Microgaming Network halts poker-related activities

PokerioSchool.comUpdated 5 February 2020
The Microgaming Poker Network has long been one of the few major providers of online poker software to poker rooms. Earlier this week, MPN's Managing Director Alex Scott announced that the company would be shutting down its poker-related activities for the next year.

The Microgaming Network will officially cease all poker-related activities early next year. No exact date has been given, but Alex Scott says it is likely to happen in the second or third quarter of 2020. Until then, MPN will continue to provide services to poker rooms, so they will still host tournaments, cash games and all other poker formats. According to Alex Scott, although Microgaming has been developing the poker product for a long time, following a review of the company and the product, it has been decided that online poker is no longer in line with the company's strategic vision and will be dropped in order to drive growth in other areas. MPN CEO John Coleman says that this decision will not completely eliminate poker from Microgaming's vision, but he does not yet elaborate on what the future holds for the card game.

The Microgaming Network provides online poker services to rooms such as betsafe, Redstar, NordicBet, Olybet and many other lesser known companies (for a full list see the official MPN website). MPN blog Alex Scott states in the post that all rooms currently using MPN services will be looking for other providers and that there is no promise to stop poker-related activities, so players should not worry. However, it is possible that the number of players in these poker rooms could change significantly, as the companies are likely to find different software suppliers. Until now, all rooms serviced by MPN have shared a common player base.

All tournaments (MPN Poker Tour, The Universal Championship of Poker Series) scheduled prior to the release of this message will not be cancelled. There is one unannounced scheduled poker event for which more details will be revealed prior to the start of the MPN Poker Tour Malta.

This Microgaming Network solution has the potential to significantly change the market for smaller poker rooms. It is somewhat difficult to predict future change as there may be consolidation of poker rooms to one network, but some may follow Unibet's lead and become non-networked.