In a landmark decision following the Switzerland casino industry’s delegate meeting on May 22, the Swiss Federal Council has unveiled new regulations for casino licenses, set to commence in January 2025. These licenses will be granted for 20 years, introducing new casinos and reinforcing industry standards.

New Casinos in Prilly and Winterthur

As part of the new licensing framework, new casinos have been approved in Prilly and Winterthur. Notably, the Winterthur casino will replace the current venue in Schaffhausen, as no application was submitted for the latter location. This shift underscores the evolving landscape of Switzerland’s gambling industry.

Gerhard Pfister, President of the Swiss Casino Association, hailed the new licenses as a historic milestone for Switzerland’s gambling sector. “The granting of the new concessions is a milestone,” Pfister stated. “The federal government has recognised that today’s casinos ensure safe and responsible operations and generate great economic benefits in their region.”

Enhanced Industry Collaboration

The Swiss Casino Group venues in Zurich, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen, and Pfäffikon have unanimously joined the Swiss Casino Association. Winterthur will also submit a membership application once it opens. This development means that all 21 land-based and 10 online casinos in Switzerland are now members of the Swiss Casino Association.

Pfister emphasized the benefits of this unified collaboration, stating, “I’m pleased that Swiss Casinos has joined the association and with it the entire casino industry with one voice can speak.” Marc Baumann, a board member of Swiss Casinos, added, “The online business is changing the Swiss casino industry sustainably. We are happy to work together with the Swiss Casino Association to help shape the future.”

Revenue Trends: Land-Based vs. Online Casinos

In 2023, Switzerland’s land-based casinos experienced a slight decline in revenue, generating CHF 623 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR), down 1.1% from the previous year. Conversely, online casinos saw significant growth, accumulating CHF 286 million in GGR, a 14.3% year-on-year increase. This trend reflects a broader shift towards digital offerings in the gambling industry.

Casinos also saw a 3% increase in tax contributions, with the state receiving CHF 409.3 million in 2023. Over the past 20 years, Swiss casinos have contributed over CHF 8 billion in taxes, primarily benefiting the country’s AHV pension system.

Record Profits for Loterie Romande

In related news, the Loterie Romande public lottery reported a net profit increase to CHF 5.1 million for 2023. The lottery will distribute a record CHF 243.7 million to good causes, despite a 3.4% drop in gross gaming revenue to CHF 420.7 million.

Jean-René Fournier, Chairman of Loterie Romande, attributed the profit rise to stringent management of operating costs, enhanced digital offerings, and the introduction of the EuroDreams draw game. “This result can be attributed in particular to the rigorous management of operating costs, the strengthening of our digital offering, and – with the launch of the European draw game EuroDreams in October 2023 – the diversity of our product range,” Fournier explained.

The Swiss Federal Council’s new casino licensing regulations mark a significant evolution in the country’s gambling industry. With new casinos in Prilly and Winterthur and a reinforced industry collaboration through the Swiss Casino Association, the future of Swiss gambling looks robust and promising. As the sector shifts increasingly towards online gaming, these new regulations ensure a balanced approach to growth and responsible operations.

Source: “Switzerland federal council grants all casinos new licences from 2025”. May 24, 2024.

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The fast-growing digital entertainment supplier, Playson, announced a new European-facing agreement. On Tuesday, the company confirmed it joined forces with the online brand of Casino Du Lac Meyrin SA, Pasino. The new content agreement effectively extends Playson’s footprint within the regulated gambling market in Switzerland, enabling its engaging titles to reach new players.

The latest deal represents an important milestone for Playson. This is because it reaffirms its position in the market, where it has currently joined forces with seven of the top 10 iGaming operators. At the same time, the new deal enables Pasino to deliver thrilling new games for its growing customer base.

Per the new agreement, Pasino’s customers will be able to access fan-favorite games from Playson, including Wolf Land, 3 Pots Riches and Crown and Diamonds, among others. Strengthening its offering, the operator anticipates growing its position within the market in Switzerland, identified for its potential.

The deal with Pasino also complements Playson’s global growth. This is because it underlines the company’s plans for expanding on a global scale and hitting elevated targets throughout 2023 and beyond.

Recently, Playson announced the launch of Wolf Land, the latest addition to its popular Hold and Win series. The 5×4 reel slot game offering RTP of 95.66% and a max win of 3,000x was released early in August, expanding further the provider’s growing portfolio.

Pasino, Delighted to Expand Its Offering with Playson Titles

Rupert Ecker, Pasino’s managing director, praised the portfolio of games from Playson. He highlighted that those games are well-received by the players in Switzerland and added that the Pasino is thrilled to expand its offering by adding such engaging and unique titles. “Pasino always wants to sign deals with the best providers in the industry and Playson fits that category with its enchanting catalog of titles,” explained Ecker in conclusion.

“To now be live with seven of the top 10 operators within Switzerland is testament to how Playson’s content resonates with local players and sparks engagement.“

Blanka Homor, sales director at Playson

Blanka Homor, Playson’s sales director, said that it is great to see the company’s content live with seven out of the top 10 online gambling operators in Switzerland. She said that this achievement reaffirms the quality of Playson’s content and its popularity among the players. Finally, Homor predicted that powered by Playson’s games, Pasino will continue to grow and deliver unique games to its growing customer base.

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The top-tier provider of content to the iGaming industry, Pragmatic Play, has announced it would expand its foothold on the Swiss territory as a result of a fresh commercial agreement inked with GAMRFIRST, a company under the operation of Barrière Group-owned Casino Barrière Montreux.  

The news comes as a natural follow-up of the long and successful string of new agreements inked by the same provider including the live casino content deal signed with Bally’s Interactive last week and the Superbet agreement at the end of July. 

The main purpose of the new commercial agreement is for the developer to continue to promote its development in Switzerland and beyond. 

50 Pragmatic Play Slots, Live on GAMRFIRST.ch

The studio’s highly praised collection of slots has already gone live on the GAMRFIRST.ch platform, which is the online version of the brick-and-mortar casino provider.  

According to the terms of the deal, 50 premium slots can already be played on the platform, with honorable mentions of games like Sweet Bonanza and The Dog House. 

Pragmatic Play’s chief operating officer, Irina Cornides, spoke about the high reputation of Casino Barrière Montreux in Switzerland, where their studio has kept expanding its presence. 

Cornides also expressed delight to add the operator’s GAMRFIRST brand to their constantly growing database of customers in the “key regulated market.”

The COO also acknowledged the shared “commitment to creating safe and enjoyable gaming experiences” with the online casino. 

“A Wonderful Addition” to GAMRFIRST’s Roster of Games

At the same time, GAMRFIRST.ch’s head of online, Patrick Ballestraz, called Pragmatic Play’s portfolio of industry-leading slots a “wonderful addition” to their roster of games, praising the success their titles had already recorded among Swiss players. 

Ballestraz also expressed their belief that the news of Pragmatic Play’s content being added to their online casino brand would be very well received by their customers who are already accustomed to the provider’s games. 

With the help of the new deal, GAMRFIRST expects to keep building momentum while leveraging its stance on the iGaming market in Switzerland. 

At the moment, Pragmatic Play released up to eight new slots on a monthly basis. The provider is also busy delivering Virtual Sports, Bingo, and Live Casino games, all belonging to its multi-product portfolio that can be accessed with the help of just one application programming interface. 

Earlier in the week, Pragmatic Play announced all of its three verticals have gone live with Betwarrior Mendoza on the market in Argentina, following its launch in Mendoza with Super 7 at the end of August.

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The content-driven provider of iGaming technology, services, solutions and games, powering the regulated retail and online gambling sector, Bragg Gaming Group, unveiled details regarding a new collaboration, allowing it to continue its European-facing expansion. On Wednesday, the company revealed that under an agreement with the leading Swiss operator, Casino Lugano, it expanded its position within the regulated gambling market in the country.

As a result, Bragg’s content has gone live with the operator’s Swiss4Win brand, delivering thrilling and engaging games. The new collaboration complements the growth of the iGaming developer in the country. In fact, it marks the sixth such partnership in Switzerland.

Thanks to the latest deal, Swiss4Win’s customers will be able to access a portfolio of games provided by Bragg. Such will include high-performing fan-favorite titles from its brands Atomic Slot Lab and Bragg Studios, including titles like Egyptian Magic, Dreamy Genie and Fairy Dust, among others.

Bragg’s expansion into the Swiss market doesn’t come as a surprise, considering its potential. According to H2 Gambling Capital data, the market in the country is projected to hit $1.08 billion this year. Out of that total, approximately 40% is estimated to be the online gambling vertical, which reaffirms the immense potential and desire for many companies to enter the Swiss gambling vertical. Additionally, Bragg has identified Switzerland as an important market on the path to expanding further on the Old Continent.

The iGaming Developer Continues to Grow Swiss Presence

Paolo Sanvido, Casino Lugano’s CEO, spoke about the quality iGaming content that Bragg offers and explained that it is exciting to see those titles supercharge the Swiss4Win brand. “We’d like to thank the team at Bragg for the quick and seamless rollout and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact of such a significant addition to our games portfolio,” explained Sanvido in conclusion.

“We’re delighted with our growth in the Swiss market since our entry and Swiss4win represents another opportunity to consolidate our strong position there.“

Lara Falzon, president and chief operating officer at Bragg Gaming Group

Lara Falzon, Bragg’s president and chief operating officer, shared Sanvido’s excitement and said that the company is thrilled to continue to grow within the gambling market in Switzerland. According to her, delivering games for Swiss4win complements Bragg’s growing position within the market and enables its content to reach new customers. Finally, Falzon explained that the company’s content portfolio stands out with quality and helps deliver thrilling experiences for online customers.

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The leading developer of multi-award-winning games that offers its content to the most successful brands in the industry has chosen the only wholly Swiss-owned casino business in the country to strengthen its presence here. 

Over 300 Games Are Now Live with Swiss Casinos

Pragmatic Play’s impressive portfolio which consists of over 300 premium games is currently live with Swiss Casinos and available to the operator’s players. Among some of the most popular titles in the library, we can mention Gates of Olympus, Sugar Rush, Cowboy Coins, and The Knight Kings. 

Swiss Casinos’ director of online casino Patrick Mastai spoke about Pragmatic Play as “one of the most consistent and unique slot providers in the market.”, explaining why they chose to ink the partnership with them. 

Mastai also expressed the company’s expectations that the deal with Pragmatic Play would “positively impact” their plans for growth. 

At the same time, Pragmatic Play’s chief operations officer Irina Cornides has expressed their thrill about being able to welcome the operator to their “growing operator base after a fast and straightforward integration.” 

Cornides added that by including Pragmatic Play’s “premier games” to even more players, they expect to further expand their foothold in the country where Swiss Casinos is a top brand in the iGaming world.

Pragmatic Play Keeps Building Its Momentum

The COO also expressed their excitement about the new collaboration while continuing to build their momentum in the fully regulated market in Switzerland.

The developer is already present in the country thanks to similar agreements signed with other popular Swiss brands including Pasino.ch (Groupe Partouche) and 7melons (Grand Casino Bern). 

The developer’s decisions come to prove its commitment to cementing its role as the number one slot developer and distributor within the country’s borders and outside of Switzerland.

Last month, the developer announced it would launch its content with Track and Races in Venezuela, further extending its presence in the LatAm region with the local operator. In return, the latter would benefit from Pragmatic Play’s slot portfolio and live casino options. 

At the end of January, the provider announced it would boost its presence in Brazil by inking a similar deal with Jacare.bet, a popular operator in the country. Around the same time, the provider signed a similar deal with Forbes Casino in the Czech Republic 

The agreement signed with Betpoint in Italy was another decision that reaffirmed Pragmatic Play’s position as a leading developer of top-tier content in the online gaming industry.

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Bragg Gaming Group, a leading provider of iGaming content, has expanded its presence in Switzerland thanks to a new agreement with Swiss Casinos. As a result, a selection of top Bragg titles will now be available to the operator’s players.

Under the agreement, the provider will power Swiss Casinos with acclaimed titles that have proven appeal among local audiences. This will help the operator engage its players with new and exciting experiences. In addition, Swiss Casinos will be able to keep things fresh as extra Bragg titles will be incorporated into its platform at regular intervals.

Bragg’s portfolio has proven to be effective in Switzerland, which is further attested by the current agreement. As announced by the company, the European country now represents an important part of the provider’s overall growth strategy.

Executives Are Delighted by the Deal

Lara Falzon, Bragg Gaming Group’s president and chief operating officer, addressed the deal with Swiss Casinos, emphasizing the opportunities it provides to her company. According to her, the launch of Bragg content with another Swiss operator represents a significant milestone for her company.

Falzon praised Swiss Casinos for the “strong and established” platform, noting that its popularity will help Bragg Gaming’s high-performing content reach more local players. The group president added that Bragg has big plans for the year and that Switzerland will be an important market for its future plans.

We are set to further expand across numerous regions in 2023 and the maturing Swiss market will play an important part going forward thanks to the collaborations with our leading partners.

Lara Falzon, president & COO, Bragg Gaming Group

Patrick Mastai, Swiss Casinos’ director of online casinos, also spoke on the agreement. He lauded Bragg Gaming as a company with a rich and high-performing online slots portfolio. Mastai noted that the supplier’s content immediately proved to be popular among local players.

Bragg’s library of slots is already performing well in our online casino and we are very pleased with the start of our relationship. We look forward to adding additional content from Bragg and working together to further both our positions in the exciting Swiss marketplace.

Patrick Mastai, director online casinos, Swiss Casinos

Swiss Casinos Group was established in the 1970s and now operates four casinos in the country. When Switzerland launched its online market, Swiss Casinos joined the iGaming sector with a brand that proved to be an instant success.

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