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Behind the Success of the Growing European Online Gambling Market
Due to all types of restrictions on social gathering and physical attendance in many brick-and-mortar businesses, the global online gaming and gambling markets have ballooned in 2020. As gambling becomes more and more of an online activity, markets such as the European Union are projected to grow at about 10% per year, and increase to nearly US$35.5 billion by 2022, up nearly 32% from its 2018 numbers. Globally, the online gambling market is projected to reach US$160 billion by 2026. The European market is seen as far more regulated than any other, with the Western side catching up to the Eastern market revenue-wise. But for a diverse group of developers and their platforms, there are companies already licensed to operate in the EU that are reaping the rewards of their market position on the continent, including Bragg Gaming Group, Glue Mobile, Activision Blizzard, Century Casino Inc., and Enthusiast Gaming.
Through its subsidiary ORYX Gaming, Bragg Gaming Group recently announced its entry into the lucrative Swiss market, after signing a content deal with leading operator mycasino.ch by Grand Casino Luzern.
It’s worth noting that as recently as 2019, online gaming was illegal in Switzerland, and all access to unlicensed sites and apps were to be blocked. But a new gambling law from July 2019 enabled land-based casinos to launch online operations.
Since then, the Swiss regulated online market quickly gained traction. The latest official figures from the country’s regulator showed that online gaming licensees generated CHF23.5M (more than US$26 million) in just the first partial year of being live.
It’s notable that ORYX/Bragg’s partner Grand Casino Luzern‘s brand mycasino.ch generated CHF8.9M (nearly US$10 million) in revenues in 2019—accounting for nearly 38% of the total Swiss online gaming market.
“We have had a strong start to our online operations and are constantly looking for fresh and exciting content to enhance the experience for our growing customer base. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with ORYX moving forward,” said Wolfgang Bliem, CEO of Grand Casino Luzern. “Our main objective is to provide our Swiss players with pure entertainment at the highest level, and we believe ORYX’s portfolio of games can help us achieve just that. We are pleased to be the first operator in the country to offer the games through ORYX and are confident that the games will be huge hits with our players.”
Through ORYX GAMING, Bragg is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), as well as the Romanian National Gambling Office (ONJN) and is compliant, certified, or approved in 18 other major jurisdictions.
“The Swiss online market is one that we have had an eye on since the new legislation entered into force in 2019 and we are thrilled to finally make our debut,” said Matevz Mazij, Managing Director of ORYX Gaming. “Grand Casino Luzern makes a perfect partner for us as one of the most established operators in the market with a strong online brand and we look forward to working together to build our presence in the country.”
Prior to the Swiss announcement, Bragg Gaming Group announced an exceptional revenue growth of 72% in Q3 2020. Bragg continued to focus on expanding its global footprint, onboarding 14 new customers in the quarter alone. Beyond Switzerland, they’re also in advanced discussions with new customers across multiple other licensed jurisdictions in Europe and Latin America.
Built upon its portfolio of assets that includes the ORYX Gaming subsidiary, Bragg Gaming Group is positioned as an innovative B2B online gaming facilitator, providing turnkey solutions including an omni-channel retail, online, and mobile iGaming platform to clients such as Grand Casino Luzern. Bragg’s games are played and enjoyed in countries around the world, and the company is set to sponsor this year’s prestigious World Gaming Executive Summit (WGES)—one of Europe’s most exclusive iGaming conferences.
At another virtual conference held on Dec 9, Glu Mobile (NASDAQ:GLUU) will be sending its CEO and COO to participate in one-on-one meetings and a fireside chat at the UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference.
Unlike online casino games, Glu Mobile’s primary assets are “freemium” mobile games—games that are free to download, but incentivize players to spend more money for downloadable content and upgrades. The business model has proven quite successful, as shares of Glu Mobile have risen 43.88% over the past quarter, and are up 76.88% in the last year. The company’s revenue reached a record high US$158.50 million, beating the estimate of US$136.30 million, resulting in a year-over-year growth of 48%.
Much like Glu, Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) saw its revenues grow in 2020, by an expected rate of 28%. This year’s lockdowns and increased time at home has given Activision Blizzard its biggest base of engaged players to date. The company expects that its next major Call of Duty release will only add more to the bottom line—and push sales in Q4 to $2 billion, and net bookings of $2.7 billion.
“There are few entertainment franchises that generate over $1 billion in annual net bookings,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “And today, we operate three of them: Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush. And each has clear opportunity for sustained growth.”
The lack of physical traffic in Europe appears to be hurting groups such as Century Casino Inc. (NASDAQ:CNTY), which cited its casinos in Poland having a softer Q3 2020. While casinos in smaller cities around the country (drawing more local patrons) are doing well, their two larger casinos in the Polish capital of Warsaw are being softened because of the lack of tourists and business travelers. However, the global casino entertainment company has already begun to move on internet sports betting, such as in October partnering with Tipico for gaming in Colorado. Tipico originally started in Europe in 2004, and is the leading sports betting provider in Germany.
The popularity of online gaming and esports continues to be aided by the work of the world’s largest social network of communities for gamers and esports fans, Enthusiast Gaming (TSX:EGLX). With a reach of over 300 million gaming enthusiasts on a monthly basis, and hosts of the largest mobile gaming event in Europe, Pocket Gamer Connects, Enthusiast Gaming has seen strong growth in 2020—including 36% growth of total advertising revenue, including programmatic advertising revenue growth of 28%.
Because of the nature of their business, Enthusiast’s events have not been as harmed as the more brick-and-mortar centered groups, such as Century Casino. Its latest EGLX 2020 online gaming festival was watched by over 12 million fans, while streaming a total of 53 hours of content over four days from November 10-13.
As the European online gaming and gambling markets continue to grow, companies like Bragg Gaming Group look to be in a good position to take advantage of the gains.
SOURCE Microsmallcap.com
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QTech adds Phantom content to its aggregation platform
Supplier deal brings instant-win, crash, table games and cinematic slots to operators across QTech’s emerging-markets network.
QTech has signed a new supplier partnership with Phantom, adding the studio’s catalogue of instant-win, crash and “cinematic slots” content to QTech’s aggregation platform.
QTech said the integration expands its content offering for operators in emerging markets, positioning Phantom’s games alongside other suppliers on its platform. The company also framed the addition as a fit for mobile-first audiences and shorter play sessions.
According to the companies, Phantom’s games are designed to be lightweight and fast-loading—an approach aimed at markets where handset performance, network speeds and data costs can affect gameplay, including parts of Africa and Latin America.
QTech CEO, Philip Doftvik, said: “We’re dedicated to rolling out more and more high-class content and product innovation that drives revenue for our partners. So, this deal with Phantom extends our impressive sequential pipeline for 2026, and underlines our ability to deliver tailored content solutions for local markets, particularly in regions where lightweight, fast-loading games are key to player engagement.”
Natalie Pierce, Head of Marketing at Phantom, added: “At Phantom we create out-of-the-box gaming content designed for specific markets, player groups, and unique experiences to push the boundaries of casino content. We specialize in fast-paced, original casino games that bring instant excitement and big wins, crash, mines, dice, limbo, plinko, and more. QTech’s aggregation platform is a renowned gateway to new audiences worldwide, and we can’t wait to see how our highly engaging games perform across a largely untouched swathe of emerging markets for Phantom.”
The post QTech adds Phantom content to its aggregation platform appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
All Eyes on Football: EGT Team Picks
EGT launches World Cup 2026 social series “All Eyes on Football: EGT Team Picks”
Employees from EGT’s in-house football team will publish match predictions via social media activations during the tournament.
Euro Games Technology (EGT) is rolling out a World Cup 2026 social media initiative called “All Eyes on Football: EGT Team Picks,” featuring match predictions from members of the company’s employee football team.
EGT said the activations will run during the tournament and focus on selected key matches, football nations and the knockout stages. The company plans interactive content that lets audiences compare their picks with the team’s predictions.
EGT’s football team was founded in 2006 and includes employees across departments. “What started as colleagues gathering to play football after work gradually became an important part of the company culture,” shares Nikolay Georgiev, Production Director at EGT, captain, striker and coach of the EGT football team.
Georgiev added: “Football helps us build strong relationships and better communication between different teams. We understand each other more easily, sometimes even without words. Besides being professionals in their respective fields, this initiative will show that we also know how to have fun together while following one of the biggest sporting events in the world.”
The company named eight team members who will provide predictions: Nikolay Georgiev (Production Director), Blagovest Tsenov (Senior Supply Specialist), Antoan Vasilev (Production Coordinator), Rafaelo Markov (Deputy Unit Manager), Hristo Velchev (Unit Manager), Angel Angelov (Production Manager), Tsvetоslav Dimitrov (Electronics Technician) and Konstantin Tsvetkov (QA Engineer). EGT said it will introduce the participants over the coming weeks, alongside their roles and interests outside work.
The post EGT launches World Cup 2026 social series “All Eyes on Football: EGT Team Picks” appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
casino fined
Dutch Duty of Care Fine Ramps Pressure On Industry Under Siege
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has fined an operator over €880,000 for not treating its customers with adequate care, creating highly unwelcome negative PR for the industry at exactly the moment when it is desperate for positivity.
The KSA announced today (June 11) that it was fining licensed operator 711 a total of €886,000 for a series of duty of care failings, having found violations in all ten player files that it requested to view.
As part of its routine compliance sweeps, the regulator requested detailed gambling and customer care data on ten randomly selected high spenders at the operator.
The authority said that 711 had not properly analysed the gambling behaviour of its customers or taken the right measures to intervene when they showed signs of risky play.
In one case a player was allowed to lose €40,000 in four days before they were contacted for a wellness check and a source of funds request, the KSA said.
The contact that did take place was also not sufficiently in-depth to identify if the individual had a gambling problem, the regulator added.
In another case, a player was allowed to lose almost €200,000 over several weeks before they were contacted for a source of funds check, the KSA said.
The fine is the latest in a series of penalties related to the duty of care that operators own to their customers, which unlike many other European nations is an established part of the country’s gambling act.
The largest penalty so far is a €4m fine for Unibet operator Optdeck, but regulatory officials have said they continue to find failings on their random sweeps.
711 declined to give a comment to EEGaming, saying that it has a policy of not speaking with the press.
The decision by the KSA can be appealed.
The bigger context
The penalty for 711 is not the first punishment for duty of care failings in the Netherlands and it is unlikely to be the last, but this particular fine comes at a pivotal moment for the future of Dutch gambling.
The industry is awaiting a statement from minister Claudia van Bruggen on how she will change gambling policy over the next year.
She is under extreme pressure from several organised groups within parliament to enact tough new rules on a market that is already struggling to keep players out of the black market.
Most notably there have been repeated calls for a complete advertising ban, in addition to the existing ban on all non-targeted gambling advertising in the Netherlands.
A complete ban is opposed by the KSA, which revealed recently that it had held meetings with van Bruggen to make their case and said she “took our concerns very seriously”.
There have also been calls for a hard cap on the number of online gambling licences in the Netherlands, something that the KSA also argues is not in the best interests of consumers.
However the issuing of yet another reputation-damaging fine for the sector further adds to the risk that van Bruggen will feel a need to give in to public and political pressure and really turn the screw on the beleaguered sector.
Experts estimate that channelisation for online gambling in the Netherlands may be as low as 45 percent.
Rates of gambling with licensed operators have collapsed following the introduction of deposit limits, which can only be removed via affordability checks, and tax increases which have seen rates rise to 37.8 percent of gross gambling revenue.
One small crumb of relief for the industry will be upcoming proof of what something they warned would happen: Increasing the tax rate has resulted in lower income for the government, as players likely stop gambling or seek better odds offshore.
“A new impact assessment of the gambling tax will probably be published at the end of June, showing that the increase in the gambling tax did not achieve its intended goal,” revealed KSA head of licences and supervision, Ella Seijsener, speaking at the recent Gaming in Holland conference.
Analysts suggest that growth in the online market has slowed rapidly in recent months and that although channelisation may not decline further from here under current market conditions, there is equally little hope of lifting it back above 50 percent as things stand.
But far from an easing of rules, the local industry expects things to get tougher from here and are simply hoping that van Bruggen’s manifesto for the next phase of Dutch gambling regulation avoids some of the more extreme measures called for by her fellow politicians.
The post Dutch Duty of Care Fine Ramps Pressure On Industry Under Siege appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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