For many years, the companies behind the slot games most people recognize have operated largely outside of public view. Most are profitable and properly licensed, but they’ve rarely drawn the kind of mainstream financial press attention that public companies typically attract.
That’s changing fast as the online gambling market expands. Investors are now asking what these slot development studios are actually worth, and how public markets should price them.
The IPO that didn’t happen
Online slots development studios are still figuring out how to navigate going public, and the very first example of this was Games Global’s IPO in 2024. The Isle of Man-based software provider, famous for games like the Mega Moolah jackpot and the current owner of the Microgaming portfolio, withdrew at the last minute despite an otherwise straightforward set of financials.
The company had failed to list its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GGL. According to their SEC filing, they were targeting a valuation of $2.13 billion and hoping to raise as much as $275 million from selling shares between $16 and $19.
The news drew significant attention across the gambling industry. The day before the company was due to ring the opening bell, it withdrew.
According to their SEC filing, they cited current market conditions as the reason for their withdrawal. Yet the timing continued to baffle analysts, coming with no clear warning and no real precedent.
On paper, the reported figures showed revenue growth of over 80% in the previous year, even though net profit growth was much more modest, at under 11%. One can only speculate that the reason for the withdrawal was due to investors’ demands not matching the pricing that Games Global had expected.
Platform, hardware, or content? The market is still undecided
The pricing issue comes from the fact that slot development companies have become very complex in how they operate. There are some that create physical hardware that is delivered to the casino floor, which is the traditional method. Then, there are those that are mainly content studios that deliver games to online casino operators. Then, there is also the part where revenue can be generated from jackpots and game distribution. In some cases, slot software providers are all of these at the same time.
One example is Light & Wonder, a major software provider in the industry. In 2021 and 2022, the company sold off its sports betting and lottery divisions to Endeavor Group Holdings and Brookfield Business Partners respectively, paying down billions in debt in the process. Now, the company has repositioned itself as a brand focused on content.
As of early 2026, its stock was trading at an EV/EBITDA multiple of roughly 12 times, per independent equity analysis. Looking at its pricing, the number puts the company in a position where it appears as a media company and an industrial supplier.
This in-between status makes these stocks genuinely difficult to benchmark. For example, if it were a pure hardware company, it would be valued based on the number of installations and unit sales. A content-only company, on the other hand, will be valued based on IP and the recurring license renewals. It’s difficult for investors to blend these two models with a single company.
There’s a market workaround with consolidation
Since individual slot providers have been harder to price, the industry seems to have decided to go even broader rather than niche down further. One such instance was Apollo Funds’ all-cash, approximately $6.3 billion acquisition of IGT’s Gaming & Digital business together with Everi Holdings in July 2025. This acquisition created a merger between traditional casino game development and gambling fintech under one IGT umbrella.
This move reflects a broader market pattern: diversified gaming companies are generally easier for Wall Street to value than single-category slot developers, since they can be benchmarked against a wider set of comparables.
Where does this leave slot software development studios
One path forward is to follow the route IGT and Light & Wonder have taken, though replicating that kind of consolidation isn’t easy. Online slot developers will need clearer, more convincing ways to explain their business models to Wall Street. This means that it might take a longer time for us to see individual studios finally get listed publicly. At the same time, that outcome remains possible in the near future as the industry continues to develop.
