With Christmas just around the corner we are coming close to the end of 2011 and as with recent years there has been quite a few new bingo sites launched. The biggest launches we have seen this year include XBingo from Mandalay Group, who is the company behind Costa Bingo and Bingostreet from Casava Enterprises, that owns the better known brand 888. Both sites have received rave reviews all over the Internet and both also have major TV advertisement or sponsorship campaigns that is helping to quickly push both brands into household name status. While both offerings are very different they both share the swift success stories.

XBingo has a unique Fantasy themed site that I must say has some resemblance to the game Lemmings, although with angels instead of suicidal furry animals. They have hit the market with proprietary bingo software that cannot be found elsewhere, generous sign up bonuses and interesting promotional games. Their Megawheel bonus game allows players to spin the wheel daily for a chance to win a progressive jackpot plus other cash prizes, which helps keep players glued.

Bingostreet is powered by Dragonfish software similar to what can be found at Wink Bingo, Posh Bingo and 888 Ladies since they are all under the flag of 888 Holdings. Their site and brand roots were acquired from a successful bingo portal that they have tidied up a lot and rolled it out with rapid success.

Another new brand that cannot be overlooked is called Bingocams, which as its name suggests brings webcams into the game and is the first site out there to do so. Being a social game that became popular partly through the chat functionality, online bingo operators have looked to increase this social element. Other operators introduced social networking within the game allowing players to upload photos and make friends but Bingocams have taken a different approach and they are the only ones to do so. Adding video chat or webcam images is the next logical progression and it will be interesting to see if the trend catches on and if other bingo sites will adopt the technology in the future.

Some smaller more subtle launches took place this year too including Fancy Bingo, Fabulous Bingo, City Bingo, Lights Camera Bingo, Little Miss Bingo plus some others.

We are now seeing a slight slowdown of the number of new bingo sites launched this year over previous years, which is probably a sign of the saturated market that exists; saying that it doesn’t mean that one of these newcomers will not rise to lead the pack. This year has been important as some new names have popped up with big brand backing and we are definitely seeing innovation and development of the game online.

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