How localization is delivered to customers can make or break the success of an operator’s online casino, and customizing the growing live casino vertical plays a big factor in acquisition and retention rates.
That certainly applies to MGM Resorts International as it broadcasts Playtech Live’s live studio product from its casino floors on the Las Vegas Strip to iGaming players in Ontario.
Several different components come into play when you’re trying to ensure that a broadcast offering engages and interests customers, Playtech Live Chief Product Innovation Officer Kevin Kilminster and MGM Resorts Vice President of Online Gaming Vik Shrestha tell Canadian Gaming Business.
That extends from the look, feel and sounds coming from the casino floor to the games available in an operator’s live casino content library, and everything in between.
“It goes without saying that the relevant tone of voice and the sound of voice are going to be extremely important to Ontario,” notes Kilminster. “Most of the offerings that we go into Ontario with have been defined by regulation, and we always work within that regulation. That usually is one of the biggest challenges: to see how the regulations can be set up and what we can do within them.”
The right products for the right audience
Playtech and MGM Resorts teamed up to launch “Live from Vegas” in mid-2024, broadcasting multiple live dealer table games from MGM-owned casinos. Together, the partners launched a co-developed MGM Live casino studio at the MGM Grand in 2025 specifically to livestream traditional casino games exclusively to select international markets, including Ontario.
In a market like that province, where iCasino is more than 85% of online gaming activity and a multi-billion-dollar industry, knowing how to customize and connect is key. Localization must always be top of mind because the same titles are not popular in every market globally.
There’s no denying that for the Ontario market, something that sounds closer to home is always going to resonate better than someone who’s on the other side of the world.
Playtech Live’s Kevin Kilminster
“When we’re looking at content for Ontario, especially when we’re working with the guys at MGM, we’re making sure that the games that go in there can work,” adds Kilminster. “If we had filled the whole studio with Sic Bo, it might not have hit the mark in Ontario. We always try to make sure, especially with strategic partnerships, that what we’re building in there not only speaks the right language but plays the right way as well.
“Naturally, the guys have got partners in the Ontario market, so that’s helped because we can actually have direct feedback. But we knew that it was always going to be better positioned than building another table in Latvia because it just feels like home.”
Building off that ‘feels like home’ point, Kilminster adds that Vegas being in a similar timezone as Ontario helps logistically, adding to the city’s global recognition as the world’s casino gaming capital, which already gives it strong cachet with live casino players in the Canadian province.
“It’s going to connect better to that market more than any of the other markets because of its relevancy,” he acknowledges. “But you still need very careful thinking to make sure that the content matches the language.”
Live casino’s omnichannel opportunity
This relevancy works for MGM Resorts as well, especially from an omnichannel perspective, as it builds the connection between the player in Ontario and the casino itself on the Vegas Strip.
Offering players a range of impactful live casino games is one thing; making them feel like they’re on the casino floor from home or on the go is another.
“Typically, from a land-based casino perspective, you have one to three touchpoints with the customer making a trip into Vegas,” Shrestha says. “Digital allows us to have content that has digital touchpoints, 365 days a year from a content perspective, but also from the gaming perspective.
“The key thing is that it keeps Vegas top of mind. If the player comes back to Vegas, they might have an affinity more towards ‘hey, let me go check out that glass box broadcast studio’, ‘let me go take a selfie in front of it’, ‘let me go stay at an MGM property’.”
It’s about more touchpoints with the customer. That’s really the omnichannel strategy around it, from our perspective.
MGM Resorts International’s Vik Shrestha
Alberta is new, unique ground
Ontario has been the proving ground in Canada. In Alberta, the second Canadian province regulating commercial iGaming, operators and suppliers alike will look at their offerings in Ontario to determine what lessons they can take for their services in the western province.
“Regulated markets have a wonderful way of changing from their original creation to their actual launch execution,” reflects Kilminster. “Brazil, which launched in January 2025, is a fantastic example of that. We need to make sure as content providers that we come in with the best possible selection that we can and be prepared for anything that might change along the way, because it can and it will.
“Even when Ontario was created, there were lots of twists and turns along the way. It’s just so, so important to keep your eye on the ball. Regulations tend to have a way of evolving over time more than you think. We’ve started the process and are doing full evaluations to make sure we can be as best positioned and prepared so that the players can consume that content. There might need to be some changes in our thinking.”
Kilminster knows that while Alberta has some similarities with Ontario in terms of composition, offering, and design, that doesn’t mean operators and suppliers can take a hands-off approach and simply replicate what they are already doing elsewhere with live casino in Canada.
From an operator’s perspective, too, MGM Resorts’ Shrestha stresses that providing a personal Alberta feel will play a significant role in the success of operations in the region.
“Since we have a small number of staff, roughly about 100 folks, we’re able to feed them Alberta trivia and cues that they can consume much faster, and we can roll it out much faster,” he says. “It’s one of the benefits of having a smaller operation. We can personalize the product a little bit from a purely live dealer interaction perspective.”
Ultimately, even though Alberta had a hungry iGaming audience ready and waiting, Kilminster emphasizes that it may not all be smooth sailing. Things change, and having the ability to be agile and flexible to anything that changes is vital.
“The most important thing I’ve learned with regulation is to expect the unexpected,” he says. “Be prepared for every eventuality that could be thrown at you. Just be prepared for the unknown because it could all change in a second.”
A version of this story first appeared in the Summer 2026 issue of Canadian Gaming Business magazine.
Conor Porter is a Senior Business Journalist with SBC’s iGaming Expert and SlotBeats.
