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The Inexorable Rise of Pragmatic Play

by Sonal Shukla

The 12th-14th of April saw the return of ICE London 2022, arguably the world’s most important exhibition for the iGaming industry. iGaming, which broadly constitutes online casino, sports betting, bingo, poker and esports, has become a massive global industry, generating billions of dollars in revenue on every continent. The industry is growing rapidly in markets like India, where changing legislation, smartphone adoption, and better connectivity are fueling the sector. 

You’ll know, of course, that these exhibitions will involve stands from different “players” in the industry. And at ICE London 2022, the biggest and most notable stand belonged to Pragmatic Play. The company has had remarkable growth in the last couple of years, quickly becoming one of the most important iGaming companies in the world. It is all the more impressive given that Pragmatic was only founded in 2015. 

Difficult market to penetrate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seven years might seem like a long time, but many of Pragmatic’s peers and rivals – like Microgaming and Playtech – were founded in the 1990s during those wild west days of the internet. As such, they were able to gain a firm foothold in the industry, providing not only the games but the software architecture needed for online casinos and sports betting platforms. It’s not an easy market to penetrate, particularly at the top end, but Pragmatic Play seems to have done it in record time. 

Pragmatic is first and foremost a developer of casino games. You can see some of its popular games like Gates of Olympus and The Dog House on online casino platforms like Playerz in India. Indeed, such is the popularity of Pragmatic Play’s games among players; they are deemed a must-have for any serious casino site. The developer’s slots are particularly popular, but it has also moved into other areas of the betting and gaming industry, notably live casinos. Pragmatic has recently announced that it will be moving into sports betting too. 

Pragmatic games have become must-have at casinos

As with any other form of media entertainment, be it video games or movies or music, it’s not always easy to get a handle on what makes a product popular. At the developer level, the iGaming industry is hugely competitive, so it’s not always easy to stand out. The industry also has limitations in how it can advertise. You can’t, for example, put a television or billboard advertisement for a new Pragmatic game in the same manner as you would for the latest Marvel movie. As such, the popularity of games tends to be more organic, spreading by word of mouth (in the internet sense) as buzz is generated among players. 

One of the keys to Pragmatic’s rapid growth has been the focus on emerging markets. The European online gambling industry is the most mature market, and Pragmatic does well there by supplying top casinos with gaming products. But there is more opportunity to build infrastructure in Latin America and Asia. In the former, in particular, Pragmatic is quickly becoming the dominant force. 

In the United States, which represents the holy grail for many of these iGaming developers, there is opportunity too. Gambling is hardly new in a country that has cities like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, but the online market is only taking off. The 2018 Supreme Court decision on sports betting has turbo-charged growth in the online market, and developers want a slice of that American pie. 

It remains to be seen whether Pragmatic can become the top dog, but its growth has been incredible. There are some very big rivals, notably Evolution Gaming, which has itself seen huge growth. The old guard, including IGT, Playtech and Microgaming, will also not lightly give up their market share. But Pragmatic is riding on the coattails of an iGaming boom, and it might come out the other end as the biggest winner. 

 

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