Ezugi and Evolution – How Ezugi benefited from the Evolution deal and grew as a developer

The Ezugi and Evolution Deal

First, let’s go through the basics of the deal between the two companies.

Evolution announced in November 2018 that they wanted to acquire Ezugi. The completion of the transaction went through in early 2019.

Evolution reported the deal worth up to $18m (£14m/€15.8m). The initial consideration was $12m, followed by an optional additional payment of $6m.

Ezugi were to remain a separate brand with its games and identity and continue to develop as an autonomous unit.

How did Evolution benefit from the deal?

Evolution CEO Martin Carlesund said at the time of acquisition:

“It is a logical next step for Evolution which will increase our market share in key existing markets, like the US, where Ezugi’s presence and customer base will add to our ongoing market expansion and licensees in new markets, such as South Africa.”.

In short, Evolution bought the company to get deals in various markets, most notably the US and South Africa, and to boost its profits to satisfy the shareholders instantly.

How did Ezugi benefit from the deal?

Ezugi has significantly benefited from accessing Evolution’s superior technology and game development standards. We have seen a definite improvement in the quality of the games.

Ezugi remains a separate brand that develops its games to exploit new markets that Evolution would otherwise ignore.

Ezugi founder and chief executive Kfir Kugler said the takeover would enable the supplier to improve its offering to partners.

“Ezugi has come a long way since it was founded in 2012, and becoming part of Evolution marks the right next step for us”.

“Evolution’s superior offering in areas such as streaming quality and speed, user experience, game choice and all-around operational excellence will help bring the service to the current Ezugi operators to the next level.”, further explained Kugler as the reasons for entering this deal.

The small developer punching above their weight got access to superior technology and has made the best of it.

Today, years after the deal, we see Ezugi grow as a developer.

They used to be a relatively unknown developer and are now getting their name known through the individual quality of some of their games.

The other benefit has been Ezugi’s ability to use Evolution’s Licenses to enter new markets, with the UK being a great example.

Does Ezugi come close to Evolution’s game quality?

No, of course not. But Ezugi is getting there slowly.

It’s a known fact – if you’ve been visiting LiveCasinoComparer.com, that Ezugi’s Live Blackjack has the best playing rules of any supplier available in the UK, allowing Double Down After Split as well as Surrender.

In my Blackjack Table Rules article, you can see that those are the two of the most favourable rules you can encounter in the game of Blackjack, land-based or online.

Evolution has been playing a slower game with its live Blackjack. While they have given us new versions, the basic game rules have not changed. However, this is changing as Evolution releases a cash-out option shortly.

Ezugi Live Blackjack, in comparison, is a card player’s game. That’s one where you can gain an edge over the house.

Regarding roulette, Ezugi focuses on streaming action from several real casinos across the globe. So if this is your kind of thing, you can play roulette from Latvia and Romania, as well as in Portomaso and Oracle casinos in Malta. Read more about the options in my Ezugi Live Roulette article.

Ezugi Live Sic Bo (standard) and Ultimate Sic Bo (with win multipliers) are at least as good as other Sic Bo games, if not better. The same goes for Andar Bahar and Teen Patti.

Ezugi develops quality games with good rules and payouts, which is especially true for their Live Blackjack, which you can play at LeoVegas casino. In my opinion, it’s the best live Blackjack online.

So, in one of the two most popular casino games, Ezugi trumps all other developers, including Evolution.

In November 2021, Ezugi released a luxury Salon Prive Blackjack table with the DDAS rule, though the option to Surrender is absent.

It’s still the best VIP blackjack game with an RTP of 99.50%, compared to Evolution’s Salon Prive Blackjack at 99.29%.

Recent Ezugi activities

In late 2021, Ezugi unveiled a new brand identity that is a significant step up.

Almost immediately afterwards, in January 2022, Ezugi entered the UK market, to the delight of many players, myself included.

UK players gained access to 11 games: Roulette, Auto-Roulette, Blackjack, Unlimited Blackjack, Baccarat, Andar Bahar, Teen Patti, Bet on Teen Patti, Lucky 7, Dragon Tiger and the recent hit game – Cricket War.

In April 2022 came the first Ezugi win multiplier game, Ultimate Sic Bo.

Ezugi has quite an aggressive program for 2022, with many new games planned, such as Royal Poker and EZ Dealer Roulette. We’ll be seeing many more quality games from this developer.

Ezugi and Evolution Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)