
Ontario online casino gambling launched on April 4, and Rivalry was among the operators with approval to go live on day one.
Primarily an esports operator, the Isle of Man-based company became a regulated online casino and sports betting entity. However, Rivalry is just entering the “traditional” online casino space now.
On Tuesday, Rivalry announced that it will bring Ontario online casino bettors Aviator, “a popular online game in the ‘crash’ category.”
That’s a category of games that first became popular in unregulated cryptocurrency casinos but has since made the mainstream. DraftKings Rocket was the first example of the genre in the US regulated market.
Ontarians won’t get the game for a few months, though.
Despite the company and its founders’ “Toronto roots,” as Rivalry COO and Co-Founder Kevin Wimer tweeted about on April 4, international markets the company serves using its Isle of Man license will see the product first.
However, the Aviator online casino game is Rivalry’s “first title of several expected to be added in coming quarters.”
Rivalry’s Strategy for Expanding Ontario Online Casino Games
In Tuesday’s announcement Rivalry CEO and Co-Founder Steven Salz says:
Our strategy is to continuously expand our product offering and provide our customers with fresh content that is consistent with our brand. With a strong foundation in esports betting and a growing traditional sports business, offering casino in an authentically Rivalry way is the next step for us. Aviator is a great selection as our first-ever third-party casino game, as it is simple, fun, easy to learn, and has a live chat element that aligns with our focus on community.
Rivalry’s statement about the upcoming online casino offering is that it will complement what it calls its Massively Multiplayer Online Gambling Games (MMOGG) category. That category debuted last year with its Rushlane game. (It’s a multiplayer, chance-based racing game, as explained by a fake Keanu Reeves on YouTube.)
In other words, Rivalry wants to continue the social interaction for which its games are known. That has the benefit of appealing to younger players, too.
Rivalry Games, “one of the key business pillars of the company,” will then oversee online casino and MMOGG products.
That’s to ensure Rivalry remains what the company claims is “the world’s most engaged brand” in esports betting.
The announcement further reads:
Rivalry is leveraging the trust of its loyal customer base to build upon its esports betting business with the addition of casino. The Company believes the trust it has fostered over the years will enable more rapid organic adoption of new product offerings such as casino.
How to Play Aviator
Rivalry says the online casino game works on mobile and desktop devices.
The announcement characterizes the “fast game sessions” this way:
The premise of Aviator is a plane that takes off and flies higher and higher, with the bet multiplier constantly increasing until the moment the plane flies away.
Players who “cash out” on time win their bet at that multiplier, while those who wait too long do not.
Driven by a provably fair random number generator, the game is risky but offers the possibility of high payout.
Rivalry’s been a minor player in the online gambling industry until now. During Q2 2022, the company saw a “record revenue” of $5.3 million.
However, the company vies to fly high with Aviator and its upcoming online casino games.
Online casino gambling means Rivalry can grow its revenue and customer engagement, the announcement says. “For many online betting companies, casino represents one of their largest single verticals in terms of betting handle and revenue,” it concludes.