Bolting into the charts this month was Thunderstruck Wild Lightning by Stormcraft Studios and joins stable mate Thunderstruck II. Also new under the Microgaming umbrella is Coin Bash by Snowborn Games, the resemblance of which to the 9 Masks and Pots titles matches its performance.
Starburst Xxxtreme didn’t quite make the charts but could well be a contender in September, especially as NetEnt titles can follow a slower but longer burn. Testament to this longevity is Twin Spin (NetEnt), which made a return to the charts with its more recent companion Twin Spin Megaways not that far behind.
Top 20 games by distribution
The spin-off of a spin-off of Twin Spin proves once again that sequels not only perform well but also give a new lease of life to existing games. Two Fishin’ Frenzy games from Blueprint Gaming and two Rainbow Riches from Barcrest were in the top 20 this month, for example.
With so much content about, a familiar name stands out, whether licensed from a third party or established in-house. Given that sequels are easier to produce and do not require the same brand building budgets, the idea of turning a single performer into a game family is logical. To bodge a couple of sayings: “If it ain’t broke, milk it.”
On the deals front, SoftSwiss are still a comfortable gold medallist over the last six months although some of the largest aggregators such as Salsa Technology, SG, White Hat Gaming and EveryMatrix continue to build out their portfolios.
Biggest studio dealmakers
Gaming1’s B2B division are adding more third-party content to their platform and, from more humble beginnings, Dotworkers in South America are also hungry for product.
The studio/aggregator ESA Gaming tops the studio chart but Red Rake picked up the pace when adding three more distribution partners in July. Playtech were also busy but it’s the size of one of these, the Playtech-SG deal, that piqued our interest.
Biggest aggregator dealmakers
Operators often turn to existing partners when looking to add new games rather than dealing with 100s of studios. As a result, many studio/aggregator hybrids have emerged, which partner up and compete harmoniously. But you don’t usually see the big boys at the same table, unless there’s an acquisition in the offing. For now, it may just allow Playtech faster access into certain US states, but one to watch….
* Please note these are live charts which update every month so please ensure the month of July is selected in the drop-downs to match the analysis
**Data on deals by month was collected from April 2020 onwards. Deal relationships between companies from all time are available on other charts. Note that only deals reported on company websites or in the gaming press are collated.
***The games chart here excludes live games and table games. Game rankings are determined by the number of game appearances on the casino homepages of more than 1,000 casino sites. To access many other charts including game rankings, live and table games, positions on subpages or to filter by operator type and size, ask for our demo from our partner, egamingmonitor.com, which covers 32,000 games, 1,100 suppliers and 1,000 operators.