Of course, when it comes to casino games, there is no way the casino market will lose its competitive nature as far as playing casino games or betting on sports are concerned. However, with some of the big moves we are seeing within the industry, we wonder whether this is leading us down a path where only four or five big online casino brand names rule the industry. However, the chances of this happen are slim despite some of the recent acquisitions we have seen.
In this report we are going to look at some of the major acquisitions in the industry as of late, but also show you just how many iGaming and sports betting companies there are. As such, hopefully, this will put to bed any talk of a market that is monopolising or run by just a select few companies.
Evolution Takes Over NetEnt, Red Tiger, and Big Time Gaming
One iGaming company that keeps on coming up in the financial markets is Evolution. This is a NASDAQ Stockholm PLC that was once only operating within the live dealer casino gaming scene. It is a brand that becomes the pioneering leader of live dealer games. In fact, the brand became so popular in the live dealer casino niche it began dominating for a while.
Yet, thanks to the ingenious marketing and development of other challengers such as Asia Gaming, Playtech Live, BetGamesTV, Vivo Gaming, Pragmatic Play and few others entering the live dealer domain, live casino players now have plenty of choices when it comes to brand names. There is another well-known name in the industry which is Ezugi, which was bought by Evolution so there is that!
Video Slots
Over to the video slots side of the industry and Evolution just acquired Big Time Gaming a.k.a. BTG while shortly before that the firm also bought NetEnt and Red Tiger – the latter under the NetEnt brand from an earlier acquisition before the firm sold/swapped its NetEnt NASDAQ shares to Evolution. Now the latest purchase of BTG, the inventor of Megaways XoSlot titles did spark some controversy, but honestly, the claims that Evolution is taking over the world are unfounded.
That is simply because there are over 100 video slot developers and some major brand names not floated on stick markets or in need of a partnership. Playtech, Microgaming, Pragmatic Play, and BetSoft, Habanero are just a few. In particular, you will find Playtech slots everywhere including the USA’s new market, while its joker slot titles are also popular in Asia. Of course, as Playtech is a UK company it is also a major slot developer in the European market.
Entain Taking Over the Aggregator Sports & Casino Sector
There are just some brands out there that seem to get their name out there more than others. This is why it feels like the ex GVC Holding company, now Entain appear to be taking over all the small companies. In fact, MGM is trying to buy Entain at the moment, but that’s another story altogether.
Now just to put your mind at rest in the aggregator department, there are some huge companies out there that have their own casino platform available for operators to white label. Flutter, BetConstruct, that name Playtech once again, SoftSwiss, Kindred Group, Blue Ocean Gaming, Digitain, Soft Gaming, Aspire, and loads more. Plus, the brand we are mentioning here is the major global players. There are tons of other domestic brands in countries like South Africa, Romania, Bulgaria, Canada, and New Zealand.
Caesars Entertainment Inc Takes Over William Hill
With the Caesars Entertainment purchase of UK band William Hill, this is a breath of fresh air in some ways. It means that a US company is starting to get more involved in the global sports betting industry. For a long time, this industry has had several big names such as 888, GVC Holdings (Entain), Flutter, William Hill itself, Novomatic, and the list literally keeps ongoing. If we start to look over to the US then there is Penn International and Pointsbet to consider too.
What keeps on happening in this sector is new companies keep on entering the industry. There is no shortage of venture capitalists looking to invest in the online sports betting industry, and as such we are likely to continue to see more. Oh yes, and by the way, we should also mention that a brand to look out for in this sector is SoftSwiss mentioned above in the iGaming sector. This casino and sportsbook aggregator is making headway in both online gambling sectors and just exceeded 150 million Euros in bets on video slots, table games, and sports!
Have We Convinced You?
We hope we have convinced all those out there complaining that the online slots, live table gaming, and sports betting industry are already showing signs of becoming dominated by a select few companies. Yes, a few big firms like Evolution are making plays in the online gambling industry, but there are only strategic moves to expand their game portfolio. For example, Evolution only operated live dealer games but is now facing competition in the live casino niche from other companies that are already well-known in the video slots industry.
Playtech and Pragmatic Play operate in Bingo, Online Slots, and Live Dealer sectors, while Playtech is also involved in sports betting and land-based gambling operations. NetEnt, bought out by Evolution, also operated both video slot development and live casino studios. For Evolution to continue to evolve it made sense to take over a large brand known for its excellent line of video slots, while BTG was just an opportunity for Evolution to expand on its push into the online slot market.
As such, there is nothing to worry about. We will still have the pleasure of choice as over 100 brand names continue to battle out for your patronage and brand loyalty!