Who owns Aviator? The crash game is owned by Spribe and its founder, David Natroshvili — not the casinos that offer it. Here is how Aviator’s ownership really works.
Who owns Aviator is a simple question with a widely misunderstood answer. The game is owned by one company, Spribe, even though it appears on thousands of betting sites. This guide explains who owns and created Aviator, and why the casino you play it on is not its owner.
Most people meet Aviator on a betting site and assume that site owns the game. It does not. Aviator is owned and made by a single company — Spribe — which licenses it out to operators around the world. The brand you placed your bet with is simply renting the game, and understanding that distinction is the key to understanding who really owns Aviator.
Aviator Ownership at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Game | Aviator |
| Owner and maker | Spribe |
| Created by | Spribe, in 2018 |
| Founder of Spribe | David Natroshvili |
| Ownership type | Private; bootstrapped, no outside investors |
| Where the owner is based | Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Available through | More than 5,000 licensed operators |
| Can you buy shares? | No — Spribe is privately held |
Spribe Makes and Operates Aviator
Aviator was built by Spribe, a business-to-business gaming studio founded in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2018, and launched in January 2019. Spribe develops and operates the game — its code, its technology and the way it plays — and runs it as its flagship product. The rights to the Aviator name and its aeroplane logo, however, are not as clear-cut: a separate company, Aviator LLC, has won court rulings in Georgia recognising it, rather than Spribe, as the owner of that trademark — a dispute set out in full further down this page.
What Spribe does with Aviator is license it, not give it away. Operators pay Spribe to offer the game to their own players, and the wider business behind that arrangement, including the company’s value and revenue, is set out on the Spribe net worth and valuation page. Ownership of the game itself, though, stays firmly with Spribe.
Aviator’s Owner Is Not the Casino You Play It On
This is where most confusion comes from. When you see Aviator on a betting site, that operator has licensed the game from Spribe — it has not bought or built it. The same game runs identically across thousands of different sites precisely because they are all serving Spribe’s single product. No operator owns Aviator, holds exclusive rights to it, or can change how it works; they offer it under licence and pass Spribe a share of the revenue it produces, as explained on the how much Aviator makes page.
That also means no single casino brand is “the home of Aviator.” Whether you find it on one operator or another, the owner behind it is always the same company.
Who Owns Spribe
If Spribe owns Aviator, the natural next question is who owns Spribe — and the answer is its founder. Spribe is privately held and controlled by David Natroshvili, who founded it in 2018 and serves as chief executive. Because the company was bootstrapped and took no venture-capital funding, there are no outside investors on its share register, and Natroshvili’s stake has never been diluted. The exact ownership split between him and any co-owners or staff has not been made public. The wealth that ownership represents is covered on the David Natroshvili net worth page.
Because the company is private, there is no way to buy a share of Spribe or, by extension, of Aviator. It is not listed on any stock exchange, and ownership is not available to outside investors.
The Aviator Trademark Dispute
Ownership of the Aviator brand is less settled than the game’s commercial dominance suggests. A separate company, Aviator LLC, has pursued Spribe through the Georgian courts over the rights to the name and the aeroplane image, and it has so far prevailed in that jurisdiction.
In August 2024, a Georgian court of first instance ruled in favour of Aviator LLC’s copyright and trademark infringement claim against Spribe and Adjarabet, the Georgian online casino that offered the game. The court found infringement, invalidated Spribe’s trademark registrations as having been made in bad faith, and awarded Aviator LLC damages reported at $330 million. Spribe appealed, and in May 2025 the Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed that appeal, finalising the invalidation of Spribe’s Aviator trademarks in Georgia and recognising Aviator LLC as the owner of the name and logo in the country where the game originated.
The dispute is not over. Aviator LLC has filed to invalidate Spribe’s Aviator trademarks at the European Union Intellectual Property Office, and related proceedings have been reported in other jurisdictions — none of which stops Spribe developing and operating the game worldwide. The detailed account of these rulings comes largely from Aviator LLC and its legal representatives, and Spribe has disputed how they have been characterised, so the position outside Georgia remains unresolved. What can be said plainly is that, in Georgia at least, the courts have found the Aviator trademark belongs to Aviator LLC rather than Spribe — a real complication for a game most people assume Spribe owns in every sense. The case is set out in full on the Aviator trademark dispute page.
Who Created the Aviator Game
The credit for creating Aviator belongs to Spribe and the team Natroshvili built, who launched it in 2018 and turned the crash-game format into a global category. Aviator was not adapted from an existing casino game; it was designed from the ground up as a social, mobile-first title, and that originality is a large part of why it spread so quickly and why the company guards its ownership of it so closely.
The Imitators Are Not the Owner
Aviator’s success produced a wave of similar crash games from other providers, all using the same rising-multiplier mechanic. Those are separate products made by separate companies — they are competitors, not versions of Aviator, and they do not share its ownership. When people ask who owns “the Aviator game,” they mean the original by Spribe; the look-alikes that followed are owned by whoever built them, not by Spribe.
The Bottom Line on Aviator’s Ownership
Aviator is owned and was created by Spribe, the Georgian studio founded in 2018 by David Natroshvili, who privately owns and controls the company. The betting sites where you play it are licensees, not owners, and because Spribe is private, no part of Aviator can be bought by outside investors. One company made it, one company owns it, and everyone else is renting.
Common Questions About Aviator’s Ownership
Who owns Aviator?
Aviator is made and operated by Spribe, the company that launched it in 2019 and runs it as its flagship game. Spribe is privately held and controlled by its founder and chief executive, David Natroshvili, and it licenses the game to operators worldwide. The rights to the Aviator name and logo are separately disputed: Georgian courts have recognised another company, Aviator LLC, as owner of that trademark in Georgia.
Who created the Aviator game?
Aviator was created by Spribe, a business-to-business gaming studio based in Tbilisi, Georgia, founded by David Natroshvili. It was designed from scratch as an original crash game rather than adapted from an existing title.
Is Aviator owned by a casino or betting site?
No. The casinos and betting sites that offer Aviator have licensed it from Spribe; they do not own it. The same game runs across thousands of operators because they are all serving Spribe’s single product under licence.
Who owns Spribe?
Spribe is privately owned and controlled by its founder, David Natroshvili. The company was bootstrapped with no outside investment, so there are no venture-capital firms or institutional shareholders, and the exact ownership split has not been publicly disclosed.
Can you buy shares in Aviator or Spribe?
No. Spribe is a private company and is not listed on any stock exchange, so there is no way for outside investors to buy a stake in it or in Aviator.
Where is the owner of Aviator based?
Spribe, the owner of Aviator, is headquartered in Tbilisi, Georgia, where founder David Natroshvili is based. The company serves more than 5,000 operators internationally from that base.
Are all crash games called Aviator made by Spribe?
No. Only the original Aviator is made by Spribe. Its success inspired many similar crash games from other providers, but those are separate products owned by the companies that built them.
Is there a legal dispute over who owns Aviator?
Yes. A company called Aviator LLC has challenged Spribe’s rights to the Aviator name and aeroplane logo. Georgian courts ruled in Aviator LLC’s favour, awarding it damages reported at $330 million in 2024 and finalising the invalidation of Spribe’s Georgian trademarks in May 2025. Spribe still develops and operates the game, and related cases in other jurisdictions remain ongoing.
