Of all the software developers operating in the immensely competitive iGaming market with games available at White Hat casinos, there is arguably none more well-known than NetEnt. NetEnt has been providing top-quality online casino games for over two decades, showing no sign of slowing down soon. The Swedish software developer has been at the forefront of innovation in the industry for a long time and has maintained that position by continuously searching for the next big iGaming evolution.
The History of NetEnt
NetEnt was founded in 1996 when the online casino world was an embryonic and very different beast. NetEnt was developed by the same online casino family tree that created Cherry, one of the first online casinos in the world but dates back to the 1960s in the casino industry. It was the son of one of these original innovators who formed NetEnt and set about creating one of the absolute powerhouses of the modern iGaming industry. From the outset, NetEnt was all about creating games, focusing on this above all else. Something that has stayed the company’s priority ever since.
NetEnt Touch
While NetEnt was at the front of the pack for a host of different steps forward in the industry, including some of the first 3D slots, it was with NetEnt Touch that the developers started to show their claws. Until the mid-2010s, the mobile gaming market had been something of an overlooked commodity in the world of online casinos. While most sites would throw a courtesy bone toward mobile and tablet users, these were usually limited and often consisted of diluted versions of the games that desktop players would enjoy. However, as technology pushed forward, so did the popularity of mobile devices, and pretty soon, it was impossible to ignore the fact that mobile gaming was going to be a huge part of the iGaming market. Looking at the industry now, it’s clear that the mobile revolution has made its impact and now controls a decent share of the whole iGaming market. More than 50% of players now do some casino gaming from a mobile device. One of the first developers to see that this was the direction things were moving in was NetEnt, and their response was NetEnt Touch, a range of mobile games that allowed all NetEnt titles and some fresh faces to be introduced to mobile players. The process began way back in 2011 when most developers and operators were still ignoring mobile players for the most part. The early stages aimed to bring a few of the developer’s most popular titles to the mobile market. In the eight years since NetEnt Touch, it has gone from a small part of the NetEnt toolbox to one of the most essential weapons in the company’s vast gaming arsenal.
NetEnt VR
NetEnt Touch wasn’t the only evolution that NetEnt led the market into. They’ve also been a part of the VR revolution in the casino world. The VR movement has been slow for a few years, but in 2019, the foot has been put on the gas, and across the last year or so, NetEnt has introduced VR versions of some of their most popular games. The VR portfolio started with Gonzo’s Quest, and the likes of Dracula, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Starburst have been added to the party recently. Expect the influx to be similar to that of NetEnt Touch before it, with a barrage of VR games to join the NetEnt collection over the next few months.
The Future
Of course, these impressive evolutions would be nothing without quality games, and NetEnt has them in droves. With Narcos, the most recent addition (at the time of writing), showcasing again that NetEnt is simply the best when it comes to bringing a subject matter to life through a beautiful slot that is as excellent to play as it is to look at, NetEnt is showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to cementing their place at the very top of the ladder in the world of online casino games. Just pop over to your favourite White Hat Gaming casino to check out the smorgasbord of exciting titles on offer from a developer who has been releasing excellent games for well over two decades!