How Playtech’s Proposed Takeover Impacts Online Games Like Roulette

Playtech is one of the most successful software developers in the gambling industry. They create everything from live online games like poker and bingo, to fixed-odds betting software and even online sports betting software. If you’ve ever played an online casino game then you’ve probably used Playtech software without realising it.

A Look at Playtech

Over the last few months, Playtech has been in the news after Australian based leisure company, Aristocrat made an offer to buy 100% of the company. Aristocrat specialises in manufacturing gambling machines and doesn’t currently have any focus on online gaming, so it’s possible that they’re looking to expand by acquiring Playtech. With Aristocrat’s bid accepted and the takeover set to be complete by Q2 of 2022, it’s time to start thinking ahead to how the Playtech sale to Aristocrat might impact online casino games.

Aristocrat are one of the most well-known companies that create machinery for physical casinos and gaming shops, while Playtech has a focus on the online gaming world. On the surface, it may sound like the two companies wouldn’t go together but there are ways that they could collaborate to change the face of online gaming.

What Do Playtech Offer?

Playtech functions roulette sites, bingo, casinos and much more. One of Playtech’s biggest products is their range of live online games – the company create software for casinos to host live bingo games, poker and roulette to name a few. These games are live but run solely for online users. With Aristocrat’s focus on physical games, it’s quite likely that this would be the first area that we would see change. Industry experts have discussed the possibility of Aristocrat developing a way to host hybrid games. These games would see gamers in physical casinos play alongside online users, with the game being streamed live from a real-life casino. This strategy would allow the same number of dealers to host double the games, rather than paying separate dealers to host online-only games.

This could also be used as a way to draw online gamers into visiting land-based casinos. This hybrid way of playing could prove highly successful or a complete flop, depending on how it’s done. The new model could add an exciting element of more competition and interaction with in-person players, but some might find it distracting from the game itself.

Will This Affect Game Play?

If you are someone that enjoys playing roulette online then you would be forgiven for worrying that so many changes might affect your gameplay and how you can access the chance to have a spin on the roulette wheel online. However, be assured that the online casino industry is big business and in general is currently doing extremely well and as such, nothing will be massively changing in the near future. Of course, as you may imagine companies like Playtech are keen to keep up with technology and ensure that the games they are offering are as fun and easy to play as possible – so you may well see improvements in gameplay when it comes to roulette and other online casino games, but no major changes.

How the iGaming Industry is Adapting

Another way that we may see online games changing is slight adjustments in the software to align online and in-store gaming. With Playtech creating the software for online gaming and Aristocrat creating machinery for physical stores the same software could be adapted to work for both mobile and in-store platforms and offer a level of continuity. Much like many online games have a membership element where you can sign in to save your progress, this same kind of community element could be used to offer extra rewards for playing the same game, like bonuses once you get to a certain number of spins, with both online and in-store gaming counting towards the total.

Aristocrat could even use this as a way to boost the footfall in physical casinos by offering rewards that can only be obtained in-store and vice versa with online games.

What Does This Mean For The Future?

Playtech and Aristocrat are both hugely successful companies in their own rights and the minimal overlap of each company’s strengths makes the possibilities for the future almost endless. While some might be concerned about Aristocrat’s lack of experience in mobile gaming, there’s no doubt that it’s going to be an exciting time for both companies and their respective investors. Advances in technology in recent years have seen a huge number of opportunities open up across all sectors and a lot of that technology has been slow to filter into the gambling industry that are usually quite set in their ways. The acquisition of Playtech would be the perfect opportunity for Aristocrat to try something new, create their own play style and really shake up the industry as it currently stands.

However, one thing we can be sure of is that the online casino industry is one that will continue to do well. We know that the success of this industry has been driven largely by circumstances over the past couple of years, but with more people than ever now aware of iGaming and how easy it is, the success of the industry isn’t something that is going to change overnight. Yes, we may well see other takeovers and companies merging as the industry grows and companies adapt in order to keep up with this growth, but with regards to the culture of the online gaming industry, things are looking pretty solid. One of the best things about companies like this merging, sharing resources and/or taking over one another is that they get to swap the best bits of the company and help create the online gaming platform. Anyone who has been involved in online gambling for more than a handful of years will be used to seeing how platforms have changed and improved over the years, but in general takeovers like this only enhance the user experience rather than hinder it.