Casino software developers

1 List of the best online casino software providers
2 What games suppliers provide?
3 Game development
4 Gaming platforms
5 How to develop casino games?
5.1 Preproduction
5.2 Production
5.3 Postproduction
6 Game security and fair play
6.1 Accreditation
7 Work as a game developer
8 Relationship between suppliers and casinos
9 Game makers responsibility

On this page we provide you with all the information about different software and slot machine suppliers. It will be easier for you to find your favorites in the jungle of slots and casinos if you can filter it by the software maker.

Game developers are the architects behind all the entertainment that we see in online casinos available on desktop and mobile platforms. All games created, start first as an idea in the heads of a game engineers and it is up to them to make sure that they can make a real game, same as in their imagination. It’s so impressive to see how the market is expanding with new games almost every day.

All designed to entertain and make fun of joy. It does not matter if a game is perfectly done from technical point of view. If it fails to capture the players attention it will disappear immediately. Game developers must not only have a full understanding of how the game is to be built, they must predict and act as a players to adapt the game to the market for which it is intended.

List of the best online casino software providers

What games suppliers provide?

A common perception among casino players is that the games are produced by the respective casino online . It’s actually quite rare. Usually the casino game is delivered by one or more external companies.

Companies specializing in providing casino games to top-rated online casinos are referred to as game or software developers.  There are hundreds of different game studios who produce all types of games. You can read about several of them if you click on the respective game developers below. Further down the page you will also find more in-depth information about what game developers usually do and how their work looks like.

Game development

Casino software

The company generally considered to be the founder of online casino development is Microgaming. According to their own exposition, they launched the world’s first online casino in 1994.

Early Microgaming saw a greater value in licensing their games to other casino operators instead of acting only as operator. Game development soon became the core of Microgaming’s operations. And instead of running their own casinos, they could spend all the efforts, time and resources on making new and better casino games.

Microgaming is today one of the industry’s leading developer studios. This is not due to lack of competition. On the contrary, over the years, unbelievably many software developers have emerged and new ones appear all the time. Thanks to the fact that online casino as industry has grown so much, many companies get a place to compete.

Comparing the Swedish casino game developer, NetEnt with the American PC/Console game company Electronic Arts in terms of value, it turns out that they are companies of almost equal magnitude. NetEnt had at the turn of the year 2017/18 a market capitalization of about one-third of Electronic Arts’s market capitalization at the same time.

Gaming platforms

Those, who look for information about game development on different websites may encounter different terms that seem to describe the same thing. In addition to game developers, you can often read about game/software providers and gaming platforms. Speaking of “pure” game developers refers to the companies that produce and distribute games. The major players in the market are usually belong to this group.

Many of major studios also distribute other games. It is a costly process to establish business relationships with casinos and build up the entire infrastructure to deliver games. Therefore, smaller game developers often look for the larger ones for collaborations. Technology behind the games is their own, but the games are delivered via 3rd party company.

There are also companies that produce casino games on big players’ gaming platforms. Again, startups who do not have the resources to build the necessary frameworks to develop their own slots. Instead, they make own releases based on a major developer platform. There are also companies that only distribute games without developing them.

At the beginning of online casinos it was also more common for operators to make their own games. There are still internet casinos that produce their own titles. This is usually done in cooperation with one or more specialized game development companies. However, the most common model works is based on games hired from software providers through a licensing model.

How to develop casino games?

A protocol for the development of a casino game could be found below:

Preproduction

Production

There is much more steps that go into production. Throughout the production period, engineers constantly, modify, test and evaluate product until the game development team is ready.

Postproduction

The above is not a complete step-by-step guide for game development, but gives an idea of the process.

Game security and fair play

One of the basic things in casino game development is the random number generator. These are often called RNGs, as they consist of advanced algorithms that will emulate total randomness.

There are segregated theories when it comes to a question if casino online slots are random. Sometimes these conspiracy theorists talk about “loose” and “tight” games. According to the theories, loose games pay more and tight pay less.

It is true that there are different return to player plans for all the games. RTP for a game can be 96.1% and for another 97.8%. However, there is nothing that can be done in order to change game’s RTP.

Looking at the information sheet for Thunderkick’s popular game Pink Elephants, it is stated in section 8.1 that: “The theoretical player return rate for Pink Elephants is 96.1% with a hit frequency of 22.8%. There are no strategies, features or settings that the player can change that will affect the payout”.

In Pink Elephants, they win 22.8% of their spins. On average, 96.1% of the bet is paid back to the players. And as they write, players can not do anything to beat these numbers.

Can the casino or developer adjust or “rig” the games? Casinos do not run the games and has no access to games logic. In theory, a software developer could change the code in their game and adjust the payout plan. However, it would be illegal.

In addition, to ensure that the games are random, everything that happens during gameplay must be monitored and logged. It includes all internal functions. For example, the game must cope with an unexpected crashes without losing any data. If you are going to win big money in a jackpot then you should not lose that chance just because you lose internet connection, for example. It is the game developer’s responsibility to log all games.

Accreditation

Accreditation, or quality assurance, is incredibly important in the casino industry. You call independent accreditation agencies for ATF (accredited test facilities) to ensure compliance, protection of players, and the overall development and operation of games.

Some examples of well-known accrediting institutes specializing in gambling software and system certification are eCOGRA, Gaming Laboratories International, iTech Labs and Technical Services Bureau.

Work as a game developer

When online casino industry exploded, many new job opportunities have emerged. Not least at game development.

The skills required to work with a game studio do not differ from the skills required to work with other types of where programming is necessary. Industry is constantly looking for new people and you can easily find vacant places as:

It is often good to have adequate education to maximize chance to get a job. However, it is not uncommon for them to hire talents who are proven to be proficient in any coding language – even though they do not have formal education. If you are incredibly skilled in advanced programs like Maya 3D, you will be highly rated among the developers.

Relationship between suppliers and casinos

There are many game studios with different business models. Most common, allow casinos to obtain games through software licenses. Game developers usually charge a fee according to the agreed payout structure. Studio receives x% of the winnings that occur in each of the casino games delivered. A rule of thumb is that the game studios takes around 15% of the surplus on a monthly basis. However, the fee structure may vary.

The main goal of the suppliers is appreciation coming from the players. If not enough people will to play these games, no money will be generated. Having said that, it is not enough to do good games. Company must have a good sales team that can offer their products to online casinos on different markets. Convincing casino operators to accommodate their games is one of the toughest tasks for a game developer, especially for newcomers in the industry.

Major studios are usually responsible for games hosting. It includes all technical operations and keeping track of game transactions. This is a solid selling point for game developers which offer that service.

Game makers responsibility

Game studios are expected to take great responsibility. The rules that companies relate to avoid cheating on games are often set by themselves. Many take the Global Gambling Guidance Group on board and their recommendations as a template for this.

Self-exclusion is a thing that many software suppliers support. Casinos are given the opportunity to block players from reaching some games for certain amount of time or for limited amount of many that they can bet.