There are many players in the casino software business

In the very beginning of online casinos writing the casino software was a major part of the business and a major investment which provided a barrier to entry for many would be participants but everything has changed. Today there is no consideration given by an online casino to writing their own casino software as specialist companies have developed which do it all. This has the advantage that many more casino games are available and they have become much more advanced and enjoyable to play but the possible disadvantage is that the barriers to entering the online casino market have been lowered which means there are many more online casinos than there used to be. Entering the online casino market is still not cheap by any means as casino software remains expensive and development of the programmes needs to be paid for as those programmes become more and more sophisticated to cater the needs and wishes of the customers. This is especially true in the area of casino slots where the games are increasingly more complicated. Casino software for original casino games such as roulette or blackjack change little over time.

There are several major players in the casino software market and also a few good smaller ones and all online casinos make their choice with one or two electing to use a variety of suppliers in combination which can give an even greater choice of games to play. In no particular order the major players in the casino software market are MIcrogaming, NetEnt, Playtech, Wager works and Chartwell. Microgaming is one of the originals and have been around since 1994 which was more or less the start of online casinos. Microgaming is based in the Isle of Man which is recognised as being one of the major bases for online gambling and has been continuously developing their customer base. Microgaming hosts a number of popular casino slots such as Jurassic Park™and Thunderstruck II™ and more recently they have signed an agreement for exclusive rights to the Tarzan™ name for online slots. Probably the most popular of the casino slots presented by Microgaming is the progressive jackpot slot Mega  Moolah™ which as recently as June this year paid out a jackpot of over €6 million to one player. The player in question was playing at Casinoland.com which also happens to be one of the recommended casinos here at Casinos.ie. His jackpot win follows close on the heels of another win of nearly €7 million in April of this year.

The casino software supplier NetEnt or Net Entertainment to give them their full name was established in 1996 and is registered on the Stockholm Nasdaq. They are used by a number of online casinos that are listed at casios.ie including the best known for Irish casino players which is All Irish Casino.com. NetEnt provides a number of casino slots that offer something a little bit different including titles such as Gonzo’s Quest™, Jack Hammer™ and Starburst™ and the good thing about NetEnt casino slots for casino players is that the payout is between 95% to 98%. NeteNt is also very good in the area of progressive jackpot slots with their most popular Mega Fortune™ being listed in the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest single payout of nearly €18 million. They also hold the current record for a payment from a mobile of over €8.5 million. Clearly these casino slots jackpots are being won.

Playtech was established a little later than some of the others in 1999 but that has not stopped them from becoming one of the major players in the casino software market and indeed in other online gambling markets and they include Paddy Power, bet365 and William Hill on their client list. Founded in Estonia Playtech has continued to expand over the years and they were first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 on the AIM market advancing to the main market in 2012. The company now employs over 3600 people in 12 countries mainly developing ew games and technologies.

Chartwell  Technology is a Canadian based company with headquarters in Alberta Canada as was established in 1998 after it acquired a computer software company called Gateway Technology. As recently as 2011 it was itself acquired by Amaya Gaming Group who are engaged in software for casinos, sports betting and poker and count 888, bet365 and William Hill on their list of customers.

These four are the largest casino software providers but big does not always mean better as has been proved in the online casino market where smaller players such as All Irish Casino or Casinocasino.com are making a mark. Casinocasino.com is particularly interesting by making use of smaller casino software developers such as Amatic Industries who run casino slots under the name of Amanet® and who offer some simple easy to follow casino slots which many people prefer to the multiple winning line and difficult to follow video slots.

Some online casinos such as Casinoland.com which has already been mentioned choose to use a mixture of casino software suppliers in an attempt to have something for everyone so for example for the slots jackpot chasers there are Microgaming slots such as Mega Moolah™ or for lovers of something more unusual there is Gonzo’s Quest by NetEnt together with simple slots such as Electric Sam™ brought to you by the as yet unmentioned ELK Studios.

There are many casino software suppliers and even more online casinos so you will see the same casino games appearing at different online casinos and when it comes to progressive jackpot slots in particular this is not a bad thing. The casino jackpots are, in fact, controlled by the casino software company and not by the individual online casino which means that the jackpots are contributed to by all the online casinos that carry the game. This in turn enables the jackpots to build much faster than would be the case if only a single online casino was contributing.