The state of the UK Category C market has been blamed for the insolvency of Gamesoft Ltd, the machine manufacturing company based in Cardiff. The factory is now closed and 20 members of staff have been made redundant.
The company was 100 per cent owned by Gamesoft Holdings Ltd, Alan Parker’s company, which continues to trade through its other subsidiary, Ace Coin Entertainments Ltd. We understand that the plan is to turn the business into a games development company, concentrating on the most vibrant current UK sectors such as fixed odds betting terminals and internet gaming.
Alan Parker confirmed to InterGame this week that Ace Coin would also probably continue to develop AWP and video lottery machines for export markets such as Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and sub-contract the manufacturing, subject to reaching agreement with the company’s distributors in those countries.
He told InterGame: "The problems for Gamesoft began in 2007 when the 2005 Gambling Act began to be implemented and games developed under the new technical standards for Category C simply could not be as appealing as the old ‘legacy’ machines which continued to run. Effectively, the Category C market has been decimated by the aftermath of the new Gambling Act.
"We hoped that the introduction earlier this year of the £1/£70 machines would rejuvenate the market, but it has not. The Category C market remains badly depressed, not just for Gamesoft, but for all of the producers. The damage has been done not just by the effects of the Gambling Act, but by the competition offered by bookmakers’ shops with FOBTs, the smoking ban, the changing drinking habits of the public and by the recession. All these factors combined to cause the problems and, sadly, I fear that unless the situation changes soon there may well be other casualties."
