Geosweep could return, says ALC

A lottery game pulled off the market due to low sales could return to Atlantic Canada, says the Atlantic Lottery Corporation.

Geosweep is a game from a United Kingdom company that invites players to pick a plot of land in Atlantic Canada instead of a number. Atlantic Lotto pulled the plug on the game a week ago after running it for 13 months.

But the company says game designer Geonomics will launch a new, enhanced version in the U.K. next month.

"We believe the latest version of the game will hold player appeal and the interest expressed in the game by other lotteries affirms we're not alone in our view," said Courtney Pringle-Carver, senior public affairs counsel for ALC, in an email to CBC News.

"Based on the continuing stream of innovations coming out of the UK, we look favorably to the possibility of launching the game here in the future."

Geonomics CEO James Oakes said the game as it exists now has many new features compared to what was launched in Atlantic Canada a year ago.

"The latest version accommodates a wide variety of prize structures to deliver a highly profitable solution for lotteries with player bases of any size," said Oakes in an email.

Oakes said his company recently secured a new £10 million — about $15.6 million — investment to develop its products further.

Atlantic Lotto owns an 8.5 per cent stake in Geonomics Global Games. That includes an investment by the P.E.I. government of $4.3 million.

Atlantic Lotto has refused to disclose how much money it lost on the last version of Geosweep.

For mobile device users: Would you be interested in playing a revised Geosweep game?