Slots Developers and Casinos

Sit here and listen well. When two transistors really like each other, they do a bunch of electronic things and then a baby slot game is born. That is all I can tell you before you have reached the age of consent. You say that you are already considered an adult by the local government? Then we can delve right into the process of making a new game.

Software Developers

Unless the casino you are playing at is not obscenely rich, even by rich peoples’ standards, they do not have their own development studio. This means, that they have to hire a third-party company which will develop their products for them. Among the most popular developers are NETENT, Playson, Playtech, NEXTGEN, IGT and others.
These are the people who make the graphics, animations, coding, testing and everything else you experience in an online slot game. They also provide the Android and iOS versions of their games. The casinos simply host the games on their servers and occasionally collect winnings.

Playtesting

Games need to be fair, to one extent or another. That is why, every slot game is tested by an independent company, which checks if the game result can be manipulated, or if they are left to chance. Such companies include iTech Labs, eCOGRA, TST, GLI and others. In case you notice inconsistencies within a gambling game, these are also the people you need to turn to.

What’s an RTP?

RTP is not an adjective, but an acronym, which stands for “Return to Player”. Theoretically, it represents the amount of winning a player will receive based on their bet. If singular $1 bets are made 100 times, with an RTP of 97% players should expect to win $97 for each $100 spent.
“House Edge” is the counter-term of the RTP. It calculates the amount of money the casino is expected to make out of a player’s wager. With an RTP of 97%, the house edge is 3%, which means that the casino would win $3 for each $100 spent. With an RTP of 95% house edge would be 5% and so on and so forth. Each developer is expected to playtest its games and give an official RTP for them.

Enough Boring Stuff, tell me Where to Play

Practically every online casino offers slots. It boils down to personal preferences, superstition and most importantly, geographical location. Oftentimes you will not be allowed to play on an online casino which does not have a license for the place you are playing from. Usually casinos will have warning or outright deny you access if you try to enter them from an IP address located in an unallowed region.

How to Recognize Legitimate Online Casinos?

On the footer (bottom) of each casino’s page there should be a group of logos. Some of them belong to groups fighting with gambling addiction, others to third-party testing agencies. What you want to look for is the logo of a local government authority, such as a gambling commission or a similar body. The logo should be clickable and lead to the authority’s site on the page which shows the current status of the casino’s license. In case it is unclickable or leads only to the homepage of the authority, consider the company non-viable.

In case the license checks out, give a good look at the third-party regulation companies. Click on their logos and check their status of operation. In case you have some concerns, you can always try to directly contact the company, or make an online search for any complaints about the casino.

A good criterion for a viable casino is the availability of support. Does the casino offer 24/7 support? Is there a number you can call, an e-mail you can reach them on, do they offer a live chat service, how often is the live chat service online? Is there an extensive FAQ and do they resolve their issues quickly?