Playtech poach Sun Bingo contract from Gamesys, live dealer chief from William Hill

Online gambling technology providers Playtech have struck a deal to power the online bingo platform of UK newspaper The Sun.

On Monday, Playtech announced it had secured a five-year deal with News UK, the UK subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, to power the company’s online bingo brands, including Sun Bingo and Fabulous Bingo.

Both sites had been powered by UK online gambling firm Gamesys, whose CEO Lee Fenton described the split with News UK as amicable. Playtech will migrate both sites’ customers to its Virtue Fusion bingo network by August 2016, after which it will provide the brands with new desktop and mobile products.

Virtue Fusion currently provides bingo services for a variety of UK operators, including William Hill, Paddy Power, Gala Coral and Mecca Bingo. Those operators collectively boast around 20k online bingo players, while the News UK sites have around 15k players.