Playtech

Casino Games

Playtech has produced several innovative branded and unbranded casino games, including slots, table, and live casino games. Some of their titles have demonstrated tremendous staying power. Much of its growth has come from the acquisition of several providers, injecting content and creativity into Playtech’s mix:

• Ash Gaming is a London, UK-based slots developer founded in 2002. It is responsible for the wildly popular Age of the Gods™ slot series and other titles, including Ace Ventura and Gladiator: Road to Rome.
• Eyecon is a Brisbane, Australia-based provider of bingo, table games, and slots founded in 1997. It is known for hit titles like Fluffy Favourites.
• Quickspin may be one of the more recognizable studios, with hit slots including Sakura Fortune and Big Bad Wolf. Its content is available to play for free in social markets or for real money gambling.
• Vikings is another studio from Playtech responsible for many hits. These include branded titles like Justice League and the Age of the Gods: God of Storms, part of its jackpot series.
• Rarestone is another Australia-based studio behind the successful Fire Blaze™ series, containing four linked jackpots, won with a common Hold and Respin feature.
• Lichfield, UK-based Psiclone Games is a slots provider founded in 2007 and acquired by Playtech in 2014. It is responsible for the Thundershots™ series, including Bee Frenzy and Chili Eruptions.
• Reel Web is yet another Australia-based studio purchased by Playtech in 2021. It has a 20-year record and released plenty of original content, including Grand Junction in 2022.

 

Video Slots

Playtech has over 800 in-house unbranded and branded titles in collaboration with Hollywood studios, like AMC, Universal, MGM, and Paramount. One of the latest innovations from the provider is the PowerPlay jackpots, which combines a mega jackpot with timed and capped jackpots.

Most popular Playtech Gaming Slots

Although choosing our favorite Playtech slots is difficult, we thought we’d have a go at it with video slots that left a lasting impression:

Buffalo Blitz

At the beginning of July 2016, Playtech released Buffalo Blitz, a 4,096 ways to win slot based on North American wildlife: mountain lions, raccoons, moose, and grizzly bears. The slot features up to 100 free games with random multipliers of values of 2x, 3x, or 5x.

Almost exactly four years later, Playtech released Buffalo Blitz II. It added the ‘All Ways’ feature to the free games, creating 14,400 ways to win. In December 2021, it released Buffalo Blitz Megaways™, featuring up to 117,649 ways to win and four linked jackpots.

Giant Grizzly

The 4-3-3-3-4  reels and 432 ways to win slot Giant Grizzly came out in September 2019 to much fanfare for its look at raw nature and 250 coins/payout per payline. It features expanding wilds (up to 3×3), action wilds (award instant cash), and free games with rampage wilds (combine action and expanding wild abilities).

The Matrix

2017 was the year that Playtech (One Casino) released The Matrix slot, based on the cult-classic movie from 1999. The 40 paylines slot borrows the cutting-edge visuals and soundtrack from the Hollywood film.

You’ve got Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), Trinity (Cary-Anne Moss), and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaver), which are expanded symbols. They can fully cover a reel or partially cover 1-2 spaces. Trigger free games and choose between 8 free games with more Agent Smiths or unlimited free games with Sentinel wilds. Neo (Keanu Reeves) is the wild symbol, and a black cat appearing on the 5^th reel is a wild that triggers the ‘Déjà Vu Shuffle’ feature.

Age of The Gods: Prince of Olympus

Part of the Age of the Gods pooled progressive series of jackpots, Age of The Gods: Prince of Olympus is a 5×4 (reels x rows) and up to 25 paylines slot. The theme centers around the mighty Hercules as the wild symbol. This wild expands on reels 2-4, called Herculean Strength. The slot features the Hydra Bonus and free games with a 3x multiplier.

Randomly trigger the jackpot game and match 3 coins (Power, Extra Power, Super Power, or Ultimate Power) to unlock corresponding jackpots.

Gladiator: Road to Rome

The 5×3 (reels x rows) and 25 paylines slot Gladiator: Road to Rome is another branded slot from Playtech (One Casino), based on the 2000 movie directed by Ridley Scott. To the delight of many players, the video slot includes photo images of movie characters, beginning with Maximus (Russell Crow), who’s an expanded wild. There are also regular symbols of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and Proximo (Oliver Reed).

Highlights of this video slot include Colosseum Free Games, the Jackpot Gladiator Bonus with instant prizes, and Shield Bonus consisting of game modifiers.

Live Casino

Playtech live casino is one of the largest omnichannel providers in Europe and Asia and a growing competitor to industry giants like Evolution Gaming. Recently, the provider has made inroads in the United States by launching live casino operations in New Jersey and Michigan.

Table games are available in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Turkish, Portuguese, Greek, and Romanian, using native dealers. It offers a variety of classic live dealer table games:

• Blackjack, Unlimited Blackjack, Quantum Blackjack
• Roulette
• Poker
• Baccarat
• Hi-Low
• Sic Bo
• Dragon Tiger
• Andahar Bahar

 

Additionally, Playtech also offers several live game show-style games:

• Adventures Beyond Wonderland™
• The Money Drop Live™ (Banijay-owned brand)
• Live Slots
• Age of the Gods™ Roulette, Mega Fire Blaze™ Roulette, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire™ Roulette, Prestige Roulette, Football Roulette
• Fashion TV (focused on the US market)

 

Sports Betting

As the United States sports betting market continues to thaw, the prediction for market growth is a 10% CAGR (2021-2025). Playtech sought a slice of that pie and others using its omnichannel platform, which accepted 400 million sports bets in 2021 alone.

Online Bingo

The growth of Playtech’s bingo games is a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions. The company delivers a bingo solution, which is cross-platform compatible. Its network in the UK comprises 20 brands, which welcome 60,000 players daily.

Poker Rooms

Playtech offers a collection of poker rooms with different table stakes and buy-ins, enhanced using gamification to appeal to a greater audience: leaderboards, hybrid missions, and integrated rewards. Its poker network dates back to 2004, growing organically and through acquisitions.

History of Playtech

Playtech was founded in Tartu, Estonia, in 1999, making it one of the oldest companies to provide iGaming content. It assembled a group with expertise ranging from multimedia to software engineers. Two years later, it received its first casino license and established its iPoker poker network (the world’s largest) in 2004.

In 2006, the provider began trading on the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE’s) AIM market, migrating to the main market in 2012. Playtech had a busy year with acquisitions, enhancing its poker network capabilities by purchasing software provider Tribeca Tables Europe Ltd.

Playtech also acquired Videobet for the company’s land and retail gaming terminals. It also launched Bingo Broadway. Playtech created its ‘Playtech Academy’ in Estonia to support the company’s accelerated growth. It also constructed a Bulgarian development center to drive long-term recruitment.

2008 proved another busy year, acquiring game aggregator Gaming Technology Solutions. It created William Hill Online in a joint venture and took a 29% stake, which it later sold to William Hill in 2013. Playtech signed a software license agreement with William Hill PLC in the UK and further (poker network) agreements with Snai (Italy land-based operator) and Cogetech SpA.

Marking the beginning of a new decade, Playtech made another acquisition of bingo developer/licensor Virtue Fusion Ltd in 2010. It allowed CodeRed Interactive, Eurobet, and Snai to join its Italian bingo network. This subsidiary would later sign a five-year deal in 2015 with News UK to operate a leading UK bingo network.

Working with the Finnish state operator, Playtech began servicing the online gaming market in Finland. With the acquisition of Geneity Ltd in 2012, Playtech gained a sportsbook platform and supporting software.

Psiclone Games was acquired by Playtech in 2014, enhancing the provider’s slots offering. Furthermore, it acquired Aristocrat Lotteries, which provides video terminals, building up its presence in Italy and Norway. The year also marked the launch of its multi-channel Coral Connect, which would be replaced by its Playtech ONE platform in 2021. Playtech acquired developer Quickspin for €55.7m, based in Sweden, to cap off 2016.

2017 marked another year of acquisitions, first with BetBuddy, which designed a platform for responsible gambling. It also acquired Eyecon, responsible for 70+ online slots and the UK’s most popular bingo brands. It would also be the year that Playtech would sign an exclusive and multiyear agreement with Warner Bros. to produce branded game content based on DC Entertainment.

2019 was another significant year as it marked the launch of the provider’s Kingdoms Rise collection of network progressive jackpot slots. 2020 marked another significant year in the company’s history as it entered its first US market with Bet365 in New Jersey, supplying Entain and Bet365.

The following year, Michigan became its 1^st live casino studio in the United States. Furthermore, it signed a services agreement with Parx Casino & racetrack operator in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Indiana. It strengthened its New Jersey presence through its partnership with Unibet.

Playtech partnered with US-based developer GameCo to develop a range of arcade-style slots targeting Generation Z players. In July 2021, Playtech signed a global iGaming US and other regulated markets distribution partnership with Scientific Games. It entered into a similar strategic sport betting partnership with Novomatic Americas.

GamCare accredited Playtech with a new B2B safer gambling standard. Playtech proposed to dispose of its non-core financial trading division Finalto in May of the same year, which closed in December.

February 2022 marked a significant event in the history of Playtech. Australian gaming giant Aristocrat Leisure failed to get sufficient shareholder support for its October 2021 proposed £2.1 billion takeover of Playtech.