Novomatic Online Casino Software Review

Novomatic is the name of one of Europe’s largest gaming companies. Novomatic is a major force in the brick-and-mortar and Internet gambling industries. Subsidiaries of the Austrian-based company are famous throughout Europe. Between Novomatic online casino and offline operations, few gaming companies have participation in more European countries.

Where many of their rivals are active in the European Union only, Novomatic has major operations in the EU and in Eastern Europe. Subsidiaries like Admiral, EPS, and AGI all have a major presence in the land-based casino industries. Company divisions like Greentube, Astra, AbZorba, Bluebat, Gametwist, and Funstage all have made their mark in the online gambling industry. On the Internet, Novomatic is active in online, mobile, live casino, and social gaming.

Greentube is the company which controls the online and mobile division of Novomatic. In fact, Greentube is sometimes known as Novomatic Interactive. Greentube is a key supplier of video slots to online and mobile casinos throughout Europe. Many of their license holders cater to Russian, Czech, Turkish, and other Eastern European clientele. That’s in keeping with Novomatic’s land-based strategy, which we explain below.

Novomatic History

Novomatic was founded in Austria in 1980. At the time, many Western and Central European countries were liberalizing their gaming laws. It was 35 years after World War II and an economic boom had taken affect. More Europeans had leisure time and many pushed for pro-gambling laws. Novomatic was one of several companies (Cherry, Paddy Power) which formed in the 80s to take advantage.

As the Cold War ended, Novomatic began to spread throughout Eastern Europe. The European Data Project (EDP) was founded to expand in the former Warsaw Pact countries, often through buying out local gaming companies, such as the popular Paradise Casino brand. Novomatic’s Admiral slot machines were an innovative and popular product in the late-80s, so the company used the brand name for casinos in Europe and South Africa.

Meanwhile, Austrian Gaming Industries (AGI) formed to handle the company’s research and development initiatives, resulting in the creation of the first multiplayer electronic table games and integrated circuits for slot machines.

This spirit of innovation helped Novomatic stay relevant in the Internet Age, as online gambling became a major factor. After some years dabbling in the new field, Novomatic bought Greentube and made that successful developer into its interactive division. In the ten years since, Greentube has built a wide network of design studios and strategic partnerships to strengthen Novomatic Online Casino presence.

All-new online video slots have been designed, while classic land-based slots have been transformed into online video slots. Titles like Book of Ra, Lucky Lady’s Charm, Sizzling Hot, Reel King, (the unrelated) Real King Aloha Hawaii, and Hoffmania have become player favorites in many countries. Meanwhile, Greentube has designed a full range of table games, video poker variants, and specialty games for online casinos.

Novomatic Timeline

The Novomatic timeline below gives a broad overview of the company’s expansion. Novo has built or acquired so many terrific brands that a short list of red-letter dates is next to impossible to compile. The following guide includes the high points, but Novomatic has had a lot of high points.

1980	Novomatic Automatenhandels GmbH is founded in Vienna, Austria.
1980	Novomatic produces the first of its ADMIRAL slot machines.
1982-1983	The company expands operations into most of the rest of continental Western Europe.
1990	Develops American Poker II, a video poker game similar to Joker Wild. This comes to be known as “The Legend”, due to its popularity. While it can be played today, the graphics are rudimentary.
1993	With new emerging markets, subsidiaries are founded in Germany, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Norway.
1994	The design team develops the Applied Science Integrated Circuit (ASIC), opening the door for high-tech 90s-style slot machine.
1995	Novomatic Group enters the North American market with a license in Ontario, Canada.
1997	Launches TouchBet Live-Roulette, the first multiplayer roulette machines. This allows up to 250 gamblers to play at once on automated roulette.
1998	Novomatic receives a manufacturer and supplier license for the state of Colorado in the United States.
2001	Novomatic has operations in more than half of all European countries.
2007	For the first time, Novomatic Group’s annual turnover exceeds 2 billion Euros.
2012	Novomatic has over 20,000 employees and exceeds 3.2 billion in sales.
2013	Novomatic signs a partnership with the Romanian State Lottery for the sale of 10,000 VLTs.
2014	Collects gaming licenses for Guatemala, Honduras Costa Rica, and Israel. Also gains a gaming license for Illinois in the United States.
2016	Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH (AGI) is renamed to Novomatic Gaming Industries GmbH (NGI).

Greentube Online Casino Games

Greentube has the full range of online casino games, including 5-reel video slots, 3-reel classics, online table games, specialty games, and video poker. The only major oversight is Greentube’s lack of progressive slot machines.

Because Greentube has so many video slots, let’s list the other games first. This is an all-inclusive package of games, including live dealer games and mobile downloads.

Novomatic Table Games

A Novomatic Online Casino can offer the best online table games, except for craps. Blackjack is a little underrepresented, but the Classic Blackjack offered is the version most gamblers would want to play. Roulette receives a lot of attention, though craps is not included. That’s a major oversight.

Those wanting to play different versions of roulette should enjoy Greentube games. Though it’s called 38-pocket roulette, readers should not assume Mystery Roulette x38 is American Roulette. It isn’t. Instead, Mystery Roulette is French Roulette with all the French bets, but with special bonus bets as a twist.

Other Table Games

High rollers should direct their attention to the “Royal Crown” titles. These are specially designed to have better graphics, while also handling higher bankrolls.

Novomatic Video Poker

The list of video poker games offered by Novomatic is not large, but it offers the three most popular games: Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, and Deuces Wild. The final game offered, American Poker, might not be as famous, but it’s a good inclusion. Many online casinos call their version of this game All-American. It has one of the lowest house edges of any video poker game.

Novomatic Specialty Games

Novomatic’s specialty games all focus on bingo. These games offer gaming for dozens of players at a time. Some video bingo games allow up to 50 players, while some Novomatic bingo games are known to offer 250 players at a time. The bigger player pools swell the prize money, of course. Those who want to play European Bingo or American Bingo should click on the simple “Bingo” link, because this game has 90-ball and 75-ball games.

It’s in the list of Bingo variants where players are likely to realize how much focus Greentube places on Latino countries. A variety of bingo variants cater to these players, including Boto Bingo, Plus Latin Bingo, and Wizard Bingo. These are variations of the game using 30-ball cards.

Other Specialty Games

Greentube Live Casino Games

Greentube offers live casino games. When the parent company operates dozens of brick-and-mortar casinos, it is a simple matter to offer live dealer table games. Live casino games do not use a random number generator, but live-stream videos of real dealers over the Internet. Any Greentube or Novomatic online casino has access to this support.

Greentube Online Slots

Greentube has released 212 online video slots in its history. This covers the entire range of virtual slot machines, including 3-reel spinners, 5-reel video slots, licensed slots, and progressive slots. The progressive jackpot is not a specialty of Novomatic Online Casinos, as the company has only a handful and those are much smaller than Microgaming or NetEnt jackpots.

Also, Greentube has fewer licensed slots than Playtech or IGT does. Hoffmeister, Hoffmania, and The Real King: Aloha Hawaii are among the few licensed slot machines offered. (They feature David Hasselhoff and Elvis Presley.) Instead, Greentube focuses on excellent video graphics and a wide range of gaming features. Novomatic Online Casinos has some of the most popular slots in Europe, but they are not famous because of pop culture franchises or progressive jackpots.

Other Online Slots

Novomatic Progressive Jackpots

Novomatic online casino and mobile brands have not had progressive jackpots until recently. The company’s first jackpot win was in September 2015. The company only has 4 progressive jackpots in all, including 3 progressive slots and 1 progressive video poker jackpots. The video poker prize (€61,446) is tied to three machines, including the Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, and Joker Wild.

Add it all together and the combined prize pool is €761,268. That is nothing to compare to NetEnt’s or Microgaming’s progressive slots totals, but they’re still nice prizes from a trustworthy software provider. The video poker progressive is especially nice, since it is less common. Remember that progressives have a high house edge, though.

Awards & Achievements

Despite a record of unbroken success, Novomatic has a startling lack of awards from the most prestigious online gambling awards ceremonies. The biggest prize in the Internet gambling field is the 2009 IGA award for best slots game (Book of Ra). The focus on areas besides Western Europe probably leads to a certain bias on the part of the voters. The offline recognitions no doubt are much more substantial.

Contact Information

Conclusion

Novomatic is a substantial company with massive resources. Greentube would have been elite, if only because it has the funds to acquire talented startups like Bluebat, AbZorba, and Funstage. Even Greentube was a startup at one time. With the ability to pick-and-choose successful companies, one can find the elite talents in the design field.

For that reason, Novomatic online casino video slots are excellent. They don’t have the biggest jackpots, and they’re usually not tied to big TV shows or movie franchises. What Greentube and Novomatic online casinos do is offer players world class graphics and excellent gameplay, often culled from an offline inventory which has taken 35 years to develop. Meanwhile, Greentube’s various studios design fun, visually engaging online slots like Bluebat’s Football Gladiators.

The result is that Novomatic online casino software is a complete package, with the best classic slots titles and an innovative suite of new HTML5 video slots.