Virtual football perfect complement to Africa Cup of Nations

With the first round of games at the Africa Cup of Nations kicking off last weekend, football fever is at a boiling point across the African market, where both the real deal and virtual football are already incredibly popular year-round.

Additionally, the winning team from AFCON will qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, very much a precursor to next year’s World Cup Finals in the country.

The last AFCON, in 2015, drew an estimated 2.3 billion television viewers, with this year set to be even bigger. While some people might think that the real thing would overshadow the popularity of virtual football in betting shops, virtual sports specialists Golden Race said it consistently sees numbers increasing for virtual events in line with the real thing for many major sporting events.

Golden Race CEO Martin Wachter said the AFCON presented the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how the virtual game complements the real one. “People love the beautiful game, and with all the excitement that real life competitions bring, that love only intensifies. So what better opportunity is there for bookmakers to meet the demands of their players than to supplement this popular event with the number 1 played 3D virtual football league in Africa?

“The product is the most played virtual league in Africa, which is also hugely popular all around the world, and is licensed under numerous industry regulatory bodies. We have recently released some serious new updates to both the underlying platform and the final visual product. This means player movements and plays are even more realistic, fluid, and extremely high-quality. Textures are rich. The excitement is captured perfectly. And a whole host of new camera angles have been created in collaboration with real soccer cameramen, with the addition of new pre-match and penalty sequences.

“The product is visually stunning. Combined with real voiceovers from professional commentators, and with all the major leagues available, and the ability to create any custom league or cup a customer wants – even to recreate the AFCON to run in parallel to the real event – it’s easy to see why Golden Race´s 3D virtual football is The King of Virtual Sports.”

SBC News Virtual football perfect complement to Africa Cup of Nations

Golden Race won the SBC Award last year for Best New Virtual Product, underlying the company’s attempts to do things differently. It is this approach that has enabled Golden Race to penetrate the African market so effectively. The solutions have been specifically created and optimised for the challenges of the African environment, with Golden Race creating affordable its entry-level ‘Golden Box Compact’. The product has been designed to be the lowest cost complete plug and play solution available on the market – meaning that start-ups have access to the same quality product for a competitive price, and bigger companies can perform extremely cost-effective large scale roll-outs, and quickly.

Despite a cost of less than €100 per box, the Android-based solution is still capable of live-rendering Golden Race´s realistic and engaging 3D football, which significantly reduces data requirements compared to pre-rendered solutions for storage, daily use, updates, and entire new custom leagues. The company also launched ‘League TV’ in 2016 – a specially designed version of the product which is broadcast via satellite all across Africa to allow operators to simply tune in their TVs to provide the action to their punters. This means that in areas where internet connectivity is very poor, customers can connect to satellite and take advantage of our high quality virtual football product.

Golden Race also provides access to virtual soccer via the newly redesigned online platform, with multi-event betting across various different sports, bonuses, and an intuitive interface designed to be the same as the real thing. It´s a real, complete sportsbook with virtual results.

Wachter added: “To be able to supplement the real-world competition and entertain their customers between matches is hugely beneficial for operators. Customers who love to game demand opportunities to do so, especially when “football fever” hits. And unlike in the real world, where ad space in any stadium comes with a premium price tag which is entirely prohibitive for all but major players, Golden Race customers can place their brand and promotions directly in-game as well as create entire new leagues featuring any teams they wish – and then send the updates to boxes in minutes due to the live-rendering approach unique to Golden Race.

“The King of Virtual Sports continues to reign supreme, even during exciting real world events like AFCON. Supplement the real deal with the virtual version, and give your players even more of what they love.”

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