Evolution (Evolution Gaming): Live Casino Games, RTP and Licenses

Evolution (formerly Evolution Gaming) is a Swedish company founded in 2006. It is a software provider that specializes in live dealer games streamed by video. Its first live studio was in Riga, Latvia.

Its live games are known for their quality, and they let you play blackjack and baccarat on a desktop computer or smartphone with the realism of a land-based casino.

Evolution has offices and live game studios in several countries and regions, including Latvia, Malta, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

What You Will Learn

• Evolution (formerly Evolution Gaming) is a provider founded in 2006 that offers about 150 live games.
• It holds licenses in more than 30 jurisdictions, and its games are available at most online casinos.

This article takes about 7 minutes to read.

Evolution Company Overview

Key Features of Evolution

Live Games with the Atmosphere of a Real Casino

Evolution is a software provider that specializes in live games.

To recreate the experience of land-based casino table games online, its live casino studios in Riga, Latvia, and in Malta use real dealers, along with roulette wheels, cards and other professional equipment of the same standard as a land-based casino.

Besides generic tables shared by many casinos, Evolution also runs dedicated tables branded for individual casinos.

Many Online Casinos Offer Evolution’s Live Games

More and more casinos offer live games from several providers, and Evolution’s tables are among the most widely carried.

Well-Known Providers Such as Red Tiger and NetEnt Are Part of the Group

Evolution acquired Ezugi in 2019 and NetEnt in December 2020, which also brought in Red Tiger, a provider NetEnt had acquired in 2019. Evolution has continued to acquire other providers since then.

The group now includes Big Time Gaming, the developer of Megaways; Nolimit City, known for high-volatility slots; DigiWheel, which holds a patent for an HD game wheel; and Livespins, which developed technology that brings streamers into the game. All of them operate as Evolution group companies and release games under their own brand names.

The corporate brand changed from Evolution Gaming to “Evolution” in October 2020, and the company’s legal name became Evolution AB in 2021. At online casinos, the games may be listed under either “Evolution” or “Evolution Gaming.”

Wheel Games Such as Monopoly Live

Beyond classic live games such as blackjack and roulette, Evolution is known for original games such as Dream Catcher, a live game played on a giant money wheel.

Monopoly Live, created under a licensing agreement with the toy company Hasbro, is a live game show based on the board game of the same name.

Lightning Roulette and Lightning Baccarat, which combine familiar table games with eye-catching effects and high volatility (bigger swings in results), also contribute to the popularity of Evolution’s live games.

Popular Evolution Live Games

The return to player (RTP) figures below are theoretical values for individual bets and do not include the random multipliers in Lightning games. RTP differs by bet type and may also vary between casinos for the same game, depending on the casino’s settings, so check the actual figures on the game’s info screen at your casino. A “–” marks an item that cannot be given as a single value or that could not be confirmed in official sources.

Evolution offers a wide range of live games. Besides classic table games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat, it also has live game shows played on large wheels.

Evolution has also created many variants of existing games. Examples include the following.

• Roulette: Lightning Roulette, Gold Bar Roulette and others
• Baccarat: Golden Wealth Baccarat, Baccarat Control Squeeze and others
• Blackjack: Lightning Blackjack, Infinite Blackjack and others

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Lightning Baccarat

Game

Lightning Baccarat

Provider

Evolution

RTP

98.76% (Player bet)

Max win

1,310,720 to 1 on a Tie (returns 1,310,721 times your stake)

Lightning Baccarat is a live version of the classic casino card game baccarat, played in a studio with lightning-themed effects. You place a Banker, Player or Tie bet, and if the winning hand contains a Lightning Card, the payout is multiplied.

XXXtreme Lightning Roulette

Game

XXXtreme Lightning Roulette

Provider

Evolution

RTP

97.30% (97.12% on straight-up bets)

Max win

2,000x

XXXtreme Lightning Roulette is live roulette with Lightning rounds added, in which multipliers are applied to the payouts on straight-up bets. Both the effects and the studio decor use roulette’s red-and-black color scheme.

Speed Blackjack

Game

Speed Blackjack

Provider

Evolution

RTP

99.29%

Max win

3 to 2 on a blackjack (a $10 bet wins $15)

In standard blackjack, players act one at a time in seat order, starting from the players’ right (the dealer’s left). In Speed Blackjack, the dealer instead deals to players in the order in which they make their decisions. This cuts waiting time and makes for faster play.

Popular Evolution Live Game Shows

Crazy Time

Game

Crazy Time

Provider

Evolution

RTP

94.33–96.08% (depending on the bet)

Max win

–

Crazy Time is a live game in which you bet on where a giant wheel spun by the presenter will stop. It has four bonus games: Crazy Time, Pachinko (a pegboard where a puck drops into multiplier slots), Coin Flip and Cash Hunt. A 25,000x payout has been recorded in the past.

Monopoly Live

Game

Monopoly Live

Provider

Evolution

RTP

91.30–96.23% (depending on the bet)

Max win

– (payouts usually capped at $500,000 or the equivalent in your currency; varies by casino)

Monopoly Live is a live game show based on the Monopoly board game. You bet on which segment the giant wheel will stop on. Its signature feature is the bonus round, in which Mr. Monopoly moves around the board.

Cash or Crash

Game

Cash or Crash

Provider

Evolution

RTP

99.59%

Max win

50,000x

Cash or Crash is a live game hosted in a studio designed to look like the inside of an airship. You predict the color of the next ball drawn, and after a win you can choose Continue, Take Half or Take All. The strategy lies in deciding when to stop.

Licensing and Trustworthiness of Evolution

Licensed in More Than 30 Jurisdictions, with Each Regulator Named

Evolution holds licenses in more than 30 jurisdictions, including the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the regulators of Italy and Spain. Its official website lists the name of each licensing authority and the type of license held.

The same information is shown for the Evolution group brands NetEnt, Ezugi, Nolimit City and Big Time Gaming. A license is not a guarantee in itself, but it does mean the provider is reviewed and supervised by a large number of regulators.

Certified by Several Independent Testing Labs

Evolution’s games are regularly audited by several independent testing labs, including eCOGRA, which verify that the games are fair and that their results are random. eCOGRA is a UK-based testing and certification agency for online gambling.

This ongoing certification means the fairness of the games is checked by outside parties, not only by Evolution itself.

Things to Keep in Mind About Evolution

Slots Come from Evolution’s Group Brands, Not Evolution Itself

Evolution started out as a live games specialist and did not offer slots. The slots it offers today are developed by the providers it has acquired and are released under each company’s own brand name.

In practice, a NetEnt or Red Tiger slot is an Evolution group title even though Evolution’s own name is not on it.

Frequently Asked Questions About Evolution

Does Evolution offer anything besides live games?

Most of Evolution’s games are live games run by a dealer or a host. The exception is the First Person series, which includes blackjack, roulette and baccarat. These are RNG games, with results generated by a computer, so there is no dealer and the game is shown as a 3D animation.

What are Evolution’s money wheel games?

Evolution’s money wheel games use a giant wheel divided into 54 segments marked with multipliers and bonuses. The host spins the wheel, and the segment where it stops decides the payout or triggers a bonus game. These games are also called live game shows, and they can produce high-multiplier payouts.

Dream Catcher, Crazy Time, Monopoly Live and Imperial Quest are examples of money wheel games.

I keep losing at Evolution’s games. Are they rigged?

A long losing streak can make you suspect cheating, but Evolution’s games operate under controls that make it very difficult to manipulate results.

The games are continuously monitored by independent testing labs, which makes manipulating the results effectively impossible.

More fundamentally, any game with an RTP below 100% already favors the casino over the long run. There is no need to cheat to make players lose, and being caught cheating would damage Evolution’s reputation and cost the company far more.

Losing streaks are bound to happen sooner or later, and they occur more often than most players expect. They are not a sign of cheating.

Summary: Evolution Is a Live Games Provider That Has Grown Through Acquisitions and Broad Licensing

Founded in Sweden in 2006, Evolution has brought other providers such as Ezugi, Red Tiger, NetEnt, Big Time Gaming and Nolimit City into its group, and it now covers everything from live games to slots.

Evolution holds licenses in more than 30 jurisdictions, and its games are audited on an ongoing basis by independent testing labs such as eCOGRA. Licensing and audits show that the fairness of the games is verified by outside parties. They do not guarantee that you will win more often.