Light & Wonder Inc emerges as the new brand and trading name for iGaming giant Scientific Games – the owner of Authentic Gaming! (Images courtesy of https://www.scientificgames.com/)
One of the USA’s biggest iGaming companies floated on the NASDAQ stock market is about to change its trading name to Light & Wonder Inc. Trading under SGMS, shareholders will soon interact with the company using LNW with that change earmarked for Q2 of 2022 (Spring).
The company recently broke into the live dealer casino market after an unexpected acquisition of Authentic Gaming in November 2021. Yet, considering the scale of Scientific Game’s operations with the casino market at large (iGaming + land-based operations), it is a surprise the firm hasn’t aimed its services at one of iGaming’s fastest-growing niche markets.
Live casino gaming aside, the main news is Scientific Games will become Light & Wonder Inc. The move stems from months of strategic planning and restructuring, which included input from a variety of stakeholders in the firm. The company’s aim is to set itself in good stead for the future in order to fulfil its goal of becoming a leading cross-platform casino gaming firm by using technology and appealing game releases as its strategy. As a result, the change would include a new strategic approach to its iGaming (video slots, virtual table games & live dealer), sports betting, lottery, and land-based casino operations–all of which Scientific Games has deep-rooted operations.
Quite often, businesses looking for a fresh approach to lead the way into the future will make the decision to rebrand. It’s a shift that can bring a fresh and exciting feel to the company not just for the core market of B2C customers, i.e., casino players and B2B customers, but also for the employees working with the firm. This led to the decision by the firm’s bigwigs that the Light & Wonder name reflects the company’s ambitions to become one of the largest cross-platform online casino companies globally.
Legal business name changes in process: For the time being, Scientific Games will retain its current well-known brand name until it legally changes its business name to Light & Wonder. This also gives the company a chance to spread the word that its name has changed. For those invested in the company, lookout for changes in stick tickers from SGMS to LNW. Meanwhile, take a look at the new Light & Wonder website here.
What is Happening to the Acquisition of Authentic Gaming?
For the time being, UKGC and MGA licensed, Authentic Gaming has continued operating as normal with its new owner yet to make its mark, but big things are expected in the niche. So, what is the hold up exactly? Well, honestly, we can only speculate at this time because the last piece of news on the Authentic Gaming website covers the takeover deal and since, we have not heard much. Nonetheless, these changes are not always quick. We only need to look at Pragmatic Play Live as an example.
When Pragmatic Play acquired Extreme Live Gaming (check the history subsection), back in 2018, it took around a year for the firm to change the name to Pragmatic Play Live and begin its push into the live dealer market. Therefore, we didn’t expect immediate changes.
Of course, there is a real possibility that Scientific Games has been waiting for its many strategic development plans to come into place, with the name change to Light & Wonder Inc being the result of this. Had the company made its mark on Authentic Gaming earlier, any re-branding would have been a waste of time, money, and resources because the same process would have been needed to change the live dealer vertical to the new Light & Wonder. In any case, we still don’t know if the company will retain the Authentic Gaming brand name within the live dealer vertical.
There are plenty of cases in which an iGaming brand has been purchased by another company and the name does not change. Scientific Games’ partner company (now competitor) in the land-based casino sector, Evolution, purchased Ezugi and kept the name, while its purchases of video slot developers NetEnt, Big Time Gaming (BTG), and Red Tiger Gaming have not instigated a name change. In fact, all these brands are operating under their original brand name. Although, Evolution did close NetEnt’s live dealer studios, eliminating a competitor, so to speak.
Land-based casino ambitions: Scientific Games is also a well-known land-based casino provider, and with Authentic Gaming already offering land-based hookups for live casino players online, this is the perfect recipe for the brand to grow. Furthermore, it is the pioneering brand behind the emergence of Evolution’s award-winning Lightning Roulette title in land-based casinos. It will be interesting to see how the competition between Evolution and Light & Wonder evolves in the future.
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