Gaming Realms cautious of incoming slot stake limits impact, posts “mixed” UK earnings

Looking at the UK market, which posted flat 1% growth in its 2024 financial year, Gaming Realms CEO Mark Segal told iGB it had been “a strange one” for the UK, in an interview following the publication of its full-year results today (31 March).

“We’ve had two large operators who, either operationally or business wise, have dropped over the last year or so and we’ve kept the same market share,” Segal said of its UK performance.

“But we’re downstream of that in a sense. And then we’ve had some other bigger operators in the UK where we’ve really grown over the years. I think we’ve just had a bit of a mix.”

Segal noted the UK holds a certain level of uncertainty at the moment as various regulations, including new online slots stake limits, are due to kick in.

The UK’s Gaming Commission is set to enforce £5 and £2 stake limits on online slots from 9 April and 21 May. Players aged between 18 and 24 will be restricted to £2 per spin, while older players will face a £5 limit per stake.

“The more interesting thing is to come with the staking limits and our games are generally under the staking limit amounts. We imagine that a good 95% to 96% of the games wouldn’t have been affected anyway,” Segal commented.

Despite largely being shielded from the incoming online slots stake limits, Gaming Realms will be watching to see how the updated stake limits impact player behaviours more broadly, as a drop in player activity could absolutely impact future revenues.

Gaming Realms’ full year results 2024

Gaming Realms is best known for licensing out its Slingo branded games to operators globally.

In its full-year results for 2024 ended 31 December, it posted revenue of £28.5 million ($36.8 million/€34 million), up 22% year on year. Group EBITDA also increased by 25% to £12.3 million.

The company’s growth was largely driven by licensing revenue, which increased 23% to £24.5 million in 2024. Licensing accounted for 86% of Gaming Realms’ total revenue stream.

Social publishing accounted for the remainder of the group’s earnings at £4 million, posting growth of 14%.

Gaming Realms’ pre-tax profit was £8.3 million, up 61% year on year.

Gaming Realms in North America

The North American market accounted for 54% of the group’s total content licensing revenue in 2024.

Together, the US and Canada posted growth of 59%, reaching £12.9 million in licensing revenue.

The Canadian market grew by 71% in 2024, as Gaming Realms launched in new districts and obtained licences for its regulated markets.

“The actual Ontario market itself is growing really strongly,” Segal stated. “We got our licence during 2024 for British Columbia. Alberta is also on the horizon. That’s a market that’s commercially regulating like Ontario. So that’s a market that we have really high hopes for moving forwards.”

Gaming Realms US market and future states

Looking at the group’s US market, which posted growth of 57% year on year, Gaming Realms pointed to its existing partnerships with operators like MGM.

“I think we had a good set of games which went live last year and they’ve been really well received,” Segal added. “We’ve also had some sports franchise games. That’s an initiative with BetMGM in Michigan and Pennsylvania which has done very well.”

Segal noted the company had just released two games for New York that are tied into sports franchises.

“We’ve just launched two games for New York, with the Rangers and the Knicks, so I think they’ll be well promoted this year as the teams do well. I think the Knicks are in the playoffs, for example. So as these teams do well, they get better coverage.”

Segal stated the group is working “more closely” with operators. The company sees more potential opportunities with its existing partners moving forward. As more states regulate, it expects a “real jump” in US growth.

It will launch in new states like Delaware this year and keep an eye on other possible opportunities for expansion in the US.

“There’s talk of some really big ones like Florida and New York [coming online], as well as Illinois, but then Louisiana, for example. We’re constantly monitoring and waiting to see,” Segal said.