PlayTech is one of the most recognisable and influential names in online gaming and the highly-respectable software developer are the brains behind thousands of online casino games, as well as powering hundreds of websites, using their custom-built, reliable software. The company themselves ensure they are already catering to player wants, by releasing games of the highest-quality that run on both desktop computer and laptops, as well as mobile devices.
The entire PlayTech network is designed so that players enjoy a quick, reliable, hassle-free gaming experience the moment they land on the site. They offer both instant play games (ones that you can play in your Internet browser without downloads), as well as downloadable clients for some of their larger clients. Known in particularly for their extensive Live Dealer Casino game range, and their Marvel-themed Video Slot’s, PlayTech continually lead the online gaming industry and set a very high bar for competitors to follow.
Playtech Games
PlayTech feature one of the most extensive game-ranges in the world, providing over 500 games, in categories including casino, poker, and virtuals. Committed to release over 50 new games every year, it’s clear Playtech’s commitment to player-satisfaction goes to show how passionate PlayTech are about what they do, and load any PlayTech-powered game, and you’ll see – right away – just how high a quality the games really are. Below, we’ll look at some of the various game-categories PlayTech offer, as well as some of the more notable titles.
Casino Table Games
The PlayTech casino table game range isn’t the most comprehensive out of all software providers, but it doesn’t take long to notice that the company clearly focuses on quality, rather than quantity. While PlayTech have recently begun expanding their game-range to include more ‘modern’ games (see unusual games below), their traditional game selection has always been solid with Roulette, Blackjack, Three Card Poker, Casino Hold’ Em and Baccarat all available at varying table-limits. PlayTech also offer multiple variations of each of these games, so, rather than solely offering ‘European Roulette’, they offer titles including Premium Roulette, as well as French Roulette and American Roulette.
Video Slots
PlayTech’s Video Slot selection is what makes them the company they are today; their Video Slot games are designed to an incredibly high-spec and continual optimisation means mobile-players now have a better gaming experience than ever before. Perhaps the most notable of the PlayTech Video Slot range is their Marvel collection of games, which are created in direct partnership with Marvel themselves. Popular Marvel titles include Iron Man 3, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, the Incredible Hulk, Avengers and the Fantastic Four.
Players who game in Coral bookmakers in the UK will recognize many of the FOBT machine games in PlayTech casinos with titles like Heart of the Jungle, Halloween Fortune, Juicy Booty and Chinese Kitchen all making up part of the PlayTech range. What’s really unique about PlayTech, is that they don’t just create games; they create experiences. Playing one of the Marvel games, for example, really immerses you within the cartoon-like world it’s based on, and actual animations from films, stunning audio soundtracks and exciting bonuses all help strengthen PlayTech’s reputation.
Jackpot Games
Many of PlayTech’s most popular Video Slot games now feature progressive jackpots with some titles boasting jackpot totals of millions of pounds! The jackpot games work on a multi-site basis, so each time a player spins the slot on one of PlayTech’s hundreds of partner-websites, a fraction of the wager gets added to the slot’s total, and this means it doesn’t take long at all for the figures to reach – what most would call ‘silly money’! Jackpot games currently on offer include Age of the Gods, Land of Gold, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Fortune 5, as well as a huge range of the Marvel titles with Captain America, Batman & The Matgirl Bonanza, and most titles listed in the main Video Slot section of this post.
Live Dealer Casino
PlayTech currently operate two difference Live Dealer Casino’s with the first being their ‘Riga’ version, based in a studio in Latvia. This part of their operation caters to European markets and includes games, including Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Three Card Poker, Casino Hold’ Em, and variations on most of the titles with French Roulette, European Roulette, VIP Baccarat, and Prestige Roulette just a few of the titles on offer.
The second part of their operation is the Manilla branch – based in the Philippines – that caters to the Asian markets PlayTech currently serve. The game-range is generally pretty similar with a couple of Chinese-games more readily available, like Pai Gow and Hi-Lo. The main difference is in the dealer’s themselves – the Riga casino features European dealers, while the Manilla version uses Asian dealers. As with most Live Dealer Casino’s, players can choose a variety of dealers, both men and women, and most games have varying limits, ensuring players can play within a means that’s affordable to them.
Unusual Games
PlayTech also offer a variety of unusual, and/or uncommon games, designed to provide both a new and exciting experience to players, while ensuring those who don’t want to play casino games or Video Slots have something to enjoy! One of the most popular titles in their ‘other’ section is the ‘Genie’s Hi Lo’, where your job is to predict whether the next card is higher or lower than the card currently on show. There’s also a selection of virtuals with Horse Racing, Greyhound and even Football games making an appearance.
Perhaps one of their most unique titles (although relatively simplistic) is their ‘Heads or Tails’ game, where, as you can probably guess, you simply bet on whether a coin will land heads or tails – innovation at its finest (sarcasm). Jokes aside, PlayTech have a stellar range of ‘other’ games, and you’ll find over 50 Instant Win titles to enjoy, from scratch cards, Keno, Bingo and virtual sports to keep you entertained!
iPoker Platform
PlayTech worked with casino game design Geoff Hall to build a dedicated poker card room, which casino operators could then license, using a white label solution. While PlayTech themselves were initially sceptical about their chances at breaking into a heavily-competitive industry, it didn’t take long for them to leave their mark, and as time went on, their player base continued to grow.
Today, PlayTech’s iPoker platform is the 3rd largest online poker card room on the planet, and the company hosts over 30 different white-label poker software solutions, including big industry names, such as William Hill, Coral and Ladbrokes.
Operating Jurisdictions
PlayTech hold licenses in a wide variety of jurisdictions, and as they are generally seen as one of the leading gaming providers, they rarely encounter issues offering games to players around the world. That said, there are certain countries where PlayTech’s games are restricted, or banned altogether, although they hold licenses in the following jurisdictions:
PlayTech are also licensed with the following regulators:
- Malta Gaming Authority
- UK Gambling Commission
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
- Gibraltar Regulatory Authority
- Curacao eGaming
- AAMS Italy
- Alderney Gambling Control Commission
- Antigua Online Gaming Association
- Cagayan Economic Zone Authority
- Danish Gambling Authority
- Estonian Tax and Customs Board
- Kahnawake Gaming Commission
- Spanish Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling
About Playtech
PlayTech (technically PlayTech PLC, as it’s a publicly-traded company) was first founded in Estonia, in 1999. Today, it’s one of the largest and most reputable providers of online casino games and software and the innovative company showcase impressive financial figures to complement their operations. 2015 saw them earning £630 Million in revenue, and with online gambling continue to grow, this number looks set to rise. PlayTech employ over 5,000 employees around the world – one of the largest number of staff ever seen in a gambling company. With offices in the UK, Israel, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Sweden, Germany, Gibraltar, Latvia, Cyprus and Russia, their global presence is incredibly strong.
While known today as a global pioneer in online gambling software, PlayTech – as with most company’s – started small, and was founded by Teddy Sagi, in conjunction with business partners from the casino, software development and media industries. By 2001, they’d launched their first casino product, and as their client-base grew, so did their reputation and commitment to looking after players. The company has seen multiple acquisitions during its growth, the first taking place in 2008, when PlayTech acquired private assets from the founder – Teddy Sagi – for a reported £200 Million. 3 years later PlayTech purchased PlayTech Turnkey Services from Sagi also – for a further £125 Million.
2012 was a year that heralded big changes for PlayTech, as they moved their listing from the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, to AIM. This lead to the company being included within the FTSE 250 Index and helped publicise the company further. With the growth of PlayTech’s software came their expansion into other gambling markets and their iPoker service has become one of the largest in the world to date. To enable them to gain a foothold in the extremely-competitive Poker market, PlayTech acquired the poker community website PokerStrategy.com for just over £40 Million, and used aggressive marketing campaigns to position themselves as a market leader – even though their experience in Poker software was far less-developed than that of many of their competitors.
Nonetheless, PlayTech managed to ‘do the unthinkable’ and take a HUGE slice of the market share. You might think that after their Poker success, PlayTech would be content on focus on developing their existing operations, but 2014 saw PlayTech acquire Aristocrat Lotteries in a £7 Million deal with Aristocrat Leisure Limited, and just one year later, they acquired YoYo Games – the founder and creator of GameMaker. Perhaps most notably, PlayTech acquired reputable gaming operator Quickspin, merging two of the most successful gaming providers on the planet into one. Just one month later, PlayTech also acquired one of their main competitors, ‘Best Gaming Technology’, for a staggering £110 Million, clearly making their mark on the global gaming industry.
Today, PlayTech are focusing on covering many of their games into the HTML5 format, so that mobile players can enjoy the games, and a wide selection of both Casino Table Games, Video Slots, and Live Dealer Casino games are now accessible for mobile phone and smart tablet users.