Pragmatic Play is a major provider of gambling software that primarily specializes in creating online slots. The company has been operating in the industry de jure since 2015, but its de facto roots date back to 2007. And initially, the developer did not have the best reputation. Pragmatic Play is the heir to the rather scandalous TopGame Technology company. It was founded in 2007, and despite the US ban on online gambling (UIGEA) in 2006, it chose the United States of America as its target market.
Already in 2008, TopGame launched several casinos, including Rome Casino, Casino Spin, and Diamond. All these sites turned out to be contradictory. TopGame casinos delayed payments to their customers, refused to pay progressive jackpots, and did not pay rewards to their partners.
In 2011, the CasinoMeister service added the provider to the blacklist. Despite this, the company continued to gradually expand. So in 2012, TopGame released a client for Mac OS, in 2013 it opened a new office in Hong Kong, and a year later it acquired a license from Curacao eGaming.
And this is against the background of a DDoS attack on Rome Casino, which was organized by users, as well as a number of evidence of fraud. It seemed that the reputation of this developer was tarnished forever.
New page in history
A new round in the history of TopGame Technology began in 2015. Then a group of investors, led by the concern from Hong Kong and the UK IBID Group, bought out the long-suffering provider and renamed it Pragmatic Play. One of the leaders of IBID-David Barzilei is involved in the launch of the casino 21.com.
With the new name and manual, the vector has changed 180 degrees. From an unreliable developer with a strange reputation, Pragmatic Play managed to turn into one of the leaders. The only thing that connects the Pragmatist with TopGame is a few games that the newly formed provider inherited.
Since 2015, Pragmatic Play has presented about a hundred games. The company has acquired a license from the gambling commissions of the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Malta, Romania, and the Philippines. Software is regularly checked by independent testing and certification organizations: QUINEL, Gaming Labs, BMM.
Over the past three years, more than a hundred Pragmatic Play online casinos have been chosen as a software provider. The provider managed to enter into partnership agreements with a group of reputable platforms and companies: NYX, iSoftBet, BetConstruct, Playtech, SoftSwiss, QuickFire, GamingTec, Betsoft Gaming and others.
Now Pragmatic Play is an international company with almost three hundred employees. It has offices in Malta, Ukraine, Romania, the Philippines, and India. In just three years, the provider has gone from ugly duckling to industry leader.
The entire industry recognizes the success of Pragmatic Play. As proof – regular inclusion in the list of nominees at the EGR awards. In 2017, I even managed to win in one of the categories – “Rising Star of the industry”. The developer regularly participates in gambling shows and exhibitions.
Games from Pragmatic Play
In total, the Pragmatic Play portfolio includes over 150 games. Almost 100 of them are compatible with mobile devices. The developer actively converts old games from FLASH to HTML5. They are available in both browser-based and downloadable formats.
In 2017-2018, the portfolio of games and slots for Pragmatic Play Casino was expanded with three dozen titles. In some months, the developer presents 3-4 new products. This is in parallel with the signing of new agreements with platforms and software distributors.
The first product of Pragmatic Play after the rebranding was the 7 monkeys slot. The seven in the name is the number of active paylines. Standard mechanics: 5×3. The slot machine is low-volatility, and its key feature is free spins, which open when 3-5 bananas appear on the reels. You can get a maximum of 150 free spins with a 3x multiplier.
Probably the biggest hit among the slots for Pragmatic Play online casino is Joker’s Jewels. This is a progressive jackpot slot machine with five active paylines. In addition to the chance to hit a big jackpot, the slot already has a high RTP (96.5%).
The line of classic slots with a 3×3 playing field is not very rich (6 titles), but all the games stand out for their unusual design and high RTP. For example, the return of the 888 Dragons slot machine is 96.84%.
The design of the Pragmatic Play slots shows that the designers are working on each game, because the symbols and sound almost never repeat themselves. RTP is consistently above 96%. Although in old slot machines there is even a return of 93%. Animations are found, but not at the same level as in BetSoft or NetEnt. Genres are very diverse: adventure, Ancient Egypt, Asia and the East, animals, Vegas, sports. There are additional settings for auto-spins: stop-loss, stop-win. You can disable the effects.
For online casinos, Pragmatic Play selects the best bonus program and provides tools for tracking statistics. The portfolio includes four slots with jackpots: Joker’s Jewels, Fire 88, Fairytale Fortune, Monkey Madness.
Pragmatic Play also develops in other areas. In addition to slots, the developer’s portfolio contains:
- Seven games in the ScratchCard category;
- Three board games;
- One video poker game;
- Keno and the Go mini-game!
Results
Since 2015, Pragmatic Play has been an exemplary developer who has been recognized in the industry. The company is actively expanding its games library and scales up through collaboration with reputable platforms and providers. Today, games produced by Pragmatic Play can be found on the websites of the largest online casinos: LeoVegas, William Hill, Mr. Green, BetSafe, BitStarz, SlotsMillion, InterWetten, BitCasino…
The developer plans to release a series of bingo games and obtain permits in new jurisdictions.