Taking on the giants: Religa’s boutique strategy is generating growth

The iGaming industry is dominated by a handful of global heavyweights, making it easy to assume that success depends on scale alone. For smaller players, competing against businesses with vast resources and market reach can seem like an uphill battle. But Malta-based live casino supplier Religa has built its commercial edge precisely by embracing what many of its larger rivals cannot: the ability to offer genuinely bespoke solutions. Rather than trying to outgrow the industry's biggest names, it has carved out a niche as a boutique provider, offering operators a level of flexibility and customisation that larger operators often struggle to match.

That approach has been part of Religa's DNA for more than 15 years. When CEO Edgar Portelli joined the company while still completing his studies in software development, he was part of a tiny team of around eight people working to bring an ambitious idea to life. As the business grew, so too did his responsibilities, with his progression into the CEO role emerging as a natural evolution of someone who had helped build the company from the ground up. Today, he leads an organisation employing around 1,200 people, yet his leadership style remains firmly rooted in those early startup days.

“I'm still 100 per cent hands-on,” he says. “We're a very technology-reliant company, and because my background is technical, I'm involved in the process from start to finish.”

Reflecting on Religa's position in the market, Mr Portelli adds: “The competition in live casino is huge. We're up against some of the biggest companies in the world, so we like to market ourselves as being boutique. If a client comes to us with an idea, we really want to hear it and try to accommodate each and every request.”

In practice, that means going beyond standard live casino products. While many suppliers offer largely uniform game libraries, Religa works closely with operators to create tailored experiences, customising everything from gameplay mechanics and studio design to dealer presentation and user interfaces. The result is a product built around the specific needs of each client rather than an off-the-shelf solution. What’s more, this strategy has helped the company truly stand out in one of the world's most crowded industries.

According to Mr Portelli, client requests are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with more companies looking for products that stand apart from the standard live casino experience. Rather than forcing customers into a fixed catalogue, Religa's approach is to listen first and then work out how those ideas can become reality.

That process begins with understanding player behaviour. While traditional audiences continue to enjoy classic table games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat, Mr Portelli says younger demographics are increasingly drawn to experiences that blur the line between gambling and entertainment, incorporating greater interaction and game show-style elements.

“With each client request, we practically start from paper,” he explains. “We draw out the idea together, refine it and then present how the whole experience will look.” From there, almost every aspect of the product can be tailored to the operator's vision, from the appearance of the studio and the gaming devices to dealer uniforms, lighting, player interfaces, button layouts, game rules and language capabilities.

Mr Portelli points to one variation of roulette developed by the Religa team in which the traditional spinning wheel is replaced by a flat playing surface, allowing the ball to travel in a completely different way while still producing the same range of outcomes. The concept preserves the underlying mathematics of the game but delivers a fresh visual and entertainment experience for players. Fundamentally, he notes, the strategy is about giving operators distinctive live casino products that help their own brands stand out in a crowded market and offer players an experience that feels both familiar and refreshingly different.

The strategy certainly appears to be paying off. Religa has enjoyed significant growth in recent years and is now expanding its footprint across Europe, opening new studios while embarking on a major recruitment drive to support the next phase of its development. Despite that international outlook, Mr Portelli is clear that the company's identity remains firmly rooted in Malta. “We're a Maltese entity, so we believe a lot in that family type of operation,” he says. “When it comes to management, we're very close together, and we try to make sure our people are treated in the best way possible.” As the business grows, he adds, preserving that culture across new locations is a priority.

He is equally complimentary about Malta's role in the company's success. “We believe a lot in Malta, and we still have many operators coming to us specifically because we are based in Malta,” Mr Portelli says, describing it as home to one of the strongest regulatory frameworks in the gaming industry. He also credits the support provided by GamingMalta and the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) in helping the company grow and strengthen its position in the market.

In fact, Religa's expansion into Croatia and Bulgaria has not been about moving away from Malta but about meeting the practical requirements of serving clients in those jurisdictions. With partners operating across Europe, establishing local studios enables the company to provide live casino products in markets where local operations are required.

As Religa prepares to onboard hundreds of additional employees, Mr Portelli says building the right team is fundamental to sustaining the company's momentum. A strong talent acquisition function recruits both locally and internationally, particularly for specialist live casino presenter roles where clients may require fluency in specific languages.

Managing a workforce spread across multiple locations also requires the right leadership structure. Mr Portelli points to a trusted management team, with responsibility divided across clearly defined areas and accountability embedded throughout the organisation. “Each management team is responsible for its own area,” he explains, “but all of these different departments find very good support from our head office.”

Religa's roadmap for the coming months is packed, with several new live casino products already in development and scheduled for launch over the next 18 months. Each takes between four and six months to create, with multiple projects progressing simultaneously, while the company is also preparing to open additional studios and recruit around 300 new employees. It's an ambitious agenda for any CEO, but it’s one Mr Portelli appears to embrace with enthusiasm.