NYX Interactive Casinos

Established in 2006, NYX Interactive had a unique business model focussing around a paradigm shift in response to clever online changes within the online gambling industry.

What was most important to the company was being able to differentiate itself from its competition and put its own stamp on the industry as a whole.

Being predominantly a software supplier in a highly competitive sector they knew their products had to be unique, and they were one of the few ‘new’ developers innovative enough in their niche to stand out.

They were established in Sweden, which is a major hub for online gambling and has grown considerably over the last two decades, but to understand the company as they are now, we must first go back to where they first began. To that end, after explaining the companies products and services, we will take a deep dive into their history.

Best NYX Casino Sites

Biggest & Most Popular NYX Slot Titles

We cannot talk about NYX Interactive without going into further detail about one of their strongest assets – their impressive portfolio of video slot games.

We will go on to explain how the company set themselves apart in this genre, but the games listed below were special even by NYX’s standards.

The Open Gaming System

In 2012, after years of creating industry leading consumer content, NYX launched the OGS (The Open Gaming System), a game integration platform which was famously easy to integrate. This soon made them award winners in the Business to Business (B2B) arena, and their clients loved how easily they could access and provide games from different developers using this platform.

The difference between this and other products of its type was that the OGS did all of the heavy lifting. It was previously only available to clients using a specific platform, but the new build made the platform mass market and available to every online gaming operator in the gaming space.

CEO David Flynn predicted the OGS’ success at the time of launch when he said: “The NYX Open Gaming System is unlike any product that NYX has created previously, I am certain it will become known as The Open Gaming System in the industry”

He was right.

Just before Scientific Games made their interest known one of the biggest casinos in the world, Caesars, decided to make use of NYX’s offering as part of their continued growth strategy, which was a fine endorsement indeed.

Entering the Bingo Market

The company had also started to create leading bingo software, realising before many others that this would soon become a major market in the years that followed. Their software was particularly ground breaking for the time as it allowed clients to fully customise the aesthetics of their site while maintaining player enjoyment and interactivity.

It reflected a lot of the core values that NYX held close to their heart as a brand; it replicated the same high quality finish that was consistent with a lot of their products and solutions, which not only made it desirable but also ensured that they were highly regarded in the marketplace.

CEO at the time, Staffan Lindgren, was keen to emphasise the product’s perfect balance between being suitably flexible and also responsive so that it almost mirrored a ‘live bingo’ experience, indicating that as suppliers of bingo software the company would start competing in design as a solution to stay at the top of the game.

NYX were particularly eager to impress upon clients the unique features that it had brought to the market via this product, giving more options to the player which was key in ensuring player sign ups stayed at a good level. This included players not needing to leave the bingo room in order to view their gameplay history, manage their account, activate the transferral of funds, or even change the game that they were playing. Perhaps one of the best features though, was that instead of signing up via the main game lobby, they could do so via the bingo room that they wanted to play in, which was far more convenient for the user.

At their height, NYX Interactive had 12 different bingo sites, so as well as being a software provider they were also an operator as well, which added considerable weight to their reputation in the industry. These included Casimba, Little Miss Bingo, Just Cash Bingo, and the highly regarded Leo Vegas among others; the latter becoming a considerable feather in NYX’s cap and definitely a major selling point for Scientific Games.

History of NYX Interactive Gaming Group

Seven years after the first gambling companies started to appear on the internet, the online gambling industry was on a curve of upward momentum. It was an area ripe for investment and development, and NYX were ready to take full advantage of this when they set up shop in 2006.

They realised that there was still potential in what was an already crowded marketplace, but it would be important for them to stand out and have a solid brand identity. Being a software start-up in the online gambling industry is particularly hard, even if you were well financed, but NYX created 100s of slots focussing on user interactivity in their first two years. This helped them no end during the recession of 2008. It set them apart and their brand name became associated with this style of game.

Unique online slot development was still an area which had a lot of promise and it was important that players were kept interested. NYX didn’t rest on their laurels, instead focussing on what would be important to their client’s target market – visuals.

This led to the creation and development of slots that were almost on another level compared to the rest of the industry, with stunning visuals and industry leading audio that fully immersed the player.

Tripling the Headcount

They also realised that if they used uplifting music each time that a player won, it would activate emotional euphoric triggers which invariably meant that players would keep playing. This combined with an interactive element which got players involved in the story of the slot would keep players hooked and casinos happy.

The vast amount of research undertaken to realise this alongside a strategic recruitment campaign virtually tripled the company’s headcount across their development, design, and branding teams. In the years that ensued their army of staff developed 100s of different slots, and were prime suppliers to some of the leading operators in the world of online gambling.

As well as the online casino niche though, they were also moving into different market sectors including the increasingly popular online bingo market which was experiencing a surge in demand, as well as making inroads with online lottery.

It was this level of differentiation and innovation that appealed to US based Scientific Games who in 2016 were looking to expand their portfolio from a strategic perspective, and NYX Interactive were one of a shortlist of brands that they were looking at. The company were officially bought by Scientific Games for $631 million in what was seen as a symbiotic and synergistic relationship, with plans for NYX Interactive to continue in the same direction, focussing on high tech solutions and leveraging new developments in cutting edge technology.

Birth of a New Company

Perhaps the most interesting part of this is that Scientific Games then created SG Digital which was a combination of NYX Interactive and Scientific Games Interactive themselves, although NYX was ultimately operated by SG Digital.

This was essentially now the digital division of Scientific Games – who were one of those companies in operation before the birth of the internet – which meant that NYX were able to use this as part of their online offering to clients.

It also was in line with the company’s philosophy of ensuring that whatever they did was forensically structured and that each part of their organisation had a purpose which made sense.

For SG, utilising what was already a highly respected and comprehensive portfolio of products that had been developed by NYX Interactive, and combining it with extensive expertise in online marketing made total sense. They had a new wing to their business boxed up and ready to go straight out of the packet.

What does the Future Hold for NYX Interactive?

Perhaps a redundant question due to the fact that NYX Interactive was rebranded as SG Digital following their acquisition, but we can answer from SG’s point of view since they are now one and the same company.

They say that two heads are better than one, and this certainly seems to be true here. The fact is that technology will always play a major part in the future of online gambling, and this perfectly marries up with the Scientific Games mentality and the old NYX’s capabilities. In short, we expect more of the same.

The company will probably look to leverage new markets when the time is right, but considering they already have a strong foothold in the slots, bingo, and lottery markets there aren’t too many new directions to go in. They can however double down and bolster what they already have.

Although big in their native America and over here in the UK, there are always new territories to explore, so expansion might be another possibility. But they already have offices all over Western Europe, the USA, and Australia, so again, they are running out of options.

FAQs

While we have done our best to provide a comprehensive overview of NYX Interactive we understand that there still might be aspects that we may not have covered, or at least in great detail, so we have pre-empted any questions that you might have and endeavoured to answer them in as much detail as possible below.