Software providers

To learn more about online casinos; it’s useful to delve into the software providers that supply the fantastic games which us players enjoy. In many ways, these are the unsung heroes of the industry. 

Other than a couple of exceptions, software providers and online casinos are entirely separate entities. The companies form partnerships so that the casino can offer the chosen software provider’s games to its players.

Some providers only focus on developing video slots while others have adopted a holistic approach, which also includes table games, video poker and scratch cards. Furthermore, there are specialist live casino software providers that operate the amazing live dealer side of the casino.

How software providers affect your casino experience

It’s human nature to have favourites and preferences. As a casino player, you like some games more than others, which usually means you favour software from certain developers. 

For example, progressive jackpot slot players tend to look for Microgaming software as its progressive games often have the largest jackpots. Fans of Marvel and DC Comics like to play at casinos with Playtech software as it owns the licences for these branded games, and high-stakes live roulette players often sway towards NetEnt Live casino software.

Put simply, knowing which software a casino uses is important as it will have an impact on your gaming experience. The purpose of playing online games is to be entertained, and the best software providers definitely achieve that.

However, knowledge of software and game features grows with playing, so where do you start as a newcomer? That is where Casino Select Canada is ready to step in. This page reveals the leading casino software providers for online slots, table games and live casinos. It’s a good place from which to begin your adventure.

Slot software

With advancements in digital capabilities, the evolution of slot software has come on in leaps and bounds over the past two decades. Modern video slots have state-of-the-art graphics that bring the games to life. Animations play a significant role in capturing a player’s attention and immersing them into the slot.

Gamification elements are now commonplace. Slots like Castle Builder are a shining example. With this game, besides merely spinning the reels, you must complete challenges and set to work building your castles. There’s so much to admire when you play online video slots, and Casino Select Canada lists the best casinos with the top slots.

More than one hundred slot providers are developing online casino games. Some of these are small, independent companies looking to make their mark, while others are mammoth organizations with multiple development studios under their supervision. 

• Microgaming
• NetEnt
• Playtech
• IGT
• Play’n GO
• Quickspin

Table games software

Online slots are not the only RNG games that have improved over the years; table games, such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and craps, have also been upgraded. The changes within table games software are on the visuals, the UI, and smoothness of gameplay. 

However, some developers have gone a step further. Yggdrasil introduced Sonya Blackjack. Sonya, who is the dealer, is a computer-generated 3D model. Yggdrasil used motion capture technology to study the moments of real-life live blackjack dealers, which are programmed into Sonya. The idea is to mimic the actions of real dealers, and thus to offer a more captivating blackjack experience.

These are some of the premier software providers that develop first-class table games.

• Betsoft
• Microgaming
• Yggdrasil
• NetEnt
• Playtech
• Novomatic
• Scientific Games

Live casino providers

The live casino is currently the fastest-growing vertical in the industry, and the top providers continue to revolutionize this niche with new games and technological upgrades to enrich the authentic playing experience.

Around five years ago, the list of live casino games consisted of roulette, baccarat, and blackjack. Now, you have sic bo, craps, dice, and numerous themed money wheel games, as well. A handful of live casino providers really stand out from the crowd in this space. Their games are of the highest quality, the dealers are professionally-trained, and the production studios replicate real-life casinos.

• Evolution Gaming
• NetEnt Live
• Pragmatic Play Live Casino (formerly Extreme Live Gaming)
• Playtech Live
• Ezugi (owned by Evolution)
• Authentic Gaming

NetEnt

NetEnt has been one of the leading suppliers of online casino games for more than 20 years. It has a portfolio brimming with innovative slots and high-quality table games. You can find NetEnt games at more than 200 casinos, which gives you some idea how popular this developer is.

Iconic slots such as Starburst, Mega Fortune, Gonzo’s Quest, Dead or Alive and Twin Spin, all bear the NetEnt label. The Professional Series is also the work of this developer. These are RNG table games like roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and TXS hold’em.

In addition, NetEnt Live is the company’s live casino solutions provider. It offers a variety of roulette and blackjack tables with betting limits to suit any size bankroll.

Microgaming

When you think of online casino pioneers, Microgaming is the first name that springs to mind. Credited with launching the world’s first online casino in 1994, this software provider, which has a library of 800+ games and 700 partner casinos, is unquestionably one of the biggest names in the industry.

Microgaming has a legion of player-favourite slots and table games in its portfolio. These are just a few of its top titles;

• Mega Moolah
• Sisters of Oz: WowPot
• Playboy Fortunes
• Immortal Romance
• Thunderstuck I & II
• Game of Thrones
• Gold Series: roulette, blackjack, and video poker

Evolution

When a company has won Live Casino Supplier of the Year at the EGR B2B Awards for 11 consecutive years, it’s fair to say that it is the market leader. Evolution Gaming first hit the scene in 2006, and it’s gone from strength to strength ever since.

It now has live studios all over the world, in places like Malta, Riga, Atlantic City, and right here in British Columbia, Canada. What is most impressive about Evolution Gaming is its portfolio. No other live casino comes close to matching the variety of games and tables that it offers. 

It provides the traditional classics, such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and multiple casino poker variants. Plus several game show style titles including:

• Monopoly Live
• Deal or No Deal
• Crazy Time
• Mega Ball
• Dream Catcher
• Football Studio

Big Time Gaming

Despite only being founded in 2011, Big Time Gaming (BTG) has rapidly risen up the ranks and is now regarded as one of the world’s best slot machine software developers. 

What put BTG firmly on the map was its Megaways game mechanic invention. Before this, most slots had 3, 4, or 5 reels which were 3 or 4 symbols high. Megaways was a game-changer. It introduced 6-reel slots with between 2 and 7 symbols on each reel, which produced a possible 117,649 ways to win. 

Such was the impact of Megaways, BTG began licensing it to other software houses. This has led to an explosion in Megaways slots in recent years. However, not resting on its laurels, Big Time Gaming has developed several other innovative game mechanics, including:

• Megaclusters – with the Megaclusters game mechanic, symbols that are part of a winning combination can split into four smaller ones. This creates a massive number of payout opportunities on any spin.
• Megaquads – in effect, Megaquads is four 4×4 slot games in one. Each one of the quads offers 256 ways to win, but during the bonus features, these quads can merge, leading to a staggering 65,536 possible ways to win.
• Megapays – only released in 2021, Megapays is BTG’s first game mechanic with a progressive jackpot. What’s unique about Megapays is that it’s a jackpot system which other software developers can plug their own games into, thus increasing the prize pool.

Among the most popular BTG slots are Bonanza, Monopoly Megaways, Wheel of Fortune Megaways, Extra Chilli and Danger High Voltage.

Red Tiger

Like BTG, Red Tiger is also redefining how players interact with online casino games. The software provider invented the unique Daily Drops Jackpot Network, which features three progressives:

• Super Drop – a regular progressive jackpot which keeps growing until one lucky player hits the payout.
• Daily Drop – this progressive is guaranteed to pay out randomly each day (within a 24-hour period).
• Hourly Drop – if the Daily Drop Jackpot is too long, at least you have a chance of winning the Hourly Drop. Payouts can reach four or five figures and they are guaranteed to drop once an hour.

Red Tiger’s portfolio of top-quality games continues to grow. Some of the favourites are Fruit Blox with its 10,000x win potential, Dragon’s Luck and Dynamite Riches. 

Since Red Tiger was acquired by NetEnt, it’s produced several popular Megaways slots, including Piggy Riches, Gonzo’s Quest Megaways, What the Fox Megaways and Pirates’ Plenty Megaways. Red Tiger fans can also enjoy a small selection of table games such as blackjack, roulette and baccarat.

Playtech

Playtech is one of the largest software providers in the business, with a portfolio of more than 500 games. In addition to its in-house development studio, Playtech Origins, this company also owns Ash Gaming, Playtech Vikings, Psiclone Games, Eyecon, Rarestone and Quickspin.

This provider has it all. It offers more progressive jackpot slots than any other developer, which include official DC Comics slots like The Dark Knight, Justice League, and Superman: Man of Steel. 

Playtech was also one of the first software houses to create entire series of games, like the award-winning Age of the Gods and Kingdoms Rise. Yet, it’s not just slots which make this developer one of the best. It has a full suite of stunning RNG table and card games. Plus, Playtech Live is one of the leading live casino specialists, too.

Quickspin

Founded in 2011, Quickspin has forged a reputation for creating immersive slot games with innovative features, eye-catching graphics and fantastic audio. Although its portfolio cannot match Microgaming and NetEnt in size, there is no disputing the quality.

Some of its most-played slots include Volcano Riches, which has a rewarding pays both ways free spins feature, and Sticky Bandits: Wild Returns, with extra-large 3×3 wild symbols generating enormous payouts.

Curiously, Quickspin has remastered three of its early slots: Big Bad Wolf, Sakura Fortune and Eastern Emeralds, but these new versions only offer an RTP between 90.01% and 90.12%, which is considerably lower than the originals. This is something to watch out for when playing Quickspin slots.

Play’n GO

Established in 1997, Play’n GO is one of the oldest software developers in the industry. It has a bulging portfolio packed with more than 250 titles.

Through the years, Play’n GO has released many player-favourite slots, including Moon Princess, Hugo Goal, Sizzling Spins and Pimped. It also boasts its own network of progressive jackpot slots, with some prizes reaching seven figures.

However, Play’n GO has more strings to its bow than just slot games. It has developed a collection of top-quality RNG casino poker games, such as Casino Hold’em and Casino Stud Poker, as well as several blackjack variants, roulette and blackjack.