Gala Bingo Move To The Entain Platform
Published On 22nd July 2021
Gala Bingo have today relaunched their bingo product on the Entain platform. This follows almost 15 years as one of the flagship brands on the Virtue Fusion/Playtech set-up. The move perhaps isn't a big surprise! A few years ago Entain (then GVC) who own Gala, Foxy, Ladbrokes and Coral purchased the old Cozy Games platform and redeveloped it to their own needs. They closed down all the old Cozy brands and moved the likes of Foxy and Cheeky to the new platform. Coral and Ladbrokes soon followed leaving Gala as the only "outsider". It therefore makes sense that Gala would make the switch at some point in time.
Mission Impossible Is Possible
Moving a brand to a new platform comes with many difficulties. For example players are used to certain games and bingo rooms. They will visit Gala for the likes of Coronation Street Bingo, The Chase Bingo, Coconut Island and Emmerdale. We always assumed that if/when Gala made any move that these rooms would simply end. After all relaunching on a new platform and transferring these games would be a little bit like "Mission Impossible". As is - and huge kudos to the Entain developers - all of Gala's exclusive rooms have made the jump to the new site. Replicating these rooms to be as similar as possible is quite some feat and hopefully makes the transition to the new platform a little bit simpler for players.
New Bingo Rooms
However, not every game has made the switch. Rainbow Riches Bingo along with Playtech's versions of Fluffy Favourites Bingo and Deal Or No Deal Bingo. Thankfully for players Entain already have their own versions. There's also the potential to add games like Friend Bingo which is exclusive to the Entain platform. In fact the Friends game is very similar in gameplay style to the Corrie Bingo game so it's fair to say that the Gala switchover has been in development for some time. What we think that is more exciting is that Entain now have the basis for 30, 36, 50, 75, 80 and 90 ball games. Hopefully we might see new games now added across the whole network?
Networked Rooms
Some of Gala's rooms are networked which means that they're shared with Foxy, Cheeky, Coral and Ladbrokes. For example Rush, a 30 ball game at Gala, is Dirty Gertie at Foxy. Likewise the 80 ball room at Gala is known as Matey at Foxy. Some of Gala's rooms are exclusive to them but Metropolis is another on the network (Forever Foxy). As mentioned above Friends Bingo could be added to the Gala roster but it could also be joined by the Cash Out room and some of the jackpot games such as £18K Sliding Jackpot. Extra players from Gala should mean that they'll be bigger prizes and jackpots across the whole network.
If It Ain't Broke..
The hardest part of any platform change is trying to convince the players that it's for the best. Some players aren't overly impressed judging by the comments being left on Facebook and there's at least one "if ain't broke" comment. However all sites experience negative feedback when things change and change sometimes is inevitable. Whilst small tweaks can be made to fix things like navigation and sign-posting, Gala won't be switching back to the old version of the site. They may well lose a few players to other Playtech brands such as Mecca and Buzz but only time will tell whether the change seriously impacts player numbers.
Our Verdict
We can understand why the change has happened as it makes sense to host for Entain to host their own brands on their own platform. But moving one of the most popular UK bingo brands onto a new platform is a massive risk. We're not totally convinced that it's worked well for the likes of Cheeky and Foxy to date. However moving the exclusive games together with the platform is a clever and impressive feat. Only in time will we know whether this change is a success for Gala or a huge benefit to rival sites left using Virtue Fusion and Playtech.
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