Gamesys Bingo Sites
You might think that because there aren’t that many bingo sites powered by Gamesys, they don’t have much market penetration. But you’d be wrong; some of the sites they power are absolutely huge; as early as 2012, for example, over 4 billion pounds in cash was wagered by Gamesys users.
Gamesys history
Gamesys was founded in 2001 by Noel Hayden, and growth has been phenomenal ever since the launch of Jackpotjoy in 2002. A young and vibrant company, they are known for wacky publicity stunts such as sending a giant rubber ducky down the River Thames.
Gamesys have always been big on the social aspect of gaming and in the years following 2010 this took a bit of a wrong direction. After the success of the social bingo game Bingo Lane, they were the first company to bring cash gaming to Facebook in the form of Bingo and Slots Friendzy (only available to UK users aged 18+) but this was not a success and the app was closed in May 2014. After that they launched further Facebook apps including a free to play version of the most popular games from Jackpot Joy and the freemium MMO Here Be Monsters which could be played via Facebook or on a standalone site . This was all back when lots of people in the industry thought that social gaming was the next big market and the trick was going to be to get all those Candy Crush players into real money bingo or slots.
As we now know, the next big thing wasn’t social gaming at all but mobile bingo, and Gamesys ended up being very late to that particular party. Well after most other UK bingo sites had a full mobile service, only two of the many bingo rooms at Jackpotjoy were available on mobile and not at all via their mobile app. When the full mobile service finally arrived, though, it was well worth the wait.
Meanwhile, the sale of Jackpotjoy to giant Canadian company Intertain was announced in early 2015. Intertain also owned the Ignite group of bingo sites but these were subsequently sold on. The deal involved Gamesys continuing to manage Jackpotjoy for a further 10 years, but in 2017 a further reorganisation saw Intertain itself become a subsidiary of Jackpotjoy plc, which changed its name the following year to JPJ Group plc. The tale comes full circle with the purchase of Gamesys Limited in 2019 and the renaming of the entire concern as Gamesys Group plc – only to become a subsidiary of Bally’s Corporation in 2021. None of this has really made any difference to players and Gamesys continue to go from strength to strength.
Gamesys sites
Which sites run on the Gamesys platform?
Jackpot Joy is the oldest and best known of the UK-facing ones. Sun Bingo and Fabulous Bingo also used to be Gamesys bingo sites but migrated to Virtue Fusion in August 2016 and another site, Caesar’s Bingo, closed in March 2018. There were also a few sites such as Woman’s Own Bingo that were actually just Jackpot Joy with a different masthead and surround. Gamesys also operate in other jurisdictions including Spain and New Jersey; they are always scrupulously careful to adhere to local gambing regulations.
More recently, Gamesys have launched branded sites such as Rainbow Riches Casino (which despite its name also has bingo) and Double Bubble Bingo which is themed on one of their own slot games.
What’s special about the Gamesys platform?
- Exclusive Gamesys bingo variants such as Crystal Maze Bingo
- Exclusive slot games by Gamesys subsidiary Roxor Gaming including the award winning Around the Reels In 80 Wilds
- A top selection of other slot games and live casino including gameshows
- Super Links networked games with substantial prizes, every half hour apart from late night/early morning
- Distinctive promotions, including frequent prize draws that are limited to one entry per player per day (although many of these are now by invitation only)
- Radical welcome offers with no wagering requirements (all you have to do is play through your deposit).
- Free daily games with cash and slot spins to be won over the course of a week
- Chat, chat and more chat and not just for bingo either – there’s a slots chat room.
- Properly interactive bonus games – e.g. Blox Blitz – in the chat
What’s not so great?
The only slight fly in the ointment is that Gamesys bingo rooms can be extremely busy and don’t have many features such as everyone-wins or 1TG/2TG, so it could take a long time to win anything there. The lack of 80 ball bingo was another issue but that has now been rectified with the addition of the retro themed Bingo 80 room.
Gamesys exclusives
Many of the slot games that are exclusive to Gamesys sites have attained cult status and none more so than Double Bubble. This iconic slot game, which mixes soap bubbles with a classic fruit machine theme, was first launched back in 2014. Its two bonus features and top payout of 20,000 coins made it hugely popular and now there are a number of sequels including:
- Double Bubble Jackpot
- Double Bubble Triple Jackpot
- Bouncy Bubbles
- Double Bubble Megaways
- Double Bubble Jackpot Splash
- Poppin’ Bubbles (scratchcard)
- Doubly Bubbly (Double Bubble themed free daily game where you can win cash or free spins for the other games)
The Double Bubble brand is so well known and so much loved that in 2021 Gamesys opened a whole bingo site based round it – Double Bubble Bingo – complete with a Double Bubble themed bingo room called Bubble Up Bingo.
Secrets of the Phoenix is another very popular Gamesys exclusive slot which was originally created for Virgin Games, and it too comes in regular and Megaways versions.
What next?
The future certainly looks bright for Gamesys and in terms of the sheer entertainment on offer, you really can’t beat these sites. More branded casinos, more game development and more expansion to other jurisdictions would be our guess as to what 2023 holds for these sites.
