Published on 8th March 2016 by Becky Mosley

Swedish game developers Net Entertainment are hoping to double their share of the global market to 30%, a precarious move considering their rocky relationship with US regulations.There are multiple tech firms in Stockholm who have become global leaders, including music-streaming site Spotify. NetEnt has been around for 20 years, having been founded by Pontus Lindwall whose father created Sweden’s biggest restaurant casino operator.

Hoping To Expand European Market

NetEnt has just signed contracts with casino operators in the United States, Britain and Spain following a 50% rise in earnings last year.”We still have big growth potential in Europe. We have approximately a 30 percent market share and that means 70 percent to take,” CEO Per Eriksson told Reuters. “Then, we have the U.S. waiting for us and that is something we are looking forward to.”NetEnt already has headquarters in Sweden and Malta and is now moving to Krakow and Kiev to find new programmers.

US Gambling Regulations

However, analysts are not convinced that NetEnt can continue to expand after the global industry’s revenue grew by a third last year. Plus, NetEnt is just one of the gambling companies that are hoping the US loosen their rules regarding gambling.New Jersey was one of the first states in the US to allow online gambling, with NetEnt signing some major operators there. Eriksson hopes Pennsylvania will be the next state, starting a domino effect on the east coast.Forecasters H2 Gambling Capital has stated that any nationwide US initiative would be worth $6-8 billion in gross wins overnight. That’s one-fifth of the global online winnings.”The U.S. is at the bottom of the shift to real money in iGaming and there is huge potential for it to grow if it is ever widely regulated,” said H2 Founder Simon Holliday.

NetEnt’s Here To Stay

Eriksson agrees that investments in new offices and products may be a disadvantage regarding margin growth this year. Plus, there’s a serious danger of high taxes and concerns regarding gambling addiction.France alone taxed NetEnt 30% and saw revenues disappear overnight in 2009 as customers abandoned gambling sites. However, Eriksson appears a little absentminded when it comes to the opposition.”I feel it’s a little bit like rock-n-roll in the 50s, when people said it will destroy everything,” he said. “But it’s here to stay.”