Today, most games found at online casinos are developed by one of dozens of online gambling software providers. These are companies that specialize in creating content for casino sites, building slots, table games, video poker machines, specialty games and more. It is their entire business: rather than requiring each operator to come up with their own titles, they can license out a library of great options for players to enjoy to each site, making it quick and easy to get a new iGaming operation up and running.
But there are still exceptions to this rule. Occasionally, we’ll come across a game that wasn’t developed by a company that specializes in these sorts of products. These proprietary games can come from a wide range of sources: sometimes a casino can build them from scratch, or perhaps a company that has a particular brand or concept they want to promote will create a slot machine or other product that ends up on a website for real money play. These may be the oddballs of the iGaming industry, but they can still be entertaining and interesting options if you’re willing to give them a chance.
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Proprietary games can vary tremendously in quality and content, but they all have one thing in common: they haven’t come from a source traditionally known for creating casino products. That means that these titles can offer up some really divergent experiences from what you’re used to – wild and unpredictable machines that can be like nothing you’ve ever played before.
That’s not always the case, of course. Some of these titles are just traditional slots or table games from unexpected developers, and you’ll find some examples of that on our page. But where proprietary content should be of particular interest to players is when they manage to stand out from the crowd.
This often happens when companies create something that you wouldn’t normally think of as a real money gambling product, but adapts it for casino play. This can take a variety of forms, but often fits into the broad category of specialty, parlor, or arcade games. In theory, there are an endless number of game types you could create, but traditional developers tend to stick with what works, only innovating around the edges. Proprietary games can break these molds entirely, giving you something wholly unique.
To be fair, not all of these creations are actually good. Let’s be honest: a lot of times, a small-time site might try to get away with picking up some cheaply made games (or making them themselves) in order to save a little money. This can lead to results that would be hilarious if it weren’t for how they impact unsuspecting players: games that are ugly and difficult to use, or even worse, buggy and unreliable.
On the other hand, some of the most interesting games you’ll ever play could also come out of these arrangements. When you deal with creators who aren’t constrained by their preexisting notions of what makes for a “good” casino product, they can let their imaginations run wild. The best of these games add something truly different to the sites they appear on – the kinds of games that will have you coming back again and again to play them, leading the most established gaming studios scrambling to create their own versions of these unexpected hits.
Many online casino fans will go their whole lives playing few – if any – proprietary games. But if you like looking a bit outside the box, this is exactly where you can find those titles that are a bit off the beaten path. That doesn’t always mean that these slots and other products will live up to your expectations every time, but this is definitely a place where you can find some hidden gems, and you just might find a game or two that you’ll end up counting among your favorites.