EGT Pokies
There can’t be many casino games developers based in Bulgaria, but Euro Games Technology was founded in the capital Sophia in 2002, and remains headquartered there, although rapid expansion has seen numerous branches opening up around the world.
Known as EGT, the company produces a range of table games, cards and pokies for both land-based and online casinos, many of which come with innovative features and all of which are proven reliable and fair.
The History of EGT
The company initially focussed on the Bulgarian casino market, but gradually made a name for itself across the Balkans region, supplying stylish games and cabinets to traditional bricks and mortar casinos. Since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, they have expanded rapidly across the continent, increasing their range and adapting them for online and mobile platforms.
At the last count, EGT employed around 1,350 people, largely at their main 16,000sq/m site in Bulgaria, but also at subsidiary offices or in partnerships as far apart as Spain, Tanzania, Argentina and China among others.
EGT is a member of the Gaming Standards Association (GSA), the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), indicating their commitment to providing quality games that can be trusted to deliver a good return to player percentage. The company was awarded the Quality Management System Standard ISO 9001:2008 in 2012, which ensures that the strictest quality procedures are in place at all times.
Games can be easily integrated into existing casino software, as presently, EGT games are only included as a part of any casino’s range, rather than being the sole supplier. The collection can be found in over 80 countries, and they are fully compliant with the local gambling regulations in each, having certificates from many international agencies and testing laboratories.
EGT Games
There’s a small number of table games, such as Roulette, and a limited range of card games like Blackjack, plus video poker with Jacks or Better and Joker Wild versions on offer, plus there’s a Keno game, although many of these are not found at online casinos, just the land-based ones. The main focus is on pokies, which range from traditional fruit machines to some advanced video pokies with multiple side games and bonus features.
The pokies all have a couple of things in common, such as shared progressive jackpots and the option to gamble wins for a bigger prize. The online games all come with the Jackpot Cards round, which is triggered at random and features a 4-stage progressive prize, each linked to a playing card suit. To win a jackpot, players will need to reveal 3 of the same suit from a line-up of 12 cards, although once triggered, they are guaranteed to win a prize, from the smaller Club jackpot to the substantial Spades award.
While several games have traditional fruit machine symbols like oranges, cherries and lemons, others feature more specific themes, with the female warriors of Amazon’s Battle, the Australian wildlife of Kangaroo Land, and the magic of Secrets of Alchemy being just a few examples. Bonus features tend to be broadly similar, with detail differences.
In keeping with the style of traditional pokies, the fruit machine style games have few, if any bonus rounds, while other games will usually come with wild substitutions and a free spins game, although there could be stacked wilds, multipliers, or min-games in the mix as well.
Summary
Although EGT isn’t the best-known developer of casino games, their rapidly expanding range and increasing presence in the online market should go some way to improving their profile worldwide. They are however, a major contributor to many sites, having installed some 10,000 cabinets at numerous land based site, including the famous Monaco casinos, while the number of online casinos featuring their games continues to grow beyond their core Eastern European market to across the EU and beyond.