Light & Wonder’s departure from the live-dealer iGaming market, as revealed during the earnings call, will leave Evolution and Playtech as the only two remaining live casino suppliers in the US.
Officials talked about Light & Wonder’s 2024 Q4 earnings, explaining many things about the company’s future, including the scrapping of live-dealer games.
Light & Wonder Ditches Live-Dealer Games
Light & Wonder, a prominent US land-based and iGaming company, announced that it would cease operations of its live-dealer games. The news comes from CEO Matt Wilson and CFO Oliver Chow who announced this during a fourth-quarter-earnings call on February 25.
While both talked in length about various things, Wilson saying the company had “another year of significant progress,” the statement that live-dealer games will be discontinued stood out. They mentioned that, although they are still in the relatively early stages of investing in the business, they aim to remain flexible as an organization. As a result, they are concentrating on the risk-reward profile of their other businesses, which offer better visibility for superior returns compared to live casinos.
Light & Wonder’s departure from the live-dealer iGaming market, as revealed during the earnings call, will leave Evolution and Playtech as the only two remaining live casino suppliers in the US. Although Wilson acknowledged that exiting the live casino segment reduces the addressable market for iGaming, he argued that the vertical ultimately turned out to be a smaller portion of the business than initially expected.
What Else Did Officials Say?
Despite Light & Wonder scrapping live-dealer games, Wilson explained that gaming operations will return to robust growth in 2025. He explained that 2024 was another record year, claiming the success the company saw was due to the flexibility of its teams.
Another positive metric for the company was an 8% increase in fourth-quarter operating income and an 11% rise in 2024 cash flow. In addition, Light & Wonder saw a big expansion into the Brazilian market, with Chow explaining that 50 game titles were launched into the country’s iGaming market through various operators.
However, the officials also talked a bit about some of the problems the company has faced during the last year. One of these was regarding the banned-in-America Dragon Train. According to Wilson, the “drama” is now “almost completely behind” Light & Wonder when it comes to an operating perspective.
Another key issue discussed was sweepstakes games. Wilson noted that being unregulated contests, they were against the company’s vision and strategy. While he mentioned that he had been monitoring the space, he also pointed to the increasing legal challenges facing the sweepstakes sector.
Wilson concluded by scheduling an investor day for May 20, stating that Light & Wonder would have more updates to share at that time.
