What Evolution Gaming does next

Evolution Gaming first entered the egaming market in 2006, launching its game-changing live casino offering and swiftly attracting high-profile operators. Now, 12 years on from its market entry, Evolution is undeniably a market leader in the live casino space, even though the number of egaming companies offering live casino gaming has increased dramatically.

As the market becomes more crowded, the challenge now for Evolution is to build further on its distinctness, be it through the scope of the product offering or with new and more diverse casino partners, while still retaining the core ethos that set the business apart in the early years.

EGR Intel: You are nearing your two-year anniversary as CEO of Evolution Gaming. How are you finding the role?

Martin Carlesund (MC): It’s been a fantastic period – very interesting but very intense. I was already in the CEO role for Evolution Malta for a year earlier, and now my role is scaled up considerably with global responsibility for the whole company.

I’ve been with Evolution for almost three and a half years now and in that period we’ve been developing the company and growing quite rapidly. For me, it’s a fantastic company that continues to fulfil its amazing potential, thanks in large part to highly skilled and committed people in all areas of the company.

EGR Intel: Talk me through Evolution’s journey over the last few years. What have you been focused on and what have been some of the key milestones?

MC: During the first period of my tenure, the focus was on getting the right management team in place. At the same time, we focused on extending our lead by optimising product development and increasing the speed of product development. Currently, one of the most important things for us is to continue to innovate the product portfolio.

One key milestone for us was the release of our Dream Catcher money wheel last year, which enabled us to expand live casino into a completely new area. Dream Catcher created a whole new product category with a game that’s close to a game show experience and attracts players who, hitherto, might not have considered playing live casino. Another major milestone product was the launch of Lightning Roulette, a live roulette game that incorporates RNG elements – and extra opportunities to win – into the live game, while also delivering a very different, dramatic and memorable gaming experience.

Lightning Roulette in particular shows how we are continuously renewing the live casino vertical and are at the absolute forefront of development. Since its launch earlier this year at ICE, Lightning Roulette, which is unique to our platform, has become one of the most popular games in the market. Dream Catcher and Lightning Roulette are just two examples from a product portfolio that is constantly being enhanced and extended. But wherever I look in the company I see exciting developments.

In addition, when I came to Evolution we had a staff of around 1,200 people. Today we have 5,000 employees and we are constantly expanding and opening more studios and offices. This year alone we have gone live with new studios in Canada and Georgia, and just this August we have expanded into New Jersey with the opening of our new US studio serving US operators. It’s tough to pick out just these few milestones because there is something new happening every day.

EGR Intel: Your most recent set of financial results for Q2 2018 revealed operating revenues up by 40% on Q2 2017. What is driving current growth?

MC: It is a combination of a number of factors. To begin, the general live casino market is growing, which of course supports our development as the market leader. For us more specifically, we’ve not only added new customers over the past year but we have also seen existing customers increase the number of live tables they operate from our studios. We are also adding new products, which is a clear growth driver over time.

EGR Intel: Where will growth come from in the future? Any particular markets? You’ve made a few deals in the US recently – is live casino taking off there now?

MC: We are primarily active in Europe, but our products have a global appeal and we see ourselves as a global provider. We are indeed very excited to be live in the US where, as I mentioned, we have just launched our first live casino studio in the market, a true milestone for the company.

We’ve been monitoring the US for several years and felt very strongly that 2018 was the right time to launch. So far, we’ve been proven right, with a number of top online and land-based operators in New Jersey having already signed with us, and there are more in the pipeline. Our aim is to provide a state-of-the-art live casino experience for players in New Jersey, and hopefully more states in the future – even though that will probably take some time.

Alongside that, we have seen our Dual Play convergence tables adopted by the cream of land-based casinos – iconic venues such as The Ritz Club, The Hippodrome and many more. The land-based sector represents an important market opportunity for us, both in the US and elsewhere. We expect to see healthy growth in Dual Play tables, located on gaming floors of land-based casinos and allowing online players to play at the same table alongside on-premise players.

EGR Intel: Are you finding there is more competition now when it comes to live casino?

MC: I think competition in this area has been there for some time. There is competition from several different suppliers in different markets, but I don’t think it has intensified over the last year, it has remained about the same. We have a lot of respect for our competitors but during the last year, I feel that we have strengthened our leading position and definitely increased the gap between Evolution Gaming and the competition.

EGR Intel: How important is the Svenska Spel deal and your push into the Swedish market in general? Are there some other potential big customer wins in the pipeline for this market?

MC: We have a Swedish heritage and Svenska Spel is one of the biggest players in the Swedish market, so we are very happy to earn their trust. We were keen to have a key partner in the Swedish market, one that will likely lead to further market penetration as the Swedish market inevitably grows and expands. Svenska Spel fits the bill perfectly.
As for other big customer wins, we are constantly working on new deals. Another key signing in the Swedish market recently is ATG, the monopoly Swedish horse racing operator, and also a strong brand with lots of opportunities to grow. We are looking forward to the Swedish regulation and to work with all our licensees on expanding their live casino offering in the market.

EGR Intel: Will Evolution ever be tempted to diversify into other casino games or slots? Or even sports betting? Or is it good to find a niche and stick to it?

MC: We are super focused on creating the world’s best live casino experience. At the same time, it’s natural to constantly assess your position and explore possibilities in business. We are always driving ourselves to continue to push the boundaries of live gaming, to be able to expand and to bring more exciting opportunities to our licensees – and we will continue to do so. We have a couple of amazing products in the offing, as I hinted at earlier. Right now, we haven’t expanded into slots or anything else, but we have started to integrate RNG elements into live games and we have introduced Live Football Studio, which captures some of the excitement associated with sports betting.

EGR Intel: What are customers demanding now that perhaps they weren’t a few years ago? Is it all about the UX?

MC: We are seeing the same consistent demand from end customers now that we saw a few years ago. They still want the best product and a flawless UX, but their expectations are increasing year on year because we live very much in a digital world. We understand this, which is why we have invested a great deal over the past few years in the development of a new UX that makes playing easier and more fun, and which delivers consistency across all devices.

“We have a lot of respect for our competitors but during the last year, I feel that we have strengthened our leading position”

Many of our operators now give their customers the opportunity to grade their experience when they exit, on a numerical scale, and I think that part of it is important, maybe even more so than before. People expect all things digital to work much better now than they did say five years ago.

EGR Intel: And what about operators? Is it more about offering bespoke and individual environments to each company?

MC: The majority of operators still go through the same development stages when they come into live casino. Many start small, with just a few generic tables and a good mix of games. Then, as they see that live casino works for them, and as revenues increase, they open dedicated tables, build the footprint for different languages, build an environment and add on from there.

For an increasing number of operators, bespoke and dedicated environments are very important. I think they are integrating live into their offering and promotions to a higher degree, so they want the full flexibility that an Evolution dedicated environment gives them. They want their live tables and games to be a part of their specific marketing strategy during different times and seasons during the year.

EGR Intel: What is Evolution doing from a product perspective that is particularly innovative? What does the future hold for live casino in general?

MC: We are working on something now that is completely new and ground-breaking, which we aim to release at ICE next year. We really do live and breathe innovation and have a fantastic pipeline of products right now. At ICE this year we launched Lightning Roulette, which blends live roulette with RNG elements, enabling players to win on much higher multiples than they would in a traditional roulette spin. This is something that has never been seen before and the reception from players has been phenomenal.

We aim to do more of that in the future, although I can’t give you specifics. In general, we are carving out new segments in live casino and pushing the boundaries of traditional table games and what players and operators expect from live. Dream Catcher and Lightning are evidence that a new era of games is unfolding with TV-style content and game presenters who act as hosts and help players to enjoy the rich content and multiple ways to win that these games offer.