What is it about food stores that attracts customers? Variety, for one. Rows and rows of different products from a slew of companies. And you only have to visit one location to get everything you need, from bananas to soup to ice cream.
Why shouldn’t this approach work for iLottery, where there is a constant need for content variety to attract and retain digital players? This was the thinking of lottery innovator EQL Games. The company entered the iLottery arena six years ago with its groundbreaking game aggregator, as evolving consumer habits were leading to wider iLottery adoption.
And now, as EQL continues to be a more familiar face in the digital space, “aggregator” no longer fully captures the essence of EQL Games. Enter EQL’s “iLottery Marketplace.”
“We work with game studios across the world to bring an array of the best play styles to lotteries,” said EQL Games CEO and Founder Brad Cummings. “iLottery Marketplace more aptly captures exactly what we offer to lotteries—a one-stop shop for all top-tier lottery needs, through a single point of contact.”
EQL Games consistently keeps up with the fast-paced demands of the iLottery market in both the U.S. and beyond. The company currently serves Michigan, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the U.S. Internationally, EQL supplies games to Peru and was recently named the exclusive third-party content provider for the UAE Lottery.
Other notable starts for EQL Games include the first-ever gravity-based game with Greentube’s “Drop the Balls” (aka “Drop It!”), launched for the D.C. Lottery, now available through the Virginia Lottery and Michigan Lottery. The company also offered the first “tap” game in any lottery jurisdiction with “Pinata Blast” for the D.C. Lottery, also now available on the Virginia Lottery platform. Additionally, EQL worked with Finland-based Fennica Gaming to introduce the first-ever puzzle game, “Miner Jack,” launched by the Virginia Lottery.
“This engaging product lets players enjoy a Candy Crush-style experience while still having the chance to win real money through their local lottery,” Cummings said. “It’s innovations like these that make us the ideal partner for lotteries ready to revolutionize how they connect with today’s players, with ease of integration top of mind.”
The EQL Games iLottery Marketplace allows lotteries to choose games from 20+ studios globally, ranging in playstyles from tumblers, crash games, scratchers, and keno. “These studios include those that specialize in lottery to those who are moving from iGaming to iLottery for the first time,” Cummings said.
Other unique offerings from the company include an in-house studio, EQL Labs, headed by VP of Product Shaun Rebello, which allows lotteries to take games from concept to reality. Outside of Labs, integration of the EQL iLottery Marketplace can have a full integration completed within 90 days and new studio integrations within 30 days, with the timeline dependent on outside factors.
“These unique offerings are what separate EQL from our competitors,” Cummings said. “On our platform, we are dedicated to a seamless experience for our lottery customers. Despite a wide variety of content options, when you work with EQL Games, we make the process of working with multiple studios as easy on your lottery as possible.”
This means lotteries have a single point of contact for all work surrounding game launch, regardless of the studio the game derives from. Oversight of the studios is provided by the EQL Games product portfolio team led by Heather Bowman, formerly the digital games manager for the Virginia Lottery. With her, the team ensures that roadmap planning, marketing support, and launch strategy are all tied together.
“We’ve put together a team that can quickly and efficiently deliver the best content in the world to lotteries,” Cummings said. “The reach of iLottery will only continue to grow, and we’re proud to continue our role as innovators in the lottery space. Through the one-stop shop approach to our iLottery Marketplace, EQL Games is playing a key role in the evolution of iLottery content like never before. We’re confident the best is yet to come.”