NetEnt NetEnt (Net Entertainment)

Overview

NetEnt (Net Entertainment) is an online casino game developer launched in Stockholm, Sweden in 1996. It spun off from Cherryföretagen, a Swedish land-based casino operator, and is regarded as one of the leading companies that grew online slots as a genre.

It listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 2009 and was delisted in 2020 when it was acquired by the live casino company Evolution. Today it is the slot brand of the Evolution group, supplying more than 200 games to over 200 operators. The Swedish slot studio Thunderkick was also founded by former NetEnt developers.

History

Evolution acquisition

In 2020, Evolution acquired NetEnt for SEK 19.6 billion (about €1.91 billion). It was a share exchange rather than cash, giving 0.1306 Evolution shares for each NetEnt share, and when the additional acceptance period ended on November 30, 2020, Evolution held 96.8% of the shares and 98.6% of the votes.

After the acquisition, Evolution reorganized NetEnt from top to bottom. Already a leader in the live casino market, Evolution shut down NetEnt’s live casino business and focused it on slot development, aiming for annual cost savings of €30 million. NetEnt CEO Therese Hillman left the company in the first quarter of 2021 after completing the integration. Today NetEnt operates as one of Evolution’s slot brands, alongside Red Tiger, Big Time Gaming, and Nolimit City.

Top slots

Starburst (2012)

A 5-reel, 10-payline slot with a space gems theme. Its core feature is the expanding wild: when a wild lands on any of the middle three reels, it expands to fill the whole reel and awards a respin. It pays both ways, has low volatility, and is a prime example of a game with frequent small wins. Max win is 500x and hit frequency is about 22.7%. There are six RTP versions, ranging from 96.09% down to 90.05%.

Gonzo’s Quest (2010-2011)

This slot follows the Spanish explorer Gonzo on his search for El Dorado. Instead of spinning reels, stone blocks drop down, and winning blocks break apart as new ones fall in, a feature called “Avalanche Reels.” The multiplier rises with each consecutive win, reaching up to 15x in free spins. It is considered the forerunner of the chain-win (tumble and cascade) mechanic that is so common today.

Mega Fortune (2009)

A progressive jackpot slot with a wealthy theme of yachts and champagne. Jackpots of about €11.7 million in 2011 and about €17.8 million in 2013 set online slot jackpot records at the time.

Other popular titles

Dead or Alive, Twin Spin, Divine Fortune and others are NetEnt’s steady favorites.

NetEnt Touch

In 2014, NetEnt launched its mobile platform “NetEnt Touch” and converted its games to HTML5. It was one of the early examples of letting players enjoy slots directly in a phone browser without installing an app.

Industry standards created by NetEnt

Many of NetEnt’s games have become the “basic grammar” of online slots today.

In particular, Gonzo’s Quest’s Avalanche raises the multiplier with each consecutive win, and can be seen as the root of today’s tumble games like Pragmatic Play‘s Sweet Bonanza and Gates of Olympus.

Features of NetEnt games

NetEnt within the Evolution group

After being acquired by Evolution, NetEnt became the group’s flagship slot brand. The same group includes Red Tiger, Big Time Gaming, and Nolimit City, so NetEnt’s classic games are often reborn with the mechanics of other studios. NetEnt’s live casino business overlapped with Evolution Live and was wound down at the end of 2020.