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Software Providers

Casino Software Providers

The studios that build the games you find in a casino lobby. Where several belong to one group they are listed together under it, and a row names its owner wherever one is recorded — because four studios from the same group offer less variety than four names suggest.

Group

Evolution AB (Publ)

Big Time GamingEvolution GamingEzugiNetEnt
Owned by a group

Studios Owned by a Larger Group

Each of these names its owner on the row. They are shown individually rather than under a group heading because only one of that owner's studios appears in the groups above — the owner may still have a page of its own further down.

1X2GamingOwned by 1X2 NetworkAristocratOwned by Aristocrat Leisure LimitedBetConstructOwned by SoftConstructBetGames.tvOwned by UAB “TV Žaidimai”Blueprint GamingOwned by MERKUR GROUPEdictOwned by Gauselmann GroupELK StudiosOwned by ELKAB Studios ABGreentubeOwned by NovomaticIGTOwned by Voyager Parent LLCOpenBetOwned by OB Global Holdings, LLCPragmatic PlayOwned by VeridianQuickspinOwned by Playtech plc
Independent

Independent Studios

Either no owner is recorded for these, or the row names the studio's own listed group as its ultimate parent — nothing sits above them in what this site has recorded. An absence of record is not proof of independence, and these are not marked as proof of it.

AmusnetAsia GamingStatus unconfirmedBetsoftBooming GamesCGTV GamesStatus unconfirmedDigital Gaming SolutionsEndorphinaEveryMatrixGames GlobalGenesis GamingStatus unconfirmedLight & WonderMicrogamingNovomaticParlayPlay’n GoPlaytechRabcatMay no longer be tradingReal Time GamingMay no longer be tradingRival GamingThunderkickVisionary iGamingYggdrasil Gaming
No longer trading under this name

Former Brands

These studios have been renamed, absorbed or retired. The pages are kept because the games and the history are still worth reading about, and because a casino lobby may still carry titles built under these names — but none of them is a studio you can choose today.

Authentic GamingRetired — see Light & Wonder→ openiSoftbetRetired — see IGT→ openLeander GamesRetired brandQuickfireRetired brandSG InteractiveNow Light & Wonder, Inc.→ open

May no longer be trading — we looked and could not establish that the studio is still operating — no closure is claimed, and no current activity could be confirmed either. Status unconfirmed — the studio has not been checked against a primary source yet, so nothing is being asserted about it in either direction.

Reference

More About Casino Software Providers

A Supplier Is Not an Operator

Almost every game in an online casino was built by a company that is not the casino. The two activities are licensed separately, and the regulators name them separately. The Malta Gaming Authority issues a business-to-consumer licence to offer or carry out a gaming service, and a business-to-business licence to supply and manage the material elements of a game. In Great Britain the supplier's authorisation is the remote gambling software licence, which the Gambling Commission describes as allowing the holder to manufacture, supply, install or adapt gambling software by means of remote communication. The operator holds the player's account and the player's money. The supplier builds the game and supplies it.

What a Software Licence Actually Authorises

The Commission's description of the licence is narrow and worth reading closely. It covers manufacture and supply by remote communication — for example supplying gambling software by methods of secure file transmission, or making gambling software available for download by operators from the supplier's own server. A business that supplies software by non-remote means, such as by putting it on physical media, is told it should also apply for a non-remote gambling software licence. And the licence is required by reference to the market being served rather than the supplier's own location: the Commission states that regardless of where a business is based in the world, a licence is needed from it if the business provides facilities for gambling to consumers in Great Britain online, or if any part of its remote gambling equipment is based in Great Britain.

Hosting Is Its Own Arrangement

Some suppliers do more than hand over software. The Commission describes the pattern: some gambling software businesses provide facilities for remote gambling by making their games or betting content available to customers of other operators, so that rather than supplying software directly, the business hosts its own games on its own server and those games are reached by the other operators' customers through those operators' websites. A business doing only that may be eligible for a host operating licence, and to hold one it must hold a gambling software operating licence and must not contract directly with any of the customers who play the games it provides. This is why the question of who a player is actually contracting with has a real answer, and why the answer is the operator.

Certification and Monitoring Sit Across the Boundary

Testing is a condition of release, not a recommendation. All gambling products must have been tested by an approved test house before they are released to the market, and online gambling games cannot be made available to players located in Great Britain unless sufficient testing has been carried out. The Commission states that it does not approve games or test results itself and instead requires operators to get the game tested by an approved test house and then submit the game and test report prior to release.

After release, the obligation continues, and in practice it often lands on the supplier. The Commission's testing strategy requires licensees to keep RTP monitoring in place for both under and overpayments, and states that where a business-to-business supplier provides the games on behalf of business-to-consumer operators, live RTP monitoring would likely be performed by the supplier, which holds the aggregated gaming transactions for all those operators. It adds that business-to-consumer operators must be told when an incident requires games offered under their licence to be taken offline, and that new and amended contracts must make clear who is responsible for the monitoring. The arrangement between a supplier and an operator is therefore part of the regulatory picture rather than a private commercial matter.

The Limit of What a Supplier's Licence Proves

This is the most commonly misread fact in the category. The Commission states that its remote gambling and software technical standards do not apply to the software a licensee provides for overseas operators who are not licensed by the Gambling Commission. A supplier can hold a British licence and also supply games to sites that hold no British licence, and those games are not covered by the same standards. The presence of a well-known supplier's games on a site is therefore not a licence check and not a substitute for one. Suppliers publish their own licence positions — Evolution states that it operates under licences in multiple regulated markets worldwide, and that Evolution Gaming Malta Limited is licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority under licence MGA/CRP/187/2010/01 — and whether the operator is licensed for a given market is a separate check against that market's register.

What a Supplier's Name Tells a Player

Two casinos using the same software provider will not necessarily carry the same lineup of games. A supplier's catalogue is a range the operator draws on rather than a fixed package, so the operator chooses which games to take and how the lobby presents them. A provider's name therefore identifies who built the games, not which of them a given site carries.

FAQ

Casino Software Providers FAQs

What Is the Difference Between a Games Supplier and a Casino Operator?
They hold different licences for different activities. The Malta Gaming Authority issues a business-to-consumer licence to offer or carry out a gaming service, and separately a business-to-business licence to supply and manage the material elements of a game. In Great Britain the equivalent for a supplier is the remote gambling software licence, which the Gambling Commission describes as allowing the holder to manufacture, supply, install or adapt gambling software by means of remote communication. The operator contracts with the player; the supplier builds and supplies the game.
What Does a Gambling Software Licence Cover?
The manufacture and supply of the software, not the running of a casino. The Commission states that the remote gambling software licence allows the holder to manufacture, supply, install or adapt gambling software by means of remote communication — for example by secure file transmission or by making software available for operators to download from the supplier's server — and that a business supplying software by non-remote means, such as on physical media, should also apply for a non-remote gambling software licence.
Do Suppliers That Host Their Own Games Need Something Extra?
Yes, and the Commission describes the arrangement precisely. Some gambling software businesses provide facilities for remote gambling by making their games or betting content available to customers of other operators, hosting the games on their own servers so that those games are reached through the other operators' sites. A business doing only that may be eligible for a host operating licence, which requires it to hold a gambling software operating licence and not to contract directly with any of the players.
Who Tests the Games?
An approved test house, before release. The Gambling Commission states that all gambling products must have been tested by an approved test house before they are released to the market, and that online gambling games cannot be made available to players located in Great Britain unless sufficient testing has been carried out. It is explicit that it does not do this itself: it does not approve games or test results, and requires operators to get the game tested by an approved test house and submit the game and test report before release.
Who Monitors a Game's Return to Player Once It Is Live?
Often the supplier. The Commission's testing strategy requires licensees to keep RTP monitoring in place for both under and overpayments, and states that where a business-to-business supplier provides the games on behalf of business-to-consumer operators, live RTP monitoring would likely be performed by the supplier, which holds the aggregated gaming transactions for all of those operators. It adds that new and amended contracts must make clear who is responsible.
Does a Supplier's Licence Say Anything About the Casinos Using Its Games?
No, and the boundary is sharper than it looks. The Commission states that its remote gambling and software technical standards do not apply to the software a licensee provides for overseas operators who are not licensed by the Gambling Commission. A supplier holding a British licence is therefore not evidence that every site carrying its games is licensed, tested or monitored to that standard. Whether an operator is licensed is a separate check against the relevant regulator's register.