Pragmatic Play Online Casinos

Pragmatic Play is a casino game developer that has been in business under two different names since some time around 2007 or 2008. Hard information is difficult to find on this company as they have a bit of an iffy past and reportedly changed their name from “TopGame” to “Pragmatic Play” in 2015 after being bought out by new ownership. Thus, our introduction to Pragmatic Play must begin with a word of caution.

A careful Google search reveals that the under its prior name (TopGame), this casino developer had a habit of supplying software to online casinos with major trust issues. Many, many players have logged complaints of no-pays and slow-pays from casinos powered by TopGame over the years. Every casino site and software developer is bound to have some complaints, but the large number of complaints directly targeted at TopGame casinos is too much to ignore.

TopGame was supposedly purchased by investors sometime near the end of 2015 and changed its name to Pragmatic Play around that time. Since then, Pragmatic Play has received mixed reviews. Some gambling websites offer an optimistic view that Pragmatic Play appears to have turned a new leaf and has begun partnering with higher-quality casinos. Other websites continue to file Pragmatic Play under “rogue operator” and refuse to endorse any casino powered by this software.

CasinoMeister posted a warning about Top Game back in 2014 explaining that casinos using this software imposed strict withdrawal limits of just $1,500 per request – applied even to progressive jackpot wins. Likewise, the CasinoListings entry for Pragmatic Play still recommends players avoid any and all games created by this developer.

On a positive note, Pragmatic Play has partnered with some larger platforms that supply games to major, well-known casino sites such as Betsson, Mr. Green, Mansion and others. This has resulted in Pragmatic Play slots appearing on some of the internet’s most trusted online casinos. Pragmatic Play also made it to the shortlist of nominees at the 2017 EGR Nordic Awards for the “Casino Content Supplier” award.

On the other hand, it is tough to get past the terrible reputation Pragmatic Play earned for itself while it still went by the TopGame name. Trust takes a long time to build in online gambling and once that trust has been broken, it is difficult-to-impossible to ever regain that trust.

Additionally, the Pragmatic Play website still lists BetDSI as one of its partners. I have no opinion on the reputation of BetDSI except to note that it is a USA-friendly betting site. Typically, casino software developers avoid the US market altogether because doing so could put their European gambling licenses at risk. It’s a little odd that Pragmatic Play would score partnerships with major European casinos such as Betsson but yet still list a USA-facing sportsbook on its partners page.

Pragmatic Play Slots

Whatever difficulties they’ve had in the past, Pragmatic Play does stay busy releasing new games. Pragmatic has released more than 120 slots to date and all are equally functional on both desktop and mobile devices.

On a strong point, the game variety offered by Pragmatic Play is larger than that of most other developers. The vast majority of their work has been in the slots category, but the Pragmatic library also includes table games, video poker and keno. These games are available in nearly 80 countries and have been translated into 18 languages.

However, game quality is just decent. The games run smoothly and are functional, but the graphics are basic and there seems to be little inspiration or innovation here. Pragmatic Play slots do not offer any unique selling points and look a bit dated by today’s standards. The best word to describe these slots would be “generic.” They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t special.

You can make up your own mind with the following game trailers straight from the Pragmatic Play YouTube channel:

Queen of Gold

Hercules Son of Zeus

Queen of Atlantis

The Final Word

Pragmatic Play is still “on probation” in my view. Their questionable past continues to haunt them to this day, making it difficult to fully trust them. I can neither endorse nor condemn Pragmatic Play at this point.