Without a doubt, bingo is one of the world's most popular games. It's been played in various forms for centuries from South America to South Africa, Portugal to Poland, and seemingly everywhere in between. So it's no wonder that players from around the globe are flocking to the game online.

Bingo operators have responded by launching online bingo sites targeting a wide range of languages and nationalities. In the past year alone, Parlay Entertainment licensees have launched bingo sites in Italian, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, French and Spanish. At long last, bingo fans around the world can play bingo in their own language, using their own currency.

"Clearly there is strong demand for software that simplifies the process of creating bingo games in multiple languages and currencies," said Perry Malone, Chief Technology Officer for Parlay. "That's why internationalisation features are the foundation of our next generation of software, Parlay 5: Bingo Without Borders."

The innovations in Parlay 5 will make it easier for operators to launch bingo in multiple languages and currencies on a single site or network of sites. Most notably, Parlay 5 will allow operators to increase liquidity by aggregating players into a central game regardless of currency or language.

Parlay 5 will also make it easier to configure bingo games, jackpots and chat rooms in a variety of languages, including non-Roman script-sets. Creating bingo games and jackpots in multiple currencies will also be effortless.

Players will have more flexibility too, since they'll be able to choose the currency of their account. Once registered, they'll be able to see their wagers, wins and balances in their chosen currency, even if the game uses a different currency.

Depending on the website, players may also be given the chance to chat in a variety of languages within a single bingo game. For example, they might see Italian, German and Spanish chat rooms available in a bingo game that has an English interface.

Parlay 5 is just the latest example of Parlay's commitment to develop products for the global marketplace. In July 2004, Parlay was the first company in the world to launch a 90-ball online bingo game targeting UK audiences. The game's introduction led directly to the country's massive online bingo boom. Swedish variant bingo came two years later, replicating the way 75-ball bingo is played in Sweden.

"We're sensitive to the subtle cultural differences in bingo around the world, and we deliver products that play to those differences," said Steve Cook, Parlay's European Managing Director. "For instance, in Spain the numbers are called very quickly and in Sweden there's no free space on the cards."

"Bingo Without Borders is all about giving operators and players the freedom and flexibility they expect," said Cook. "It's bingo software that's designed for a global audience, not just a single market."