Scientific Games Teams Up with Groupe FDJ to Boost French Lottery

Scientific Games, an international leader in lottery systems production and management, announced a new partnership with La Franϛaise des Jeux. The company operates France’s national lottery and offers iGaming and sports betting experiences. Scientific Games will utilize their substantial industry experience to expand instant scratch cards with a new online component called iDecide, extending the play experience online and giving bettors another chance to win.

Scientific Games Continues to Expand

2022 has been a very productive year for Scientific Games, which continues its aggressive worldwide expansion policy. During the past few months, the company concluded several milestone partnerships with lotteries in leading markets like Canada, Latvia, and Ecuador. The United States also remains a priority, as evidenced by the recent deals with states like Colorado, Dakota, and Texas.

The newest deal with Groupe FDJ further cements Scientific Games’ status as one of the world’s most prominent lottery providers. The company’s focus on innovation and reliability is likely why the French lottery trusted it with its newest pilot project.

iDecide Merges Retail and Digital

The new product marks a pivotal step forward for the lottery industry and will debut just before 2022’s Vancouver World Lottery Summit. Players who purchase scratch cards can either cash out their winnings as usual or engage with iDecide to wager some or all of their gains. They can do this by scanning a unique QR code on each ticket, bringing them to a digital game where their advancement is determined by chance. This way, iDecide boosts engagement and provides thrill seekers with an additional wagering opportunity.

FDJ executive VP of technology and international Xavier Etienne lauded the new experience as a turning point for the country’s lottery industry, drawing attention to iDecide’s integrity, optional nature, and instant payouts. 

“There has never been anything like iDecide, it is truly a product of the future for the global lottery industry.”

Xavier Etienne, FDJ executive VP of technology and international

Etienne added that the new product’s primary goal was to connect lottery players with digital channels and introduce them to the company’s online entertainment experiences. He noted that this approach would also help preserve retailer revenue and benefit all industry vectors.

The Developer Aims toward Wider Adoption

Scientific Games senior VP of global lottery product innovation Jeff Martineck also expressed his excitement about iDecide enabling the seamless merger of retail and digital experiences and heralding a new era of lottery products.

“iDecide games firmly connect lottery retailers to the digital channel, maximizing revenues and contributions to lottery good cause programs.”

Jeff Martineck, Scientific Games senior VP of global lottery product innovation

The new project will initially launch with three FDJ games across 30,000 French retailers and will pass extensive research by Scientific Games to confirm its viability.

If iDecide proves successful, its implementation could herald a monumental shift in the lottery industry. With Scientific Games’ substantial worldwide presence, the company could almost effortlessly implement similar solutions across its vast network of partners and cement iDecide’s potentially universal appeal.