As all the attention and focus centers on the massive American iGaming expansion, including the meteoric rise of social casinos, it’s easy to overlook the very technology behind the casinos and the games. Sure, writing about the latest slot game and how to maximize bonuses is important, but arguably just as important is the technology and the name behind it.
Right on cue is Playtech. For those who are new to the massive and enjoyable online casino experience, you might be having so much joy playing and especially winning a long list of jackpot slots or even some friendly live dealer and casino game shows. You guessed it. It is probably from Playtech. But what exactly is the secret behind Playtech’s technological success? Keep reading this article to unravel the Playtech mystery as we go under the technological hood for casino game development.
Playtech’s Humble Origins
For those who have been participating in online casinos since its birth in the mid-90s to at least the early 2000s, you undoubtedly have crossed paths with this casino game titan. However, for those who are first learning about Playtech, this magnificent casino gaming titan launched in 1999, roughly three years after the entrance of other prominent game developers like Microgaming and NetEnt.
Like most of the early casino game developers of its era, Playtech is a European company founded and licensed in Estonia. Although it might be hard to believe, Playtech didn’t initially begin developing casino games. Instead, it focused on developing actual software for online casinos.
However, call it fate or pure luck, thanks to the massive technological breakthrough of broadband Internet, the game, and, quite frankly, the mindset of all the leading game developers of that day. However, before we go into depth about how Playtech transformed into a technological gaming juggernaut, it’s important to know about online casino technology’s early days.
Flash for Early Casino Game Development
Macromedia Flash was the go-to technology for website design and graphics during the early days of the Internet. All of the major sites of that day, some defunct like Netscape but some still relevant like Amazon, we’re proud to call Flash technology home. While crude by today’s standards, Flash technology set the stage for animations and rich graphics. This technology was perfect for its day for early slot and standalone table games.
That’s why the early slots were three reels with a single pay line; it was all the memory that Flash could produce. That’s why Playtech still has many of its classic slots and tabletop games available, although they are much more enhanced and smoother thanks to today’s impressive HTML5 technology.
Another advantage of flash technology that Playtech took expert advantage of was the ability to develop these early-day casino games to perform on different websites and operating systems. While we take for granted playing today’s stellar Playtech slots and table games for granted on Mozilla, Chrome, Windows, or Linux, the ability to play your favorite casino games on Windows 95 and Mac Software was a huge deal in those deals.
However, Flash had serious limitations. Some of that was due to the limitations of the dial-up modem in its day. As a result, there were massive loading time issues with Flash casino games. Another pain in the neck was the constant glitching, usually at the worst possible times of the game. For these reasons, the iGaming sector was slow to get off the ground, especially in the United States.
To add insult to injury, there were major security lapses with Flash technology. For all of these reasons, the need to switch to HTML5 technology was more pressing than ever.
The Move To HTML5
Moving from Flash to HTML5 technology for casino games is like cable television was for the mass media market – a game changer. Also, remember that broadband internet expansion was in full swing in the late 2000s and early 2010s. With a much bigger and more stable bandwidth, Playtech went to work developing one of the first 3D slots. It gets wide credit for being one of the first game developers for heralding today’s 3D slots.
With more enhanced graphics, Playtech took charge of developing original slot game themes, something that is taken for granted when playing today’s real-money and sweepstakes casino games. These themes include everything from fantasy to sports to even Hollywood with its blockbuster slot, Gladiator, in honor of the groundbreaking film starring Russel Crowe.
But, creating the early models of 3D slots was only the beginning of Playtech’s technological prowess.
Like its contemporaries, Microgaming, NetEnt, and later Pragmatic Play, Playtech also ushered in the modern-day complex bonus rounds with HTML5 technology. Today, we take for granted playing hold-and-win slots or games with expanded wilds. You can thank Playtech for burning the midnight oil to make these slots common.
Playtech Using Technology to Innovate Live Dealer Play
While Evolution Gaming is widely credited with ushering in the modern-day live dealer phenomenon, it is essential to note that Playtech was also deep into this technology. Actually, Playtech might have been the first game developer to dive into live dealer play as early as 2003. Around this time, broadband internet took off, and the growing calls to switch from Flash were beating louder.
