The variety of online casino games depends on the casino software

In common with almost every internet website attempting to appeal to the general public all the online casinos must have good casino software to survive. We have all walked out of a shop at some time in our lives because of poor service or even an uninviting atmosphere, and most of us have also come across at least one website which we found difficult to navigate or lacking in information. Operating an online gambling site is similar in many respects to running an internet retail operation. The software defines the layout of the site and more importantly controls the financial aspects of the site, including the security of their customers’ identity and personal information. These requirements are clearly important for any internet site dealing with the public, but operating an online casino relies even more heavily on the quality of the casino software than most because the casino software is also instrumental in the product being offered, namely the casino games. Even the traditional casino games such as roulette and blackjack rely on the quality of the casino software graphics so that we enjoy playing the game. When the major bookmakers started offering online sports gambling to their customers the requirements of the software were no more comprehensive than would be necessary to manage any internet retail site, but when they decided to dedicate part of their site to an online casino those requirements changed completely. The vast majority of the casino games you will find on any online casino site are variations of slots games and video slots, and all of these games are designed and supplied by the casino software company. Many of these slots games are based on popular television programmes, or blockbuster films. Some of them even feature iconic cartoon characters, but all of these themed casino games will almost certainly have needed someone to negotiate the copyright issues with the relevant media and film companies. That work is also the responsibility of the casino software supplier, and is further evidence of just how important the role of the casino software companies has become in the online casino sector. It also explains how the casino software sector came to be dominated by just a few big players in the early days of online casinos, because all the bookmakers setting up their online casinos needed these companies to provide their casino games.

Of these specialist casino software suppliers dominating the market, the biggest and most influential in the early days of online casinos was and is undoubtedly Playtech. Founded in 1999 in Estonia they began supplying casino software in 2001 and were then the first to develop the idea of a Live casino streamed from a studio. Soon after that they launched their Bingo and Poker platforms, both of which were very successful and led to the company expanding very rapidly. Their biggest assets however were their copyright agreements with Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment, which enabled them to design and supply casino games based on the films and comic book stars of these two huge media and entertainment companies. Playtech is still the biggest online casino software supplier and their software is currently used by William Hill, Betfred and Bet365. Ladbokes have also started to develop their software with Playtech since signing an agreement last year.

The biggest and most popular online casino operator in Ireland is of course Paddy Power, and Paddy Power have chosen to use casino software from a company called Wagerworks for their online casino. Wagerworks was original a subsidiary of Silicon Gamimg, a manufacturer of slot machines, and although now a totally independent company concentrating solely on providing online casino software many believe it has benefitted from experience in the real casino world. Paddy Power use the Wagerworks software across the whole of their online casino site, but both 888 casino and Bet365 casino offer slots games supplied by Wagerworks.

Another of the big online casinos on our recommended list that does not use Playtech software is Bwin. The casino software for the Bwin casino is supplied by Chartwell Technology, a Canadian company which was established in 1998 and is listed on the Toronto stock exchange. Chartwell are licensed to operate in all the regulated markets around the world and supply casino software, games and gaming systems all over the world with offices in England, Malta and Singapore. They have also recently signed a licensing agreement with the betting exchange operator Betfair, which strengthens their profile even more.

Another of the big online casino software suppliers is NetEntertainment or NetEnt for short. The NetEnt casino software is behind the success of our other growing Irish online casino, the All Irish casino. NetEnt is a Swedish company which is again solely focussed on providing casino software and good quality casino games. Interestingly since the launch of the All Irish casino it is not only the quality of the NetEnt games which has attracted attention, the quality of their graphics has also been highly praised. Although the All Irish casino is currently the only online casino on our recommended list to use the NetEnt software as a complete package, you will also find some of the slots games featured on the new CasinoLand casino.

Finally we should mention Microgaming, one of the oldest online casino software suppliers and again very influential in the early years of the development of online casinos. Microgaming remains a private company and is based in the Isle of Man. Their biggest claim to fame is that they supplied the slots game which created the first dollar millionaire from playing online casino games. Perhaps more importantly they were also the first casino software supplier to develop software enabling us to play roulette, blackjack and craps in a download format. We have already mentioned that CasinoLand offer some NetEnt games, but they also offer games from Microgaming making an interesting collection between the two of them.

Another new online casino which has already made our recommended list is CasinoCasino, and here for the first time you will find casino games supplied by Amatic Industries. The slot machines designed by Amatic Industries are praised all over the world, but this is the first time the games have been available online.