprise Software change for Grand Prive Group
By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Mar 8, 2021
Much maligned online casino group now on sixty-game BetOnSoft platform
After many years of using Microgaming software it appears that the much-criticised Grand Prive group of online casinos has switched to BetOnSoft, a lesser known company with a smaller selection of games.
News of the switch surfaced on well-informed message boards as the Easter weekend started, although there was little evidence of any official statements from either Microgaming or Grand Prive. One poster referred to a little publicised test program which the casino group has apparently been running on BetOnSoft games, but did not elaborate further.
Searching the Internet produced a site titled Bet Grand Prive.com which featured a suite of games powered by BetOnSoft and embracing the Casino Grand Bay, Bella Vegas, Jupiter Club, Lake Palace and Roadhouse Reels online casinos in the Grand Prive group. Checks on other previously MGS-powered casino urls like Grand Prive and Villa Fortuna revealed either parked domains or re-routes to Bet Grand Prive or Bet Villa Fortuna.
Given Grand Prive’s bitter war with affiliates over the closure of its affiliate program back in December 2008 and the consequent ongoing opprobrium (see previous InfoPowa reports), Microgaming may be relieved that the casino group has moved elsewhere.
Interestingly, connections have been previously made between Grand Prive and BetOnSoft at https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/grand-eagle-casino.34710/ . This thread enquired into a mysterious trio of new online casinos – Mandarin, Treasure Mile and Grand Eagle – that were apparently coy about the software in use and adopted a “by invitation only” approach to selected players.
At least one affiliate poster linked the three casinos to a GP emailing list and surmised that Grand Prive may be in the background.
The new development raises the interesting question of whether affiliates, or perhaps selected super-affiliates, were alerted by GP to the software switch prior to it occurring.
Attempts as InfoPowa went to press to obtain a statement from Grand Prive or Microgaming were frustrated by the intervening Easter holiday weekend.
Neither the Microgaming or Kahnawake Gaming Commission sites carried any news of the development.
Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.
We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.
His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.
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