Online Casino Software

Casino websites have only existed since the mid-1990s and the graphics and games you see have been continuously evolving since then. When you log on first it may seem like each casino site has its own unique interface but this is only because the casino operators control the layout of their site and attempt to give them their own unique appearance with the aid of some catchy graphics and animations. Once you start playing games in earnest it soon becomes clear that the games themselves are similar across the industry. This is because the casino operators do not make the vast majority of games themselves. This has evolved into a specialist part of the industry, with just a few large casino software providers producing the vast majority of the software that’s used by the casino operators. They produce new casino games regularly and their software is then licenced by the casino site.
This set-up may seem a bit strange initially, with hundreds of online casino sites effectively offering only a limited choice of games. However, given the inevitable problem with rogue operators, it makes sense from a security point of view. If a casino is using software from one of the major casino software providers you can be fairly sure that the gambling and payouts will be managed in a fair manner. These providers specialise in gambling software and their reputations depend on the software working efficiently and securely, with minimal chances of it being exploited by rogue operators for financial gain at your expense.

Playing Experience

The obvious implication of this structure in the casino industry is that there will be similarity in the gameplay across a wide range of web casinos. This is especially so because in general each online casino tends to enter into an exclusive agreement with one of the major software providers to only use their software and games. However, this does not mean that internet casinos are all the same. Online casinos can and do offer games from other providers, and sometimes even produce their own exclusive games. Because of the nature of their arrangement with the software provider though, this means that regularly they will not be able to offer these games in the ‘online casino’ section of the site so they may have a separate ‘games’,‘vegas’,‘skills’ section where you can access them. The games offered in the casino itself may differ as well, as casino software providers produce and licence a large number of games and not all will be taken by any one casino operator. The general layout of the casino site will be managed by the casino operator themselves too, so will you always find there is a difference in the user experience across online casinos. However, there are limited numbers of software providers for casinos so you will notice similarities in gameplay between websites. For this reason, it is worth noting which software you like the best as this may give a good indication of other online casinos which you will probably enjoy playing in. The same applies to live casino sites as besides the video feeds there's also requirements to run the software of the games and often the same software vendors are used.

The major casino software companies

There are many casino software providers but the majority of online casino websites use software from a few major companies. This is because these companies have a good reputation for producing quality games and offer security, peace-of-mind and a familiar playing experience to the customer of the casino. The main companies, who are worth looking out for, include:

• Playtech
• Microgaming
• Cryptologic
• IGT/Wagerworks

Each one is different in their own way and all together power the most advanced casino entertrainment in the world.