If you’ve been in the gambling scene for any amount of time, you don’t necessarily need an introduction to Evolution. In fact, its website does the job best: “We are game creators and game changers.” As a parent company, Evolution manages a portfolio of big brands, such as NetEnt and Nolimit City, across 54 jurisdictions or states offering online casino games to businesses. With its acquisition of Galaxy Gaming, this portfolio just got bigger.
– 2006: Evolution founded
– 2012: Launches mobile games
– 2013: Spain studio opens
– 2014: Malta Studio opens
– 2015: Belgium studio opens
– 2016: Romania studio opens
– 2018: Launches in the US and Canada
– 2018: Acquires Ezugi
– 2020: Acquires NetEnt, Red Tiger
– 2021: Acquires Big Time Gaming and Digiwheel
– 2022: Acquires Nolimit City
– 2024: Acquires Livespins and Galaxy Gaming
Even if acquisitions weren’t part of the business model initially, with Evolution taking around 12 years to make its first major M&A, we can see from the timeline that the business was never shy about expanding. Between 2013 and 2018, entering a new market was almost an annual occurrence for the supplier. Of course, 2018 was also the year of their first acquisition.
Ezugi
On 21 November 2018, Evolution entered into an agreement to acquire Ezugi, a live dealer gaming provider. The all-cash deal was worth $12m and included a possible additional consideration of a maximum of $6m.
This deal aligned well with Evolution at that time. Ezugi operated from several studios around the world, where live dealers would be livestreamed to audiences on online casinos, retail casinos and betting shops. It had established itself in New Jersey, Oklahoma, Europe, Latin America and South Africa. Notably, Ezugi and Evolution were the only regulated Live Casino providers in the US at the time, so uniting the two under one umbrella was a smart move.
NetEnt
In June 2020, NetEnt accepted a SEK 19.6bn ($2.1bn) offer from Evolution to acquire 90% of NetEnt’s shares. The deal took a few months to navigate the various legal thresholds, but it was eventually closed around December of the same year. Some of the biggest titles from NetEnt include Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest and Twin Spin.
“We constantly have to move forward to be relevant 10 years from now and well into the future” – Martin Carlesund, Evolution CEO
Once Evolution completed the acquisition, it closed down the NetEnt Live business, resulting in hundreds of job losses from the Qormi live studio. Evolution confirmed that a ‘total reorganisation and integration’ of NetEnt would see it ‘streamline the business’ of developing slot games instead. While this meant the live dealer segments would be concentrated between Evolution and Ezugi studios, it was still interesting to see a company that had focused on its live dealer arm only two years before closing its newly acquired one down.
The focus, clearly, was on NetEnt’s RNG games.
Red Tiger
On 5 September 2019, NetEnt acquired Red Tiger in a £220m ($272.1m) all-cash deal. Red Tiger was a supplier of online cash games and daily jackpot games, with some of its biggest titles including Wrigley’s World, London Tube, Lucky Mr Green and Case Closed.
While Evolution didn’t acquire Red Tiger directly, the studio was included when Evolution acquired NetEnt a year later. There was some speculation about whether this actually drew Evolution’s attention in the first place – as NetEnt’s share price was at a five-year low at the time, but this soared 30% after the deal. As for Evolution, Red Tiger had a healthy slot portfolio, which would’ve made for an excellent addition to the business focusing on this side of the industry at the time.
Big Time Gaming
On 12 April 2021, Evolution entered an agreement to acquire Big Time Gaming (BTG) for €450m ($534.5m). BTG was known for its online casino games, including Bonanza and Extra Chilli, but more notably its Megaways game mechanic. Since its initial release in 2016, it had licensed the feature out to several studios, including Pragmatic Play, Reel Kingdom and Playtech.
“The sale of BTG to Evolution is an exact meeting of minds. The acquisition’s industrial transformation will be viewed historically as the ‘iPod’ moment of gaming” – Nik Robinson, Big Time Gaming CEO
Even BTG knew how big this was, stating that “the acquisition’s industrial transformation will be viewed historically as the ‘iPod’ moment of gaming.” Even without the healthy library of games in the BTG library, the Megaways mechanic alone made this an exceptional move on Evolution’s part. It’s proven to be a big hit with customers and is easily integrateable with almost all themes and gameplay loops.
DigiWheel
October 9 2021 saw Evolution enter into an agreement with DigiWheel to acquire the developer of the world’s first patented HD spinning gaming wheels for €1m. The fully rotating wheels would be integrated into Evolution’s existing portfolio, which already included several wheel-based games such as Crazy Time and Dream Catcher. The wheels also have an HD screen, which could run all of Evolution’s game show wheel content.
As acquisitions go, you can’t ask for a more on-brand one than this. At the time of the deal, gameshow games were starting to take off in popularity, and something as simple as a high-quality wheel could set you apart from competitors in the field.
Nolimit City
Five acquisitions weren’t enough, so on 22 June 2022, Evolution acquired Nolimit City for €200m. The online slot provider is most well-known for titles such as Punk Rocker 2, Beheaded, Loner and The Cage.
“The slot vertical is under massive change, and we can’t wait to take on the challenge of global expansion together with Evolution” – Jonas Tegman, Nolimit City Co-Founder
With such a distinct art style and direction, this may have seemed like a curveball for Evolution to acquire Nolimit City, but if you take a holistic look at the business at this point then it makes complete sense. What would be the point of acquiring a company that simply ‘makes slot games,’ when it already has several distinct slot providers under its umbrella? Well, its unique nature is probably what caught Evolution’s eye, especially when its latest releases like Loner aren’t following any traditional trends, but are instead likely the result of strong creative direction and freedom.
Livespins
Even this year, Evolution has kept going. On 6 February 2024, Evolution agreed to acquire Livespins for €5m. Rather than being a live dealer studio, Livespins is actually a B2B platform that enables social streaming where an audience can bet behind brand ambassadors and influencers.
This was an unusual acquisition on Evolution’s part, even with its previous focus on live games. Chris Scicluna, Livespins CEO, even said: “Although we have content from 40-plus studios already integrated, we are still in a start-up phase, so to attract the attention of Evolution is incredible.” At least it attracts a new crowd to the Evolution library, which is rarely a bad thing.
Galaxy Gaming
On 18 July 2024 (yesterday), Evolution entered into an agreement to acquire Galaxy Gaming for $85m. Again, rather than being a slot game studio, Galaxy Gaming is a developer and distributor of casino table games and technology solutions. In the press release, Evolution explained: “With the acquisition of Galaxy Gaming, Evolution solidifies its presence in the US market and enhances its position as a leading licensor of proprietary table games to the online gaming industry.”
“At Evolution, we are never satisfied, we are always pushing to be better at what we do, raising the bar for ourselves and our colleagues” – Martin Carlesund, Evolution CEO
With this acquisition, Evolution’s North American ambitions are clear to see.
Gambling Insider’s conclusion
Within the last few years, we can see a definite trend forming; Evolution is starting to cover a lot of different bases and channels. First, there were live dealers, then online slots, then physical wheels, then a live-stream platform, and now with its latest deal, table games and solutions.
This diversification from Evolution is smart, as it spreads out revenue streams from different aspects of the industry. When it’s laid out so clearly like this, you can’t help but wonder whether Evolution is chasing the likes of IGT, Aristocrat and Light & Wonder – other industry giants also renowned for a wide product offering.
IGT may be best known for its global lottery endeavours, but its other avenues aren’t minor by any means. IGT also offers gaming products, which much like its lottery services, can then be broken down again into systems and cabinet hardware, a games library and supporting programs. In its FY2023, gaming made up $1.5bn of the $4.3bn revenue total; and in Q1 2024, the $1.1bn revenue was split between $661m from lottery and $406 from gaming respectively.
While there are some avenues Evolution is less likely to go down, such as esports or horseracing, who’s to say it won’t look into video poker next, or perhaps a focus on bingo and social casinos? What about a payments provider acquisition, or a big aggregator platform?
Whether Evolution is trying out the same diverse business model as IGT or not, Martin Carlesund Evolution CEO summed it up best in the most recent interim report: “We will continue to innovate and break new ground leading the way in providing the games of the future. We constantly have to move forward to be relevant 10 years from now and well into the future.
“At Evolution we are never satisfied, we are always pushing to be better at what we do, raising the bar for ourselves and our colleagues. I want to thank my amazing Evolution team – let’s make Evolution a little better every day – together!“
