Evolution Opens Bucharest Live Studio to Serve Romanian and Central European Markets

Evolution has cut the ribbon on its long-planned Bucharest live casino studio, opening a facility that the Stockholm-listed supplier says will anchor its expansion across Central and Eastern Europe. The 8,000-square-metre site houses 42 live tables at launch, with capacity to scale to more than 100 tables by mid-2027. Romanian-language dealers will staff dedicated blackjack, roulette, and baccarat tables, alongside localized versions of Evolution's flagship game shows including Crazy Time and Monopoly Big Baller.

The Bucharest studio represents an estimated €45 million capital investment and is expected to create roughly 900 jobs by the end of 2027, according to details shared by Evolution's regional operations director Adrian Popescu during a press briefing on Monday. The company selected Romania in part due to the country's regulated online market maturity, its multilingual talent pool, and favorable operating costs compared with Western European alternatives. Content produced in Bucharest will also stream to licensed operators in Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia, giving Evolution a regional hub outside its established studios in Malta, Latvia, and Georgia.

Operator interest has reportedly been strong, with Superbet, Betano, and Fortuna among the initial partners confirmed to integrate the localized tables. Romania's ONJN regulator granted final studio certification earlier this month following a technical audit that focused on stream integrity, dealer training standards, and anti-collusion controls. Evolution said the Bucharest facility incorporates its latest camera and RFID systems, along with an on-site game development team tasked with producing region-specific variants and seasonal content.

The opening comes as competition in the live dealer segment intensifies, with Playtech, Pragmatic Play Live, and Stakelogic all expanding their studio footprints across Europe this year. Analysts at Regulus Partners noted that Evolution's continued geographic diversification helps insulate the supplier from single-market regulatory shocks while deepening its moat in localized content — an increasingly important differentiator as CEE jurisdictions tighten player protection rules and demand native-language experiences.