As reported on this web site final yr, NetEnt bought the up-and-coming on line casino software program developer Pink Tiger with a view to a £223 million deal being accomplished in 2020.
An update was reported in March, with NetEnt starting the method of integration with Pink Tiger and a few necessary restructuring plans. Relocating of workers and assets, and redundancies – 120 full-time positions are going – is hoped to supply NetEnt with a extra streamlined method within the coming years.
Right here’s NetEnt’s CEO, Therese Hillman, talking in March:
“We are actually coming into the following section of the mixing with Pink Tiger, whose sellers are additionally changing into shareholders of NetEnt. The combination will unleash the complete potential of our shared capabilities, create important effectivity good points in video games improvement and strengthen our place because the market chief in on-line on line casino.”
Nevertheless, on the client aspect, we’re starting to see a few of the tangible outcomes from the Pink Tiger and NetEnt partnership. Most notably, now we have seen the arrival of a brand new sport developed by NetEnt by Pink Tiger Studios – Gonzo’s Quest Megaways. You may see the sport at on line casino.com, a well-liked online casino in the United Kingdom, however the launch is attention-grabbing for a number of causes, not least as a result of the studio partnership on the sport was one thing of a shock.
Gonzo’s Quest among the many world’s most iconic video games
First, it must be famous that Gonzo’s Quest is one among NetEnt’s flagship video games, arguably becoming a member of Starburst as an important – and profitable – in NetEnt’s assortment. First launched in 2011, Gonzo’s Quest was seen as a groundbreaking sport on the time, and it turned a agency favorite of on line casino operators who would use the sport as a centrepiece for welcome bonuses and different promotions.
One other attention-grabbing facet right here is that this launch is NetEnt/Pink Tiger’s first foray into the “Megaways” style of on line casino slot. Megaways is a design idea, created by Australian developer Massive Time Gaming (BTG), that gives 1000s of successful mixtures for every spin. It actually exploded on to the scene from 2019 onwards, and BTG has determined to licence the design idea to rival builders. At a tough estimate, there are round 80 Megaways video games at present accessible, coming from builders as numerous as Blueprint Gaming, Scientific Video games, Pragmatic Play and Impressed Gaming.
Jackpot video games improvement can be essential
The essential level to grasp right here is that NetEnt has pushed one among its most iconic brands into the hands of Red Tiger Studios, and trusted its new accomplice studio not solely to deal with that model however to launch it into one of the vital necessary areas of contemporary on-line on line casino. It bodes effectively for the mixing of the 2 studios that the sport has been acquired effectively by gamers to this point.
Maybe extra importantly, although, we are going to see NetEnt start to dominate within the every day jackpot area. Whereas Gonzo’s Quest Megaways is a formidable sport, it seems like NetEnt might have accomplished the sport with out the assistance of Pink Tiger. In any case, NetEnt was capable of create a Megaways model of one other one among its basic video games, Twin Spin.
However you’ll suppose that one of many deal-breakers for the acquisition of Pink Tiger was the latter’s experience in every day jackpot video games. NetEnt has some positive progressive jackpot video games – Corridor of Gods, Mega Fortune – however it has by no means actually made an impression on the every day jackpots style. A every day jackpot is a sport with an ever-growing prize that should be gained by a sure time, or as soon as it reaches a selected determine. If Pink Tiger might help NetEnt dominate that market, the Swedish developer may quickly have the ability to time period itself the world’s largest on line casino video games developer.
