Novomatic Novomatic
One of Europe's largest gambling companies, founded in Austria in 1980 by Johann Graf. It both manufactures slot machines and operates casinos and gaming halls, and supplies online slots like "Book of Ra" and "Sizzling Hot" through its subsidiary Greentube.
| English | Novomatic |
|---|---|
| Classification | Providers |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | Johann Graf (still owner) |
| Headquarters | Gumpoldskirchen, Austria |
| Employees | About 21,000 (2021) |
| Revenue | About €1.8 billion (2021) |
| Business | Slot machine manufacturing, casino and gaming hall operations, online games |
| Online subsidiary | Greentube (acquired 2010) |
| Signature games | Book of Ra, Sizzling Hot, Lucky Lady's Charm |
| Official site | novomatic.com |
Overview
Novomatic is a gambling company founded in Austria in 1980 by Johann Graf. Its headquarters is in Gumpoldskirchen, south of Vienna. It is a manufacturer of slot machines and also directly operates nearly 2,000 casinos and gaming halls in about 50 countries. As of 2021, about 21,000 people worked there, and revenue was about 1.8 billion euros.
Founder Johann Graf started in the 1970s with a business importing pinball machines, and he still owns the company.
Business model
| Divisions | Details |
|---|---|
| Machine manufacturing | Slot machines and terminals for gaming halls. One of the manufacturers that adopted touchscreens early |
| Gaming hall operation | “Admiral” brand casinos and gaming halls, Germany’s Löwen Entertainment (500+ gaming halls), and others |
| Online | Its subsidiary Greentube handles online slot development and supply |
| Equity investments | Largest shareholder of the Australian slot company Ainsworth Game Technology (since 2018) |
Top slots
| Games | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Book of Ra | A theme of an explorer searching for Egyptian ruins. A single symbol expands across the whole reel during free spins, and it became the prototype for countless “Book of” slots that followed |
| Sizzling Hot | A simple classic 5-reel slot with fruit symbols. It has only basic wins, with no bonus |
| Lucky Lady’s Charm | A classic slot with a luck theme |
| Dolphin’s Pearl | A classic slot with an ocean theme |
Novomatic slots are known for the “classic Novo” style long loved in German-speaking gaming halls. They favor simple structures over flashy features, and often use the gamble feature (staking your win to guess a card color).
Greentube
Greentube is an online gaming subsidiary that Novomatic acquired in 2010. It brings Novomatic’s popular offline slots online and also creates new online slots. In 2021, the UK Gambling Commission imposed a fine of about 685,000 pounds on Greentube for inadequate anti-money laundering measures.
Controversies
Given its size, it has also drawn controversy in several countries. In 2014 it settled with Italian tax authorities for 47.5 million euros, and allegations related to lobbying and corruption have been raised in Poland and Romania. In Austria, its name also came up during the investigation of the 2019 political scandal (the “Ibiza affair”). These cases show that the relationship between large gambling companies and politics and regulators is always under scrutiny.
The prototype of the “Book of” genre
The core feature of Book of Ra is that when free spins begin, one randomly chosen symbol becomes a “special expanding symbol.” If enough of this symbol appears during free spins, it spreads across the entire reel regardless of paylines and creates a big win. This simple yet tense structure became hugely popular, and other providers produced similar games such as “Book of Dead” and “Book of Cats.” That is how “Book of” came to be a genre of its own.
The German market and Novomatic
Novomatic holds a large share of the German gaming hall (slot arcade) market. In 2021, Germany legalized online slots under a new interstate gambling treaty and introduced strict rules such as a 1 euro bet limit and a 5-second spin interval (Germany’s GGL). So the Novomatic classic slots familiar to German players are offered online in versions adapted to these rules.
What to know when playing classic slots
- Classic Novo slots may have an RTP around 95%, lower than modern online slots. Check the game info screen (RTP).
- In games without a bonus, like Sizzling Hot, wins come only from the base game, so the flow is monotonous, but the structure is easy to understand.
- The gamble feature does not raise the expected value. It only increases volatility.
Headquarters
Novomatic is headquartered in Gumpoldskirchen, Austria.