6 minute read
INDUSTRY PROFILE
RELAX GAMING
Relax Gaming is a leading supplier and aggregator of award-winning content including slots, jackpots, bingo, and poker. Founded in 2010 with the goal of simplifying B2B content delivery for the modern iGaming landscape, Relax revolutionized business practices and brought about a streamlined way of working. With integrity at its core and differentiation in its DNA, the company grew from strength to strength and stretched this goal further, propelling the aggregation integration process forward with Relax Apex® and driving differentiation through each of its casino verticals.
STRIVING TO CONTINUALLY push boundaries and reinvigorate the market with unique offerings, Relax not only builds its own innovative products but supports other unique studios via its aggregation programs: Powered By Relax (commercially independent partners) and Silver Bullet (commercially represented partners). Its selective process means that each individual studio that joins their roster is immensely talented, reliable, and geographically located to benefit its operators. By providing its casino clients with games from all over the world, Relax Gaming provides them with localized content for their international player base.
Today, Relax Gaming delivers over 3,000 games from more than 75 hand-picked studios to 650+ operator brands at unrivaled speed. A one-time integration process through the Relax Apex framework provides regulatory-coherent, quality-assured content in days rather than weeks, cutting labour and processing time by more than half.
Regulated markets are also at the heart of its growth strategy, with licenses held in multiple jurisdictions including: the Malta Gaming Authority, the Gibraltar Licensing Authority, the UK Gambling Commission, the Romanian National Gaming Office (ONJN), and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). In addition to licensed operations, Relax Gaming fully supports regulated markets such as Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Italy, with Spain and Colombia joining soon.
With business simplicity and collaboration central to its ethos, its rapid and sustained expansion has been conceived in order to deliver unparalleled global reach. Since acquiring its Ontario registration early in 2022, Relax offers its full award-winning casino portfolio as well as those of 14 of its studio partners so far. With a roadmap loaded with varied RTP content that is certified for Ontario, the sky's the limit for Canadian operators. Relax Gaming is currently live with five operators in the country, namely: BetMGM, Entain, LeoVegas, Royal Panda, and CoolBet - and many more in the pipeline.
The qualities of technical excellence, market-leading content, and rapid market growth combine to create fruitful foundations for growth and innovation. Driven by a need for differentiation, Relax Gaming provides end-to-end service with quality at its core.
CANADA CALLING FOR RELAX GAMING
BY ALEXIA SMILOVIC RØNDE
Ontario has had an incredible journey to reach this regulatory point, becoming one of the most promising markets in the whole of North America. The board is now set for earlyadopting B2B companies to attain considerable market share, with a team sheet of big names now operating or pursuing licenses and set to play a major part in introducing Europe’s most prominent studios to the market.
THIS IS NO SMALL ADVANTAGE, as Ontario will comfortably rival the biggest U.S. states as it reaches maturity. Key to this progress will be the AGCO’s substantial and competitive regulatory model, which is more reminiscent of European regulation than it is of any framework we have seen in North America to date.
Not only does this bode well for European legacy suppliers and operators in Ontario, but it sets a good example for neighbouring provinces, which may be likely to follow suit once the jurisdiction’s potential and lucrativeness become evident.
Particularly positive is that, unlike in regulated U.S. markets, it is not only local land-based operators that can be granted licenses, meaning there is not an arbitrary cap on the number that can be issued.
The jurisdiction has also decided not to put a restriction on brands or skins for each operator, making a great deal of diversity available to players. What this means is that we effectively have a blank slate for the industry to be market-makers, as, with the monopoly of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation over, the landscape is completely open.
Under the new regulation, I have no doubt that we are going to see a major play from pure Canadian companies as well as U.S. operators quickly expanding across the borders in a race with their European counterparts. Particularly attractive
is the very reasonable $100,000 annual license fee and 20 per cent tax rate – compared to New York, there is quite a substantial difference.
This will all serve to make Ontario an ultra-competitive landscape, which we at Relax Gaming believe will attract a huge number of operators. Adding to this promise is the fact that the AGCO’s technical standards are centred around responsible gambling requirements. As a result, we are looking at an incredibly safe environment for players – which is one that could attract many risk-averse brands north of the border.
RELAX IN NORTH AMERICA
We are proud to say that Relax Gaming was live with the market’s key operators on Ontario’s April 4 opening day, and we are actively preparing upcoming go-live dates with operators awaiting imminent registration approval. We were also one of the first to secure B2B registration, which has allowed our Silver Bullet and Powered By Relax aggregation partners to benefit from these sheltering conditions, making for a great suite of casino content on top of our award-winning games portfolio.
Naturally, most would say the U.S. is the next logical step for Relax Gaming. This is especially the case given the difficulty that other Canadian provinces are not likely to be as fast to open a regulated market as Ontario has been. In the meantime, however, the province represents a unique opportunity for Relax Gaming to smoothly set foot in North America and steadily grow our extensive global distribution network there.
Given how our products have performed in Europe’s more mature markets, we expect the eventual transition into the U.S. to go relatively smoothly. With a great deal of cultural crossover between the U.S. and Europe, we will naturally optimise our already formidable offering to appeal to a U.S. audience by doing so in Ontario.
DRIVING DIFFERENTIATION – PLENTY OF WORK TO BE DONE
Of course, the situation is not without its challenges. No newly regulated market promises to be entirely straightforward. Noteworthy is the fact that the landbased incumbents are fiercely lobbying against any further regulatory precedent, which is to be expected.
However, if Ontario succeeds in establishing a fully controlled diverse and dynamic gaming landscape, it will set an undeniable precedent that will be difficult for other provinces to ignore. We at Relax Gaming and our partners are committed to contributing to that initial success.
That being said, Canada’s other provinces are either tied with exclusive operator models or may not have the same freedom to explore the benefits of a multiple licensing compared with a single one – it will take time, and the incentive to do so will very much depend on the success achieved in Ontario.
It is early days, but the initial signs are that this is the beginning of a truly seismic iGaming market. There are some wrinkles to be ironed out, but the sheer potential of this jurisdiction will make the effort well worth the while.
Alexia Smilovic Rønde is Chief Regulatory Officer at Relax Gaming and boasts 11 years’ experience in the online gaming industry, combining regulatory, compliance, product, operations, and business expertise across worldwide jurisdictions.
Canada’s gaming industry is evolving. Are you ready?
The Aird & Berlis Gaming Group is a highly-experienced, multi-disciplinary team that provides specialized and sophisticated legal services to clients in the gaming industry. We advise clients in Canada and internationally on corporate, commercial, licensing, compliance, M&A, structuring, tax and all other pertinent legal areas.
Peter K. Czegledy | Group Chair |
416.865.7749 | pczegledy@airdberlis.com
