Loto Quebec will soon become the third Canadian provincial gambling monopoly to launch an Evolution Gaming-powered live casino offering.
On Monday, the Stockholm-listed Evolution announced that it had reached a deal to supply online casino services to the Espacejeux.com online gambling site of the state-run gambling monopoly in Canada’s second-most populous province. The offering, which is expected to debut this month, will be available across desktop and mobile platforms.
The new live casino offering will be known locally as ‘Casino en direct’ to cater to the province’s French-speaking majority. It will feature six dedicated tables, five of which will operate using the French language, plus four additional tables from Evolution’s live studio in Vancouver.
Loto Quebec’s online product manager Sovanna Phan said the Crown corporation was “thrilled” to be adding live casino to its digital offering, adding that the addition “fits hands in glove with our click-and-mortar strategy to engage with customers both online and face-to-face at our casinos.”
Evolution’s chief business officer James Stern celebrated his company’s track record in providing its customers with native-speaking products and predicted that Loto Quebec’s new French-language tables would prove a key unique selling point in the province’s perpetual Darwinian struggle against internationally licensed gambling sites.
Evolution launched its first Canadian-facing operation last year with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation’s PlayNow.com site, which also provides services for the Manitoba monopoly’s online operations. The Vancouver studio was Evolution’s first North American presence and the company has since opened a thriving studio in New Jersey to cater to that state’s regulated online market.
While Espace-jeux has posted year-on-year growth that outshines Loto Quebec’s other gambling verticals – at least, in terms of percentage gains – its annual revenue continues to lag its BC rival. Loto Quebec’s most recent annual report showed online revenue of C$118m (US$88.7m), but PlayNow was well out in front with $180.6m.
