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What is Cursed Seas?
The redevelopment was financed by a $455 million loan from New York State, approved in 2023. State officials have projected the project will generate $155 million in annual economic activity once fully operational, along with around $10 million annually in state and local tax revenue.
The redesigned complex features four distinct racing surfaces: a 1½-mile dirt track, two turf courses, and a one-mile Tapeta synthetic track.
The Tapeta surface will be used exclusively for winter racing, allowing Belmont to take over Aqueduct’s former winter schedule as NYRA consolidates its operations at Belmont and Saratoga.
How to play Cursed Seas
“The priority is to prove the model properly; make sure the games perform and demonstrate that it works commercially.”
The proposition is already being tested commercially. Live casino supplier Eeze has become the first supplier to utilise Studio in a Box as it looks to expand its proprietary content into slots. Using Yggdrasil’s framework also gives Eeze access to its wider distribution network.
The first games are expected towards the end of the year, with the partnership ultimately targeting a release cadence of two games per month. For Curwen, Eeze demonstrates the demand among established gaming businesses for greater ownership of their content strategy without the cost and complexity of creating a conventional development operation.
What is Cursed Seas?
Under Section 106 of New Zealand’s Gambling Act 2003, a class 4 licence holder, also known as a “corporate society” by the regulator, “must apply or distribute the net proceeds from class 4 gambling only to or for an authorised purpose specified in the corporate society’s licence”.
The DIA worked directly with class 4 gambling operators (commonly known as pokies trusts), and discovered ‘widespread issues’ such as cases where money that should have been available for community grants was instead spent on society expenses, such as the purchase of additional gaming machines.
Vicki Scott, the DIA’s director of gambling, said the investigation had delivered significant results, while stressing that work to improve compliance and ensure communities received their share of gambling proceeds would continue.
