Many of the best-known live casino games, from Lightning Roulette to Crazy Time, come from Evolution, a company that started with a single studio in Latvia in 2006. On 24 September 2026, Evolution published a guest article by co-founder Fredrik Österberg looking back at those early years. It was written for the company’s 20th anniversary. It is not product news, but it is an unusually candid account of how live casino became a category of its own.
Österberg is a co-founder of Evolution, its former Chief Commercial Officer, and now a director on its board.
A closet-sized studio and BBC news on the wall
Österberg writes that live casino “was far from a sure bet” and that most people doubted players would trust “a game on a screen”. The first product was “as simple as it gets”:
- The first studio, in Riga’s old town, was “not much bigger than a closet”, with two blackjack tables and one roulette table.
- Games were streamed through “grainy web cameras” by a team “working around the clock to keep it all running”.
- To prove the footage really was live, the team put tube TVs behind the game hosts showing BBC news coverage 24/7.
“If the game wasn’t live, fair, stable and transparent, we had nothing,” he writes. “Trust was the foundation for everything.”
The milestones he picks out
Looking back, Österberg names several turning points:
Mobile. When smartphones changed how people used the internet, “just shrinking down the desktop version was never going to cut it”. The screen, interface, speed and video all had to be rethought. For anyone who plays live games on a phone, this is the change that made it possible.
A separate live casino tab. It “might sound obvious now”, but when one operator gave live games their own tab, apart from video slots, “the effect was immediate”. It showed live casino was “not a side bet to slots”.
Immersive Roulette. This was when live games became “cinematic”, with camera work, pacing and close-ups that let players see the roulette ball “crystal clear, zoomed in”.
Dedicated environments. When operators started paying for their own branded tables and spaces, live casino stopped being “just a shared studio product”.
Game shows. Evolution’s 20th-anniversary release says the game show genre began in 2017 with Dream Catcher. Österberg says game shows moved live casino towards “online interactive entertainment”. Our live casino game shows explainer covers how these games work.
He also recalls a low-budget trick from the early days. Evolution could not afford a proper presence at the ICE London trade show, so it rented a bus with two conference rooms and a bar, parked it outside and drove clients around during meetings. The organisers “didn’t appreciate the stunt”, and one day the police came because the bus was blocking the underground entrance at Earls Court.
Evolution in numbers, 20 years on
Evolution’s own anniversary release gives these figures:
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006, single studio in Latvia |
| Employees | More than 22,000 |
| Studios | 24 worldwide |
| Offices and engineering hubs | More than 30 countries |
| Live tables | More than 2,000 (doubled in five years) |
| Operator customers | More than 770 |
| New games per year | More than 100 |
The release also mentions a new multi-year agreement with Hasbro, signed in 2025. For the latest numbers and new games, see our Evolution Q3 2026 results article.
Why it matters to players
Österberg’s main point is that live casino only works if players trust that what they see is real. That still holds today. A live table is only as trustworthy as the studio and the casino offering it. When you choose where to play, look at who supplies the live games, check the table rules and limits, and use casinos that are clear about payments and withdrawals. Our live casino guide for India covers the basics.
Evolution appears in the provider lists of 62 of the 80 casinos in our data, including Stake, BC.Game, BitStarz, Winz.io, Lucky Days, Patang, Ivibet, National and V.Vegas.
Österberg ends by calling the first two decades “the end of the beginning”. From a player’s point of view, the steady flow of new formats suggests he is right that the category is still changing.
Frequently asked questions
When was Evolution founded?
Evolution was founded in 2006 with a single studio in Latvia. The company marked its 20th anniversary in 2026.
Who is Fredrik Österberg?
He is a co-founder of Evolution and its former Chief Commercial Officer, and now sits on the board. Evolution published his guest article about the company's early days on 24 September 2026.
What was Evolution's first studio like?
According to Österberg, the first studio in Riga's old town was 'not much bigger than a closet', with two blackjack tables and one roulette table, streamed through 'grainy web cameras'.
How big is Evolution today?
In its 20th anniversary release, Evolution says it has more than 22,000 employees, 24 studios worldwide, more than 2,000 live tables and more than 770 operator customers, and launches more than 100 new games a year.