NekTan Ratings
Our review team has rated Nektan Casino Games on the categories below and Nektan scores a great 74% ratings overall.
Nektan was once one of the more recognisable names in mobile casino software. However, the company doesn’t exist in its original form anymore. Here’s the full story: how it started, what it built, what went wrong, and where its games and technology ended up.
How Nektan started
Gary Shaw founded Nektan in April 2011, following a joint venture with GTECH. Shaw wasn’t new to the industry at that point. He’d joined bookmaker Victor Chandler back in 2000. There, he helped set up the world’s first poker network, launched alongside Tribeca Tables. He also built Europe’s first white label gaming business. That included striking deals with the Racing Post and Virgin Media.
In 2002, Shaw left Victor Chandler and started his own company, St Enodoc. From there, he launched a string of gaming ventures. These included the IPN Poker network with Boss Media, and, in 2004, the IBN Bingo Network. St Enodoc eventually grew into Europe’s largest end-to-end white label operator. At its peak, it had 84 partners across 24 countries. GTECH-Lottomatica acquired St Enodoc in 2008. Shaw stayed on there until he left to found Nektan in 2011.
Nektan’s early growth
Nektan went live in November 2014. Its admission to AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s growth market, gave it real credibility with potential partners. That credibility paid off quickly. In December 2014, Nektan struck a deal with LeoVegas. That deal integrated its mobile slots into one of the industry’s better-known casino brands. Two months later, in February 2015, Nektan partnered with News UK. Together, they launched Sun Play, a mobile slots product combining free and real-money play.
The studio also branched into licensed entertainment tie-ins. For instance, it struck a deal with UK broadcaster Channel 4. Together, they built a Freemium bingo game based on the TV show Come Dine With Me. Nektan also built games tied to major cultural moments. Carnival Cup, for example, was themed around the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
What Nektan actually built
At its peak, Nektan’s catalogue included more than 21 slot titles and a couple of casino-style games. Best of British was one of its most popular releases. It was set against a Union Jack backdrop, packed with red buses, teapots, fish and chips, and bulldogs. Every game ran on HTML5, built specifically for mobile play across iOS and Android.
Beyond its own games, Nektan also ran a B2B side of the business. Its Evolve platform gave commercial partners an end-to-end technology base. That covered everything from customer experience to back-office operations. As a result, operators could focus on marketing instead of infrastructure. Its E-Lite product added promotional tools too, like free spins, bonus wallets, and APIs, letting operators reward players directly. Through a US subsidiary called Respin LLC, Nektan even brought in-venue mobile gaming to land-based casinos in the United States, extending its reach well beyond online play.
What went wrong
Nektan ran into serious financial trouble in early 2020. The company was forced to suspend trading on AIM. It had failed to secure funding through a planned investment round. In April 2020, it re-entered administration. Shortly before that, it had already agreed to sell its consumer-facing business, known as its B2C arm, to Grace Media. Grace Media is a white label subsidiary of ActiveWin, and the deal was worth £200,000 plus ongoing monthly fees.
The situation got worse a year later. On 27 April 2021, the UK Gambling Commission suspended Nektan’s remaining B2C gambling licences outright. The regulator had been running an investigation into the company’s compliance practices. It concluded that Nektan was, in its own words, “unsuitable to carry on with its licensed activities.” That suspension directly affected the consumer casino brands still tied to Nektan’s name. These included PlayUK.com, Monster Casino, Jackpot Mobile, Kerching, and Spins Royale.
Where Nektan’s games and technology ended up
Nektan’s B2B division didn’t disappear along with the consumer brands. Gibraltar-based Real-Time Strategic Marketing Limited acquired it and relaunched it under a new name: Markor Technology. Markor now owns Nektan’s original proprietary games outright. It has also continued developing new titles under its own banner, rather than the Nektan name. Today, Markor operates its own E-Lite B2B platform. Through it, Markor distributes content from a wide range of software providers to operators, well beyond just the original Nektan catalogue.
So, while you won’t find a company called Nektan actively operating today, its influence lives on in a real sense. Some of its original games and technology now sit inside Markor Technology’s platform, even though the Nektan brand name itself has retired.
Why Nektan’s story is worth knowing
Nektan’s rise and fall is a useful reminder for anyone reading older reviews or provider profiles online. A studio can build a strong reputation, sign major partnerships, and list on a stock exchange, and still not survive long-term financial or regulatory pressure. It’s also a reminder to check whether a provider mentioned on an older page is still active before treating that information as current. In Nektan’s case, the underlying technology and games found a second life elsewhere, even though the original company and its consumer brands didn’t survive.
A few common questions about Nektan
Is Nektan still operating? No. Nektan went into administration in April 2020. The UK Gambling Commission then suspended its remaining gambling licences in April 2021. The company no longer operates under its original name.
What happened to Nektan’s casino brands, like Kerching? Nektan’s consumer-facing brands, including Kerching, PlayUK.com, Monster Casino, Jackpot Mobile, and Spins Royale, were sold to Grace Media in 2020. They were then affected by the 2021 licence suspension. Most of these brands have since closed.
Can you still play Nektan’s original games? Some of them, yes, just not under the Nektan name. Markor Technology acquired Nektan’s B2B division and its proprietary game library. It continues to license and develop content through its own platform today.
Why did the UK Gambling Commission suspend Nektan’s licence? The UKGC ran a formal investigation into Nektan’s compliance practices under section 116 of the Gambling Act. After reviewing the findings, the regulator determined the operator was unsuitable to continue holding a licence. That’s a serious conclusion, and it’s one of the more significant licence suspensions the UKGC issued in recent years for a company of Nektan’s size.
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