Holland Casino Online to bring NetEnt games to Netherlands
NetEnt have stepped into the Netherlands market with a partnership that will see them license their slot games to Holland Casino Online. The partnership, which was announced on July 20, will include NetEnt’s complete portfolio of online slot games.
NetEnt provides services such as slot games and casino games as a white label product. ©Erik Mclean/Unsplash
What will be included in the deal?
Holland Casino Online’s players will have access to several games, such as Starburst, Divine Fortune Megaways, Funk Master, Gonzo’s Quest, Divine Fortune, Starburst XXXtreme and several more. Holland Casino Online will be able to use these slot games to increase their top-line revenue, which will afford them the luxury to expand their casino offering.
Holland Casino Online has also entered an agreement with Red Tiger, which is a brand of NetEnt under the Evolution Gaming umbrella. This will allow the state operator to also offer jackpots and other engagement software to their players, thereby strengthening their overall, holistic offering. Some of the games included in the Red Tiger catalog are Dynamite Riches Megaways, Gonzo’s Quest Megaways and Primate King. Evolution Gaming’s head of business development, James Jones, said this will be an expansion move for them.
“We are very happy to have partnered with Holland Casino Online. We know their players will love having the chance to play so many great NetEnt slots titles. It marks another step in our journey in the Dutch market, and we look forward to continuing to expand our presence there and working with fantastic operators such as Holland Casino Online. We look forward to what we hope will be a long and fruitful relationship on both sides.”
What is Holland Casino Online?
Holland Casino Online is a state-owned organization, which was founded in 1976. It is presently regulated and supervised by the Ministry of Security and Justice. Interestingly, it pays the profit that it earns to the Netherlands government after transfers to its equity capital. It owns and operates 14 casinos on land in the Dutch region.
In October last year, Holland Casino Online moved its services into the online sphere. This move saw the organization offering its whole portfolio of services, including sports betting, gambling, casino games, poker games, bingo and other products. This was a natural progression for Holland Casino Online considering how ubiquitous online betting has become in the last few years across several European regions. Holland Casino Online currently holds a monopoly on gambling in the Dutch region. Commenting on the deal, Holland Casino Online’s Director of Digital Transformation Jeroen Verkroost said: “Holland Casino Online is always looking for ways to extend and enhance our players’ online gaming experience. We are thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Evolution to offer their innovative games to our audience in the Netherlands.”
What is NetEnt?
NetEnt is a supplier of gaming systems to operators across the world. This means that NetEnt provides services such as slot games and casino games as a white label product to operators across regions and continents.
For example, if company A owns and operates a B2C facing iGaming portfolio, they can just integrate NetEnt’s casino and slot games into their offering, thereby providing access to these games without actually having to build out these games and systems. This licensing model for games, including casino, poker and slots, has become universal for operators in the region. It saves plenty of time and resources for the gaming operator.
Back in June 2020, Evolution Gaming acquired NetEnt for SEK 19.6bn (€1.8bn). This marked a milestone acquisition in the iGaming space considering how strong both players were in their respective niches. NetEnt Chairman Mathias Hedlund, at that point said: “With Evolution’s position in live casino and NetEnt’s position in online slots, the merged company will be well-positioned to capture significant market shares”
NetEnt currently has secure licenses from most state gambling authorities, including the UK Gambling commission, which manages most licenses in the United Kingdom, the Gibraltar Gambling Commission as well as the Malta Gambling Authority. NetEnt also uses a random number generator, abbreviated as RNG, which is verified by institutions like eCOGRA and iTech Labs, which ensures fairness of all their games.
The state of iGaming in Netherlands
The state of betting and gambling changed dramatically in the Netherlands back in October of 2021, when the state launched the Remote Gambling Act (KOA). The KODA was scheduled to come into force in July of 2020 but it was pushed back twice as preparations to launch were ruined by the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Eventually, it was brought into force on the first day of October in 2021, paving the way for private and public organizations to offer their services in the region of the Netherlands. Rene Jansen, chairman of Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), was quoted as saying in October last year that a ban on online gambling had proved counterproductive.
“Recent years have shown that simply banning online gambling was no longer possible. Legalisation and regulation make it easier to protect consumers against abuses. Other providers may also be interested, but they are waiting to submit an application because they are not ready yet. Strict conditions must be met and strict testing is carried out, but there will certainly be more license holders. An important step has been taken with the opening of the legal market for online games of chance.”
We will continue to see more deals like the one Holland Casino Online has signed with NetEnt, especially considering the ease with which new technology can be integrated seamlessly and quickly to offer quality content to bettors and gambling users in the Dutch region. Ease of access has also changed drastically with providers such as Evolution Gaming and others across the world.
