Play’n GO announced Monday it has been awarded a supplier license by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) that will see the company’s portfolio made available for players when the newly regulated market opens on April 4. Also on Monday, LeoVegas Group, which also applied to operate in the province, said it has been registered by AGCO as an iGaming operator in the newly regulated jurisdiction.
While Play’n GO will offer residents of Ontario its most popular titles such as “Rise of Olympus”, “Book of Dead”, “Reactoonz”, “Tome of Madness” and more; LeoVegas Group will offer casino, live casino and betting under the brands LeoVegas and Royal Panda.
In the case of LeoVegas, it still needs to enter into an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario as the final step of the necessary onboarding steps.
— Play’n GO (@ThePlayngo) March 14, 2022
In an official press release, Magnus Olsson, Chief Commercial Officer for Play’n GO, spoke about the company’s market entrance and said: “Regulated markets are vital not just to Play’n GO’s business strategy, but to the industry as a whole; they ensure a safe gaming environment for players, and operators can focus on providing a fun and entertaining experience that is truly sustainable. Ontario is an important province representing some 40 per cent of the population of Canada, and we look forward to players there enjoying our games. However, Ontario represents just the first stage in Play’n GO’s North American entry strategy that will see our titles shortly be made available in selected regulated US state level iGaming jurisdictions for the very first time. With Ontario’s regulated market opening, followed by our entry into the USA, it’s set to be an exciting year for Play’n GO.”
Sissel Weitzhandler, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer for Play’n GO, added: “Our strategy remains to engage with all regulated jurisdictions, and we thank the AGCO for our licence award. The opening of Ontario’s regulated market is exciting and an important milestone in Play’n GO’s North America journey. We look forward to supporting our partners in Ontario from 4 April onwards”.
As for LeoVegas, CEO Gustaf Hagman commented: “Over recent years, the LeoVegas brand has become the third most well-known casino brand in the Canadian market and Royal Panda has shown strong growth – a clear sign that the mobile gaming experience we offer is appreciated by North American customers. Our full focus now is to complete the process and we look forward to launch in a regulated environment. Given our track record and knowledge to operate in regulated markets we continue to have high expectations and ambitions for continued growth in the Ontario market”.
The Ontario and North America expansion is in line with LeoVegas Group’s strategy to grow in locally regulated markets and soon-to-be regulated markets. LeoVegas Group has also announced plans to launch in the United States later this year, beginning with the state of New Jersey.
AGCO first confirmed licensed operators were Penn National Gaming’s subsidiary theScore Bet, Rivalry Corp and PointsBet. FansUnite and Rush Street Interactive joined the list last week. Israel-based 888 followed, right before GGPoker was granted a license to launch a WSOP.ca poker site in the province. So far, WSOP/GGPoker and 888 are the first two poker operators to receive such authorization.
The launch of the new online gaming market in Ontario was announced by iGaming Ontario and AGCO, in a joint effort that seeks to establish a new market that will help protect consumers and provide more choice.
Private gaming operators registered with the AGCO that have executed an operating agreement with iGO can begin offering their games to players in Ontario as from the launching date. Companies will operate gaming sites in the market on behalf of the province in accordance with these agreements.
Last week, the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) also announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), with the purpose of providing a framework for cooperation and coordination between both entities on betting and related integrity issues to protect the Ontario and wider Canadian market, sports, consumers and regulated betting operators from corrupt activities.
