Japanese Pachinko operator eyes mobile gambling possibilities

Industry observers in Macau and Hong Kong are speculating on what Hong Kong-listed Japanese pachinko operator Dynam Japan’s end game is following regulatory filings by the company that indicate it is to invest $15 million in the Singapore-based social games developer I Got Games Inc.

The pachinko operator has disclosed that it is interested in the development of online casino games in Macau, subject to that region’s legal requirements.

Macau Business News says legislation passed in Macau last year covers the use of mobile WiFi devices within land casino premises regulated by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, and that preliminary work with the wider goal of making Macau a jurisdictional centre for online gambling was carried out but abandoned.

Non-racing online betting is dominated in the island gambling enclave by sports betting monopoly Macauslot, owned by Sociedade de Lotarias e Apostas Mútuas de Macau Lda, a firm founded by land casino legend Stanley Ho.

Dynam has so far not clarified what its ultimate intentions in online and mobile gambling are.

I Got Games Inc. was founded by current CEO Cai Zongjian, who in 2005 also founded an online games business called Fuzhou Tianmeng Touzi Zixun Co Ltd in Fuzhou, mainland China.

The company currently supplies and operates multi-lingual mobile games on a free-to-play basis along with Web-based games, generating revenues by persuading users to buy virtual products and items, or to pay for access to games on its servers.

Dynam has other investments in Asian gambling, including a US$35 million stake in land casino operator Macau Legend Development Ltd, founded and led by former Macau lawmaker David Chow Kam Fai.