LeoVegas announces launch of in-house studio Blue Guru Games

The Swedish online casino and sports betting operator has diversified into games development with the launch of Blue Guru Games.

Sweden.- The Stockholm-based online casino and sports betting operator LeoVegas has announced a move into games development with the launch of an in-house studio.

The company said that Blue Guru Games would craft new, innovative content, with its first games expected to emerge in late 2021. It hopes to release at least 20 games in the next two years.

Blue Guru Games was formed by LeoVegas’s investment arm LeoVentures. LeoVegas has an 85 per cent stake in the new enterprise, which will work from Sweden. The studio will develop exclusive games for LeoVegas brands as well as games for other operators.

LeoVegas CEO, Gustaf Hagman, said: “For a long time, we have created exclusive games with the help of external providers, but now the time is right to take the step to do game development entirely on our own.

“Drawing from our data and casino knowledge, we will be able to drive innovation and create games that our customers truly enjoy. These may be everything from niche, local games for individual markets to broad international games.

“In addition, we will create games and unique characters that can be used in our marketing, which will build stronger loyalty to our brands. Having great flexibility in producing games is a competitive advantage, and it will also give us a new revenue stream over time.”

The online gambling group has had a busy 12 months, launching its Pink Casino brand in Canada, its first market outside of the UK.

LeoVegas is currently appealing against a fine imposed by Sweden’s gambling regulator for anti-money laundering failings in the months after its initial launch in its home market back in 2019.