Evolution co-founder recalls live casino’s early days
Evolution co-founder Fredrik Österberg has looked back on the company’s early live casino operations in a guest article published to mark its 20th anniversary.
Österberg, Evolution’s former chief commercial officer and now a board director, said the business began with a small Riga studio containing two blackjack tables and one roulette table, streamed through web cameras.
“We had no guarantees, just a bold idea and a stubborn belief that we could make something out of nothing,” he said.
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According to Österberg, earning player trust was a central challenge in the early years. He said the studio placed tube televisions behind game hosts showing BBC News coverage continuously to demonstrate that its footage was live.
He also highlighted the move to mobile as an early turning point, saying live casino games needed to be redesigned for smaller screens rather than simply reduced from desktop formats.
Österberg said separating live casino from RNG slots at online casinos helped establish live dealer games as a distinct category for players. He also pointed to Immersive Roulette and later game-show formats as developments that expanded expectations of online casino entertainment.
“If the game wasn’t live, fair, stable and transparent, we had nothing,” he said.
Österberg said the company’s future will depend on continuing to improve games and keeping the player experience in focus as competition increases.
“That’s why I still believe the real opportunity ahead of Evolution is enormous,” he said.
“The company has helped define live casino and has played a major role in expanding what online casino entertainment can be.
“Twenty years is a long time, but the Evolution story is far from finished. Players keep raising the bar. Technology keeps shifting. Our clients want stronger content, more differentiation, and deeper entertainment experiences.
“That’s what Evolution is working hard to continue to prove. And with the over 22,000-strong team driving the company forward, there are good reasons to believe the next twenty years can be just as exciting, if not more, than the first. “
Evolution’s games, which now encompasses various slots studios and their outstanding live casino games, can be accessed in many regulated gambling markets globally with the company one of the biggest in the iGaming space.
