The British Columbia Lottery Corporation announced today that their online gambling site, PlayNow.com, has launched a new Live Casino product. The launch marks the first time that Canada has offered live dealer casino gaming. Government approval was given, which gave the site the go-ahead to launch the new offering.
The new Live Casino at PlayNow can be accessed via mobile device or desktop. There are currently ten gaming tables provided, with games including live baccarat, roulette, blackjack, baccarat eSqueeze and auto roulette. The games can only be accessed at certain times due to the operation of the tables. Currently, players can log online from 10am until 2am to play.
Back in April, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation signed a deal with Evolution Gaming, a top-rated provider of live dealer technology. The deal marks the first time the company will be operating in Canada, with Evolution providing the tech for the new Live Dealer games.
To provide the games, Evolution Gaming opened a studio in New Westminster, Vancouver and has hired 50 individuals to run the operation. The company expects the number of employees to grow if other provincial gambling operators decide to provide live dealer content via their online casinos.
According to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, the new product will provide an authentic casino experience to online gamers. The new option is not the only digital product the group has been working on. Just recently, the lottery group signed a deal with Archiact Interactive to research developing Virtual Reality for gaming purposes.
Reportedly, the deal with Archiact and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation involves a virtual reality game where players must solve a challenge to be able to escape from a room. No other details have been provided and of course the BCLC has stated that development, testing and approvals are needed before any new gaming option will be released.
