Grand Casino Baden the First to Launch Online Gambling in Switzerland

Swiss online gambling market has officially gone live since July 1st and its bearers are the country's land-based casinos that were granted the appropriate license by Switzerland's regulator. So far, there are four of these licensed venues.

Grand Casino Baden is the first one to roll out online casino services, thus making Central European nation's history. They have begun offering these products on jackpots.ch website that is now live.

Games by Evolution, Platform by Gamanza

Baden's official online gambling site allows access to...

...fifty different online games, including slot and roulette titles. The games are, of course, only available to Swiss consumers. This facility has agreed a deal with Evolution Gaming last month, according to which this famous provider will distribute casino games to jackpots.ch. The platform itself is provided by Gamanza.

As a part of this particular deal, the casino has acquired 50% stake in Gamanza, while the provider will relocate its entire business to the city of Baden.

Four Years in the Making...and One of the Four:

Casino's chief executive, Detlef Brose, comments:

“We have been working for around four years on the JackPots project and we are very pleased to be able to start the service. The investment in Gamanza AG allows us to exert direct influence on product development and to act flexibly in the market in the future.”

Swiss National Council approved this venue last month for an online gaming license...

...along with Casino Davos, Grand Casino Luzern and Casino Zurichsee are the other three facilities that will also present their online gambling sites soon enough.

A Ballot and Controversy

Last June, about 73% of voters have approved a proposal to regulate online gambling during a national referendum on the Gaming Act...

...however, this was followed by a very controversial government measure to grant authorities power to order internet providers to block users' access to unlicensed sites.

The legislation came into effect in January while the blocking of unlicensed sites began earlier this month. In other news, land-based casinos in Switzerland reported a 3.4% increase in revenue for 2018, which was largely down to thriving slot vertical.

Eight A-licensed (large venues in urban areas) and thirteen B-licensed casinos (in smaller communities) have produced an income of $708.4 million altogether.

iSoftBet Joining the Game

In late June, successful software developer, iSoftBet, has announced its launch in Switzerland.

They will provide over 70 gaming products including some of the award-winning slots titles. Company's CCO Michael Probert commented:

“We’ve had a phenomenal 12 months with a host of leading brands working with us in newly regulated markets due to the quality and breadth of our proprietary and third-party content, and the speed and efficiency with which we help operators launch in new territories. We’re very excited with the potential of the Swiss market and what the future holds as iSoftBet continues to go from strength-to-strength.”

Source:

“Grand Casino Baden in Swiss first with iGaming launch”, igamingbusiness.com, July 8, 2019.