Evolution's Live Casino Returns to Growth in Q3 2026 as Brazil Bans Online Gambling

Evolution's live casino business is growing again. The Stockholm-listed supplier, which runs a big share of the live dealer tables and game shows in online casino lobbies, reported third-quarter results on October 23 showing live revenue up 2.6% year on year to €443.0 million.

Group net revenue rose 3.7% to €526.1 million, Evolution's first year-on-year increase in five quarters. RNG, the side of the business behind its slot brands, grew faster again, up 10.1% to €83.1 million. Chief executive Martin Carlesund called it an uneventful quarter and meant it as a compliment: for the first time since 2024, every region grew on the previous quarter.

The numbers

Profit slipped largely because of €12.1 million in one-off costs, made up of a €5.6 million settlement with the UK Gambling Commission and €6.5 million in fees tied to the Galaxy Gaming acquisition, which Evolution walked away from. Excluding those items, costs rose 2.8%.

If you care more about the tables than the balance sheet, our live casino scores tracker follows results and RTP for the main live games.

Where the growth came from

Evolution's two biggest regions barely moved. Europe grew 0.4% on the quarter but was still 4.7% down on a year earlier, and Asia added 0.8%. Carlesund didn't dress Europe up, telling analysts the company simply has to do better there. It opened a second studio in Lithuania during the quarter and launched an Italian-language version of Ice Fishing.

The momentum was elsewhere. North America grew 13.6% year on year, Latin America 23.1% and Africa and other markets 23.7%, with all three hitting record revenue. In the US, slots are still the bigger draw and live dealer play is building more gradually, according to the company. Evolution opened a second Michigan studio earlier this year and plans a fourth New Jersey studio, which will also serve Delaware, before the end of 2026.

Brazil: from regulated market to ban in under two years

Latin America's 23.1% came before the region's biggest gambling story of the year hit.

On September 25, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed Provisional Measure 1,394, banning the operation, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds sports betting and online casino games. New deposits were blocked immediately, players had until October 5 to withdraw their balances, and licensed sites went offline on October 6. The regulated market had only opened in January 2025.

The government justified the ban on the grounds of household debt and gambling harm, and polls cited by the BBC suggested around three in four Brazilians supported it. The industry pushed back hard. The National Association of Games and Lotteries called the decision politically motivated and illegal, and operators that paid for five-year licenses are now facing serious legal uncertainty. Congress has up to 120 days to vote on the measure, although Lula has since said publicly that the betting sites won't be coming back.

For Evolution, the effect was immediate: its Brazilian studio is temporarily closed. The company estimates Brazil accounts for well below half of its Latin American revenue, expects growth elsewhere in the region to cover part of the gap, and says it can reopen at short notice if the rules change. In the meantime, it is planning further expansion in Colombia and building up its two studios in Argentina.

For players in Brazil, licensed online casino play is off the table for now, and the only sensible course is to follow local law while this plays out.

Still to come in 2026

Evolution launched Monopoly Roll'em and Disco Balls during the quarter and says both have made a strong start. Two bigger releases are due before the year is out.

The first is the North American rollout of Ice Fishing, which Carlesund now ranks alongside Lightning Roulette and Crazy Time as one of the company's three biggest hits. Players back one of two direct-pay spots or one of three fishing bonuses, and the game has pulled in huge numbers of players in the markets where it's already live.

The second is Game Night, the next title from Evolution's exclusive Hasbro partnership. It's built around a giant money wheel with five bonus games inspired by Hasbro classics such as Hungry Hungry Hippos and Connect 4, and Evolution is pitching it as the largest game show online casino has ever seen.

There's also Spinning Whale, a new US-focused slots studio whose first game arrives in November. Evolution also confirmed it is looking at AI dealers, though Carlesund framed them as a complement to live tables rather than a replacement.

What it means at the table

None of this changes the odds on anything you play tonight. A supplier's revenue has no bearing on the return built into a game's rules, so the number 1 on Crazy Time carries the same theoretical 96.08% RTP whether Evolution has a record quarter or a rough one.

What it does change is the lobby. More game shows means more choice, and a wider spread in what individual bet spots actually return. Before you try something new, it's worth checking how it compares on our live casino RTP tracker. If Crazy Time is your game, you can follow the latest Crazy Time results and stats as they come in, and we've also broken down what Crazy Time's 54-segment wheel really pays.

The next things to watch are the Game Night launch, how Ice Fishing does in North America and whether anything shifts on Brazil's rules.

Source: Evolution interim report, January–September 2026

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