Evolution has issued a stark warning around waning channelisation rates in Europe, outlining that the ringfencing steps the supplier took almost a year ago have caused issues in terms of their bottom line.
In total, Evolution reported a 5.9% decline in the quarter-on-quarter revenue for the first quarter of 2026. Chief Executive Officer Martin Carlesund lamented regulation volatility as he urged policymakers to be adaptive.
Whilst the ringfencing measures implemented a year ago, have had an impact on the firm’s European revenue, Carlesund underpinned that ‘it was the right thing to do. And in the world of perfect regulation, it would not have caused any issues’.
There is a lack of balance between protection and entertainment, according to Carlesund, who warned that players are continuing to have access to unregulated markets.
Carlesund described Europe as Evolution’s ‘main headache’ as Evolution shifts its priority towards other regulated regions.
Overall revenue dipped for the firm by 1.5% to €513m, largely dragged by European challenges.
When it comes to Latin America, the firm was buoyant, describing it as having ‘great momentum’.
He added: “In Brazil, we continue to perform well after regulation, which was about a year ago. We have launched a localised version of Crazy Time that is sure to attract a lot of new players in Brazil. LatAm truly is exciting. We’re in full expansion mode. In addition to Argentina, we continue to expand our presence in Brazil and in Colombia to fully leverage the big market potential.”
There is a similar trend felt for the firm across North America, where excitement is held over potential growth prospects. This is somewhat fuelled by the pursuit of the acquisition of Galaxy Gaming, setting a deadline of 17 July for the deal to be completed.
Evolution takes hard stance vs Playtech
Evolution is standing its ground regarding its ongoing legal battle with Playtech, after naming the company in its lawsuit officially earlier this month.
Playtech was cited by Evolution as a defendant alongside Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP and Black Cube, in addition to Juda Engelmayer and others as defendants.
Carlesund stated during Evolution’s Q1 earnings call that the company is ready for its legal case against Playtech and is ready if it goes on for a couple of years.
“I don’t want the US litigation against a competitor to take focus from the results, but when a competitor sets aside all rules and deliberately tries to hurt us, we must take action to protect our shareholder value.
“They have stated that they stand behind the defamatory report, but please remember that they paid enormous amounts of money during four years to not be exposed as the commissioner of that said report. Please also remember that the report was based on a success fee structure, where the report producer was being paid based on how severely they could hurt our shareholder value.
“Evolution works hard. We are methodic, we are patient and we are very disciplined. We believe in right and have a strong and good culture based on morale and solid ethics.”
When asked to provide a timeline of how legal proceedings will go in the lawsuit, Carlesund responded: “We have had an opponent in this legal debacle that has been ongoing for four years. We have systematically been progressing and winning in court, that’s taken four years.
“It will take a very long time and the opponent that we have is also taking a lot of measures to delay everything, which we have seen in the past and we expect that in the future as well. So think about years, probably many years.”
In response to being named in the lawsuit earlier this month, Playtech said that it is ready to ‘defend itself vigorously’ against Evolution’s claims.
