Interactive

US – GTECH and Georgia Lottery roll out iLottery Games

By Phil - 16 February 2015

The Georgia Lottery is now the first lottery in the US to offer a full line of iLottery.

Traditional draw based games, iKeno, and eInstant games at various price points – the most comprehensive and diverse online content offering of any US lottery – can now be played at mygalottery.com by adults over the age of 18 located within Georgia state lines.

Digital games offer enhanced play experiences with online convenience, making deploying iLottery games the logical step for a top lottery enterprise such as the Georgia Lottery. “We believe that the convenience and timeliness of the Internet channel will facilitate incremental growth for the Georgia Lottery and maximize revenues to enhance educational funding,” said Debbie Alford, President and CEO, Georgia Lottery Corporation.

Georgia’s iLottery offering is fuelled by GTECH’s full suite of interactive technology, content, and services. GTECH is pleased to have helped empower the Lottery to realize its interactive vision, which included a deliberate rollout schedule during which the Lottery created working partnerships with all its stakeholders, including players, the Georgia public, advocacy groups, and the retail community. This included soliciting feedback from customers invited to play online before the official launch, ensuring that the final site and games are not only entertaining but user-focused, user-friendly, and player protective.

With the introduction of a complete line of eInstants, a new type of online digital lottery games branded in Georgia as Diggi Games, the Lottery is now poised to begin its first full-scale marketing campaign. Georgia’s Diggi Games, which are available in both “Buy” and “Try” modes, represent some of the best content from GTECH’s diverse library of more than 100 game titles.

Georgia’s iKeno game directly mirrors the Lottery’s keno game at retail, with real time drawings every 3.5 minutes. The Georgia Lottery is the first U.S. lottery to offer iKeno, and the results have been very favorable, with online sales now accounting for nearly eight per cent of all of Georgia’s keno ticket sales. Rounding out the Georgia Lottery’s complete iLottery offering are the multistate draw based games Powerball and Mega Millions, and Georgia’s own Fantasy 5.

Following a controlled test period, Georgia’s Diggi Game collection has grown to include 10–12 interactive, instant-win games, at prices ranging from $.50 to $3.00. The Georgia Diggi Game offering includes innovative extended play games that provide the player with a prolonged, immersive experience as well as core games such as Bingo and Crossword and “click and win” games that more closely reflect instant ticket scratch cards. All feature the same great attributes – engaging game play, fun graphics, and near-win opportunities – that make traditional instant games so popular, revamped for online play with exciting interactive twists.

GTECH worked with the Lottery to construct an interactive gaming offering that meets player needs responsibly. “Georgia’s online gaming site was built to guide players to play responsibly,” said Matteo Monteverdi, GTECH Senior Vice President, North America Interactive, and Senior Vice President, iGaming. “It offers multiple controls to keep play levels where the player wants them and provides visible gaming updates such as session time lengths as well as quick access to call center support.” GTECH also provides portfolio management and marketing services to the Georgia Lottery.

To support iLottery gaming, the Georgia Lottery and GTECH also introduced the iHope card –the first lottery-branded debit card linked to a player’s eWallet in the US. Winnings of $5,000 or less are paid directly to the card, which players can use to purchase lottery and non-lottery products wherever Discover cards are accepted. Next up for Georgia is expansion to the mobile channel; a mobile app is planned for the summer of 2015.

Even with a soft launch, Georgia Lottery’s online sales have continually improved with the introduction of each product. Alford credits the Lottery’s avid collection of player feedback as well as the diverse online content mix enabled by GTECH’s large library of content for much of this success. “In the digital space, we need to keep things fresh so each visit offers something new. We stay actively engaged with our players and monitor feedback closely. Just a few months into Diggi Games, we are already expanding the game offering, which is a simple process with GTECH as our partner. Their advanced system allows us to select games with themes that fit our players and then quickly configure game payouts and prizes amounts.”