The Rise of Yggdrasil Gaming

It’s quite remarkable just how far Yggdrasil have come since their launch in 2013. Already the 8th most popular slot provider in the world of online casino ahead of the likes of Red Tiger, IGT and Barcrest, it seems like it’ll only be a matter of time until they’re are competing with the likes of Microgaming and NetEnt at the top of the tree.

It was 2014 that Yggdrasil games started to hit the online casino lobbies. Fruitoids, Reef Run, Draglings, Pyrons, Magic Mushrooms and Robotnik were the first babies to see the light, and even at such an infantile stage the unmistakeable characteristics of a typical Yggdrasil game were there for all to see – the crisp, beautiful visuals shining bright and the silky-smooth animations gliding fluently, which soon became a hallmark of their work.

In fact, now it’s only NetEnt who really compete with them on an aesthetic level, so when Yggdrasil announced last month they have had a 65% year-on-year increase in operating revenue for the second quarter of the year, it came as no real surprise.

And right now, there really does seem to be a gap in the market for slot game providers, especially with NetEnt reporting slow growth over 2017 despite a 19% game share in online casino lobbies. Yggdrasil’s currently sits at 3.39% with 53 games on offer, but with more and more of their games hitting the market – nine Yggdrasil games have been released in 2018, with two more already announced for later in the year – a host of casinos are out there looking to offer Yggdrasil’s services.

In August BetVictor announced they will begin taking on Yggradsil content along with Genting UK and the Czech-based Tipsport. In July 888 Sport signed up along with LeoVegas who reached an agreement in April.

Yggdrasil’s upward curve has been quite extraordinary, and though they have been accused in the past of offering beautiful games with little substance and weak bonus rounds, it certainly hasn’t affected their ascent towards the upper echelons of the genre.

With NetEnt suffering from a little bit of burnout, and Microgaming being criticised for offering tired and dated games, Yggdrasil may just fill a hole that’s been inadvertently created for them by a brief spell of complacency.

No matter whether Yggdrasil do get to that level or not, right now, it’s certainly an ongoing success story that’s fascinating to watch.