The culture of mergers and acquisitions in the casino sector goes on with Scientific Games snapping up the deeds to Authentic Gaming.
The slots and table game specialist is making a clear play to buy into the live casino sector, with Authentic considered to be one of the finest purveyors of live dealer blackjack, roulette, baccarat and gameshow-style content around.
Scientific believe the move ‘significantly enhances’ their portfolio of products, with all bases now covered as they eye a bigger slice of the ever-expanding US market.
According to a press release from Scientific Games, the live dealer niche makes up for around 30% of the overall casino gaming market, and Barry Cottle – the CEO of Scientific – was excited to have Authentic on board.
“We are thrilled to have Authentic Gaming join the Scientific Games family and expand our premium product portfolio, as we execute on our vision to become the leading, cross-platform global game company,” he said.
“The collective power of Authentic, our proven table games titles and our OpenGaming platform allow us to capitalise on a growing US market opportunity with our unique omni-channel approach.”
It confirms Scientific’s considerable change in strategic direction – a process which began in October when they sold their lottery division, SG Lottery, to Brookfield Business Partners for a handy £4.4 billion.
The Real Deal
The perk of buddying up with Authentic Gaming is that the firm already has an extensive presence in the European market too, with their live dealer titles powering the ‘real world’ casino offering at more than 30 brands, including Entain’s casino portfolio as well as LeoVegas, Mr Green and 888, amongst others.
It’s been a busy few months for the outfit. In September, Authentic revealed they had penned a deal to further their partnership with Entain, bringing their live casino content to the firm’s partners – Bwin, PartyCasino and PokerCasino – in the Spanish market.
And in October, they revealed an expanded agreement with Betway, which saw Authentic add their live dealer games to the bookmakers’ casino channel in South Africa. That included their studio-based titles as well as their famed auto roulette canon
The Maltese firm owns their own studios on the continent, and it is from these that their immersive live roulette and blackjack games are filmed and live streamed to the devices of their players. Scientific have confirmed that they are eyeing the possibility of building a new studio somewhere in the United States to improve the ‘localisation’ of their new partnership.
The CEO of Authentic Gaming, Jonas Delin, was looking forward to seeing how the newly-expanded team would fare stateside.
“Scientific Games’ leading position in the US, their focus on quality games content and market-leading iGaming platform make them the ideal home for Authentic to expand our footprint in the U.S. and European markets,” he confirmed.
“Our proven technology and live dealer platform is ready for scale and now, as part of Scientific Games, we are able to embark on our studio expansion and game diversification strategy in full force.”