It's a Canadian technology mini-boom with massive prospects. A group of software firms based in Calgary, Quebec, B.C. and Ontario is leading the development of computer games for gamblers, even though many of their products aren't yet legal in North America.
The companies include a subsidiary of Crown corporation Loto-Quebec which holds the worldwide patent on instant win CD-ROM lottery games and CryptoLogic, Inc., a Toronto software company that calls itself the world's largest publicly traded Internet casino software enterprise.
Other players include Calgary's Chartwell Technology Inc., which provides online casino software to gambling empires such as Harrah's and Horseshoe casinos and Vancouver's Inphinity Interactive, a firm that sprang out of an Internet porn operation and holds the dubious honour of being one of Canada's most legally troubled, but successful corporations.
"We're very much at the forefront in Internet gaming development," said Ivan Sack, publisher of Canadian Gaming News. "I would think we're probably the world leader."
And, even as researchers say some of these new made-in-Canada games pose a danger to would-be addicts and kids, the industry shows no sign of going away.
