Karen Maneater

What is Karen Maneater?

Spectrum Gaming Group’s 2022 report, which sits at the heart of the long-running dispute between the major games suppliers, has been unsealed as part of Evolution’s legal case against Black Cube.

Black Cube, an intelligence firm hired by Playtech in 2020 to look into alleged illegal behaviour at its rival Evolution, released a divisive report into Evolution’s actions. Evolution denied and refuted much of its findings.

Evolution then commissioned Spectrum Gaming Group to produce a report on its actions and the validity of the Black Cube report. Produced in 2022, the report has long been subject to confidentiality despite Evolution claiming the report exonerated the company.

About Karen Maneater

Mobile-first games developer OneTouch has launched its highly acclaimed gaming suite with Latin American brand Sellatuparley. The LatAm-based operator will introduce its extensive player base to OneTouch’s widely celebrated collection of slots, table and arcade games, including perennial player favourites Forgotten Pharaoh, MVP Hoops and Tiki Terror.

The supplier has gone from strength-to-strength on the continent, having extended its reach through comprehensive commercial partnerships with the likes of Jazz Gaming Solutions.

Skywind Group and ProgressPlay Announce Their Partnership

What is Karen Maneater?

But for Klebanow, the lesson Japan should take from Macau and Singapore extends beyond the importance of non-gaming attractions. It is also about how regulation should work. Policymakers, he argues, should establish basic legal and commercial guardrails, while giving operators sufficient “latitude” to “propose and develop projects that best serve both the residential and tourism markets”.

He points to Macau’s Cotai Strip and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa as examples of how regulatory discipline can coexist with considerable freedom for developers to innovate. “At its core, Japan’s policies need to be pragmatic and allow for developments to succeed – not constrain them to the point that they risk failure.”

When asked which operator will be willing to take the risk and ultimately win Japan’s next “licence lottery”, Klebanow contends that it depends on how restrictive – or attainable – the regulations and requirements imposed by the government will be.