Gaming Corps

Even though Gaming Corps may sound like a new name to online casino players, this software provider has a long and successful history of game development.

From the very outset, the idea behind this company was to establish the next big Swedish studio to be a driving force in the gaming industry as a whole.

Founded back in 2014 by a small team with rich experience and expertise in both gaming and gambling, the enterprise is based in Uppsala and listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Having a strong focus on top-notch interactive entertainment, it creates all the content in its state-of-the-art studios in Smart City, Malta, and Kyiv, Ukraine.

Gaming Corps’ portfolio of products for the online casino sector is pretty diverse, including slots, blackjack, and very popular nowadays mine and multiplier games. All titles offer a captivating story beautifully told with the help of crispy graphics and intensive animation, but what’s most important, they also incorporate innovative bonus features able to generate hefty payouts.

Let’s take a closer look at this prominent software developer to dive deeper into its philosophy and find out what exactly it brings to the table.

A Bit of History

Starting its journey in 2014, the company introduced its first big project the following year. It was a multiplatform video game designed to attract a really broad audience of players not only in terms of interests but also ages.

So, in 2015, Gaming Corps could brag of the license for the mobile game Riddick: The Merc Files and a partnership agreement to develop the game on other platforms. However, not long afterward, the license was canceled and the studio had to find another way to present all the hard work that had been done by the team.

With certain efforts, they managed to transform Riddick: The Merc Files into even more exciting The Descendant, which debuted in 2016 to set the company off for a flying start on the global scene. Soon, there were certain changes to the business model with the switch to hiring while the development center was moved from Swedish Uppsala to Austin, Texas where Gaming Corps acquired RedFly studio, which later became the subsidiary Gaming Corps Austin.

Two years later, in November 2018, the then-current board and management decided to implement a new business idea based on the combination of gaming and iGaming. The latter, however, was defined as the priority and the main focus for the years to come. To bring the new strategy to life and reach the coveted goal, the company closed the Austin studio and moved its operations to Malta, a worldwide renowned center of the online gambling industry.

After months of creative work and elaborating on the slightest details, this software provider launched its very first online casino slot Book of Pirates. That became possible thanks to the collaboration with operator and partner ATG while more engaging Vegas-style products were waiting in the wings to hit the international entertainment arena. The year 2020 was marked by obtaining a prestigious license from the Malta Gaming Authority to develop and distribute casino games.

Driven, Selective, and Responsible

This motto reflects Gaming Corps’ main values and key tools the brand uses every day to transform its idea of making casino games into reality.

Being a relatively small company with less than fifty employees, it takes pride in every member of the team that makes sure everything runs like clockwork.

Juha Kauppinen, the company’s CEO, is in charge of leading the business and setting the strategic goals. Shareholder and previous member of the Board of Directors, he has a background in private trading and real estate automation.

Bulent Balikci is the Chief Business Development Officer who in his previous career succeeded as an entrepreneur and small business owner. The role of Chief Operating Officer is played by Alex Lorimer while Mikael Backstrom deals with financial reporting and day-to-day accounting on the Group level. Another key player on the team is Danielle Calafato, the only woman among senior executives and a true iGaming veteran who previously worked for Microgaming and NetEnt. At Gaming Corps, she is the Chief Commercial Officer, covering account management for existing clients and driving new partnerships and revenues.

The brand takes seriously the concept of responsible gaming, highlighting the importance of healthy gambling, which should be treated as recreation and entertainment. Together with its partners, the company has developed a set of tools to encourage the best practices and player protection, as well as safeguard against underage gambling.

Partners

Even the most brilliant ideas are often not so easy to bring to life without partners who share your values and vision.

The iGaming industry is a prime example of how content or distribution agreements can be mutually beneficial, strengthening presence in regulated markets across the globe and significantly expanding audiences.

Since making its first steps as an online casino supplier, Gaming Corps has secured the support of many important and big-name participants in this highly competitive sector. It is safe to say that one of the most significant deals became the agreement with the global B2B software provider and aggregator EveryMatrix signed in September 2020 because it facilitated seamless distribution of the studio’s content.

Of course, the first step is always the hardest one, so new partners did not take long to follow suit, each of them contributing to the growth of the Swedish firm. Some of the most prominent companies to join forces with the subject of this software review are award-winning ComeOn Group, fast-growing Glitnor, and the industry leader Entain.

In addition to that, Gaming Corps has a striking line-up of partner operators with NetBet, Paf, Betsson, SuperSport, Pomadorro, Golden Reels, and Lucky Days, to cite just a few. As for content aggregators and other software platforms, at different times, the company penned agreements with BetConstruct, Hub88, 1X2 Network, White Hat Gaming, SkillOnNet, BlueOcean, Relax Gaming, ESA Gaming, and many others.

Exciting Online Casino Games

The overwhelming majority of software providers are focused on online slots, which typically make up the largest part of their portfolios. Some studios even produce virtual one-armed bandits only, without taking the trouble to diversify their libraries with table games, scratch cards, or something else.

To the delight of players who do not mind passing the time between slot sessions by playing blackjack or trying their luck with instant win games, Gaming Corps offers a nice variety of highly entertaining gambling products. Of course, slots are dominant and come in bigger numbers than other betting adventures, which is not surprising given that they have always been in high demand among punters.

The choice of themes guarantees an exciting pastime for everyone, ranging from well-familiar juicy fruits and always-popular book games to such original stories as Angry Elf or Undead Vikings. Keeping pace with the latest trends, one of which is a must-have candy grid, the studio boasts an 8x8 sugary extravaganza jam-packed with advantageous cascades and colorful jellies able to generate truly delicious wins.

Cascading reels are not the only type of innovative slot mechanics used by Gaming Corps in its sophisticated fruit machines. The company also lets players take advantage of the widely beloved Hold and Win feature, which found its place in the catalogs of many software developers. As for pay lines and ways to win, players can expect both, all the more so, there is a great variety of grids, including classic 3-reelers.

Table games in the portfolio of this studio are limited to blackjack, or, at least, that was the situation at the time of writing this software review. Designed in a luxury, nostalgic Art Deco style, Blackjack Bonus Wheel 1000 deserves special attention for its engaging extra feature that applies a multiplier to the win, increasing the reward by up to 1,000x bet. It is natural to expect new BJ variants and, perhaps, other popular Vegas classics such as roulette, baccarat, and poker.

A relatively young category in the lobbies of online casinos, mine games have become firm favorites of many cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Given that this studio has a history in video games, the fact its portfolio contains numerous titles inspired by the famous Minesweeper comes as no surprise. Although very simple to play, mine games have a certain skill element, which makes them highly entertaining. Players are presented with a grid of tiles to open and reveal either some kind of prize or a mine. They can select any tile and also determine the number of mines on the grid – the higher the risk, the more impressive the potential payout.

Multiplier games are another vertical that has been on the rise over the past decade. Based on the concept of BTC crash games, they let players bet on an object in motion and decide when is the right time to cash out. The moving object is usually a plane or space rocket, but for Gaming Corps, it is also a witch flying on her broom and even Santa’s sleigh. No matter the object, the principle remains the same – to find that golden moment for hitting the button and pocketing a decent sum of money.

Helpful Links

• Exclusive Interview Gaming Corps' Head of Games Connor Blinman (2024)