Say Hello to Evoplay’s latest B2C partner, Slots-777!

This exciting platform pays great attention to reviewing new gambling games – ensuring that its visitors are fully up to speed when it comes to new releases and updates hitting the market. 

We are very excited that Slots-777 will make sure our games are presented in a creative but trusted way to players around the world.

On the hunt for Evoplay game reviews? Look no further than our latest B2C partner, Casinos Hunter.

We’re delighted to announce our collaboration with this platform that provides honest, detailed and unbiased reviews that help online gamblers find the best games and the safest sites to play them on. 

Head over there now, and find Evoplay game reviews and our company updates.

Skill-based gaming shouldn’t be seen as competition to iGaming – it’s a gateway. And that’s why we’re seeing blurred lines between what were often distinct genres. Game suppliers have known about this gateway for years – and more and more gamers are starting to explore it too.

There’s always a sense of satisfaction when you win a game of chance. You just beat the odds, and that feels good! But nothing feels better than winning when you know that your skill at playing the game was a reason for the win. You didn’t just get lucky – you earned it.

The future of iGaming is tied to pulling in more players from Generation Y (Millennials, born 1980-94) and Generation Z (born 1995-2010). One of the similarities they share – they love playing skill-based games. And they’ve grown up putting in serious hours doing it.

Skill-based gaming is a gateway to skill-influenced gaming in online casinos. 

Back in 2015, a report showed that 26% of social casino gamers reported having migrated to online gambling. Importantly, engagement in micro-transactions was the only unique predictor of migration from social casino gaming to online gambling.

One year later, 9.6% of participants reported that their gambling had, overall, increased – and 19.4% reported that they had gambled for money as a direct result of social casino games. 

From free play, they were slowly moving to gambling. And it perhaps started with features that required earned (or bought) functions. Types of play have greatly impacted Loot Boxes, for example – in-game chests (mystery boxes) that can be opened through a purchase or through successful, often skill-based, gameplay. 

Research last year showed that Loot Boxes are now common in games. On the Google Play store, 58% of all video games have them. That number is 59% for all top iPhone games. 

Loot Boxes can be for paid and unpaid openings, opportunities for cashing out, paying to win, using in-game currency, unlocking key mechanics, or obtaining exclusive items – showing that whether you play on a desktop or a mobile, using skill  to unlock items of interest or value is dominant.

As seen with mainstream gaming, skill-based games can be played against the game itself, or against other players – and where there are multiple players there are in-game chat rooms. 

Simply put, one of the strongest ways to attract a new, younger audience to iGaming is with skill-influenced games. Today, such games are a hot topic of discussion in our industry, where almost all games are RNG-based. 

Millennials are ready to experience something new. And they can be shown that gaming and iGaming can be two sides of the same, or at least a similar, coin. Such skill-influenced iGaming can give the Millennials something new, but also something familiar. Something exciting, but with a different sense of reward. 

It’s our responsibility, as an industry, to adapt content to make sure we appeal to that audience. It’s how we can inject new blood into the market, and how we can grow revenue.

In a recent Synergy Blue study of online casino owners, there was very telling feedback. In total, 67% of respondents said they now want games that appeal to “a new generation of gamblers”, and 81% indicated that they believed that skill-based/skill-influenced games would provide that different player experience.

Are your game suppliers providing these news types of games that appeal to a new generation of gamblers? Are they truly helping to grow your web traffic?

The Evoplay team is excited to announce a new B2C deal! With immediate effect, visitors to the Onlinecasinoground.nl platform can now explore Evoplay games absolutely for free by playing demo versions and reading detailed game reviews. 

We’re looking forward to what we know will be a fruitful and enjoyable collaboration between our two companies. 

Be sure to stay tuned to our website and social media pages for more news!

The 2021 Evoplay rebrand was recently nominated for the CasinoBeats Game Developer Award ‘Innovation in Marketing’. 

What does the rebrand mean to us, and how important a role does it play?

As Seth Godin, the marketing and leadership expert, once said, ‘A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.’

We believe that good branding is a key component to business success, scalability, and finding ways to truly connect with customers and partners.

Ivan Kravchuk, Evoplay’s CEO, and Vladimir Malakchi, our CCO, were recently interviewed and explained the importance of this belief.

Tell us about the rebrand – what does it symbolise and how will it change the way Evoplay interacts in the iGaming industry?

Ivan: The rebrand is really an evolution – something that naturally started to take shape as our company grew and we made plans for the coming years. We’re really proud that in just three years we grew our team to over 100 people, and going forward we needed a brand identity that would help tie together our people, their work, what we stand for and how the industry itself recognises us – a company that’s at the forefront of technological development in the iGaming space.

In terms of how that plays out regarding interaction – that is, in short, a key component to our brand and our future. We’ve always made sure that we meet the needs of online casinos and their audiences, but in addition to that we also have a strong drive to help actually shape operators’ future audiences.

Evoplay is itself a brand. One that stands for great gaming, progressive ideas, industry-leading tech, and market firsts. We’re a prime mover, and that means more than just producing new games that no one else has created in this space. 

It means we create the type of games that will bring in a whole new audience to iGaming. We’re interacting with mainstream gamers – and showing that huge group of players that iGaming can be a natural continuation of the gaming they love – just in a different form of entertainment. Gambling. 

Are there other objectives, too?

Vladimir: One is to reflect our insights and plans in a way that sets the tone and future-proofs our messaging – as much as that is ever possible. Or, in other words, to represent how Evoplay will be perceived in and outside of the gaming industry.

Now it’s time to really show the world of entertainment our technological capabilities, our art, and that we’re mature enough to set our name in stone.

We’re bringing our business to a completely new level, shaking up iGaming and making a strong statement to the industry. One of the objectives of our rebrand is to start showing that. 

We think of our brand as, essentially, a platform for reaching and tapping into the wider world of entertainment.

Was this done in-house, or did you use an outside agency? 

Vladimir: All of our rebranding work was done in-house, and this was possible because we’re actually structured like a creative agency. We have the capacity for market research and analytics; and have the brand, communications, graphic design and marketing expertise that many agencies would themselves be proud of.

Indeed, some of our staff have agency backgrounds. Our marketing and communications team, for example, are an incredible mix of talents. Some have worked in gaming before, and others come from outside of our industry and have worked with some of the biggest brands on the planet – from Red Bull to Audi, from Nike to HBO. 

What you see from our rebranding is really just the start – the beginning of our journey as we move onwards and upwards.

Talk us through what’s new in the Evoplay journey – what can visitors now expect to see on the Evoplay website?

Ivan: Journeys for any company should be holistic – touching every aspect of the business. Our rebrand took this into account and so it’s more than just how we look on social media, for example, or how we use visuals. 

It’s really everything – from the PR we use to engage the media, to the emails that partners receive, to the way we present our work for award recognition, to the communication we have with players, or even the way we set up contracts and draft official letters. It touches everything!

But for the website specifically, we tidied up the functionality and put into place the elements needed for the future tools it will offer. 

Then we applied the cosmetics –  our logo that playfully represents the letter ‘E’ but also represents a wing (a reference to our new mascot, which is now being implemented in our work). 

The logo has many clever visual cues behind it  – it looks like a menu icon, and also looks like a dropping stack of casino chips… so expect to see us play with that logo as we go forwar

We also used the brand visuals to better represent our games in a clearer way, and showcase our various channels – including social media – more comprehensively. What you see on our website today is it’s initial refresh. There’s much more coming, especially for our partners.

What are your brand values? 

Ivan: Evoplay’s values are very important to us. Two of those are fairness and honesty – and so we do our very best to make sure that partnering with Evoplay is a win-win for operators. 

Our partners know that our games have got fantastic retention rates, but we also want operators to know that we can help them boost their business with newly acquired players too. Our website, and our communications in general, better reflect that.

We created a Brand Book that is, at the moment, an internal tool but in the future we will probably make that a publicly accessible dedicated microsite. So stay tuned for that. 

But I would like to say something about our values, because one part of that is about how we operate as a company – and how we work like a family.

We have corporate values in place that direct our company’s approach to its people. Before you start applying values that partners and players will see, you have to make your own home a place that is good to be. 

And so we’re also in the middle of an internal rebranding too. This looks at how we hire people, who we hire, how we motivate and incentivise – how we treat people and build their careers and help put meaning into their work and time with us. 

Within the iGaming world, we want to be the employer of choice. If you love gaming, love gambling, love brands and love entertainment – Evoplay is the company that stands for that. 

Our other brand values are not a secret, but are personal to us. They are tied to our 10-year plan and how we’ll achieve our goals. They give us meaning, give us confidence, and make sure we stay on the right path. We’re trailblazing that path, and we hope others will follow us.

Vladimir: To add to that, we have values that focus on our Brand Mission, our Brand Vision, and our Brand Promise – which of course is a promise to both our partners and our games’ players. 

In very simple terms, our brand values are there to motivate us and to make us question what we offer the industry, how and what we deliver to our various audiences, how we influence, how we work together, how we inspire, and how we always keep moving forward. Everything starts with branding!

For slots and other games – what’s going to be new? Your new mantra promises the future of iGaming today – what can players expect, and how does your company’s 10-year plan shape up? 

Ivan: We will continue to create amazing gaming experiences, just as we always have – and that means releasing titles that follow themes and mechanics that players love. If you’re experienced with online casinos, we’ll provide you with incredible games to play.

But beyond that, the future is also something else. It’s about realising that the world of entertainment, in general, is booming like never before. From streaming services to social media sharing platforms, from interactive and virtual technology and interfacing.. we’re seeing a seachange – and it’s entertainment that you largely carry around within your mobile devices.

And so your question hits the nail squarely on the head. It’s all about the future. Evoplay is not standing still, or acting passively. We’re looking to the future and embracing it right now. 

You’ll see this later in the year when we release our flagship game for 2021. Once again, Evoplay will bring an industry first to the world of iGaming. And it’s pretty spectacular. 

But not everything we do will be on such a grand, cosmic you might say, scale. We will, however, keep pushing the boundaries. Just recently, for example, we released a title called Neon Shapes. It’s super cool – a fairly simple Tetris-inspired instant game, but one that has a retro feel in its graphics… and it also includes skill-based elements.

Imagine, an instant game that also lets you put some skill to the test too for twice the fun! So why would we do this? Because skill-based games are dominating the entertainment sphere for Generations Y and Z. 

Going forward, from now into the future, you’ll see us continue to do this each year – bringing more games that blur the lines between gaming and iGaming, between gambling and more mainstream entertainment. 

Our 2021 flagship game is coming soon, and it takes this concept to a whole new level. The only sad thing for us is that we can’t tell you about it yet. But suffice to say, it’s a game with huge scope. 

I’d say that it’s not enough for us that Evoplay is a known brand in iGaming. We want to be a known brand, full stop. Period. 

We’ve got big ambitions and our 10-year plan is all about steadily realising a dream. We went from being a small fish in a big pond, to a bigger fish. Now we’re no longer even thinking about the water – we’re growing legs and climbing out of the pond, and taking some of its ecosystem (our partners) with us as we go. 

Can you tell us more about your 10-year plan for the business?

Ivan: We can’t openly talk about the collaborations yet to be signed, or the new tech we’ll introduce. But I can say it involves new types of games, how we’ll use new technology, how that crosses over with gaming in a broader sense, and how we’ll attract new audiences to iGaming for the benefit of our partners. 

At Evoplay we talk a lot about iGaming and mainstream entertainment. There are certainly a few video slots that most adults are already familiar with. But mainstream, for us, has another meaning. Our plans involve how iGaming can align with current and future mainstream entertainment trends.

That’s why we were the first company to release a ‘hack and slash’ RPG (role playing game) slot. It’s also why we released the first mass market 3D/VR slot, and why we are so dedicated to producing games that play blindingly-fast (and seamlessly) on mobile devices – whatever the device.

Always, we aim to lead, embracing new technologies and entertainment trends. 

And this year we have something even bigger coming, so stay tuned. It’s gonna be out of this world!

Earlier, I spoke about our diverse staff and the talent they bring from other industries – and this fits within our 10-year plan. We look to other industries for inspiration in what we create, how we create it; how it can inspire others, how it can be branded, and how it can transform not just our company, but the industry itself. 

What we offer today is truly an integrated approach that combines game development with branding, marketing and communications, and our sales and key account support. 

I think that Vladimir recently said it best: 

The next decade of the Evoplay journey will be a well thought out plan of action –  rather like a game of chess. Planned, but adaptive. 

If our pawn’s opening move was made three years ago when we founded the company, 2021 is when we start truly dominating the board.

We are excited to announce that we have partnered with casino affiliate Mr Gamble.com. To celebrate the collaboration, Mr Gamble’s streamers played the latest Evoplay games, Temple of Dead, Runes of Destiny, Ellen’s Fortune, Unlimited Wishes, Valley of Dreams, and more on their popular live stream.

Jonas Kyllönen, Chief Marketing Officer at Mr Gamble, said: “We thoroughly enjoyed playing the latest Evoplay slots on our live stream. The Temple of Dead slot instantly became my favourite game, but our audience enjoyed Treasure Mania the most. 

“We are definitely going to keep playing these games on our live stream after seeing how well received they were by our audience. We are beyond excited to have Evoplay as a partner, and we are looking forward to promoting their entertaining games again.”

We end this week with some exciting news – our new B2C partnership deal, recently signed with Machine Slot Online! 

The platform lists the rates of Italian online casinos and their special offerings such as welcome bonuses and bonus systems that players can use and benefit from. 

With a constantly updated database of 2,978 online casino games reviews, players are sure to keep pace with the upcoming releases on the market. 

Evoplay is delighted to announce our new B2C partnership, made with the widely known platform, GamblersPost.

GamblersPost is a player-centred platform, dedicated to informing players about news, opinions and interviews in the iGaming industry. It also serves as a networking portal that unites operators and affiliates and helps them find opportunities for growth.

Following our deal, players can find Evoplay game reviews and our company updates on the GamblersPost website.

Evoplay is ready to announce our new B2C partnership, recently made with SlotHits!

The platform is dedicated to providing players with the latest gambling news and a detailed overview of online casinos and slot games. 

Following our deal, players will have access to our most thrilling game titles and their reviews and the websites of online casinos, where the games are presented.

Why would Evoplay, a company known for its cutting-edge technology and for bringing new styles of iGaming to market, produce Neon Shapes – a simple-looking game with a distinct 1980s vibe? Because everyone loves a classic. And because this classic does something truly unique in iGaming.

Back in 1984, a Russian software engineer called Alexey Pajitnov created a tile-matching game called Tetris. It went on to become one of the video game greats. To date, it’s sold over 200 million copies and despite its seemingly simple gameplay, requires a mixture of intelligence and skill.

Earlier this year, Evoplay released Neon Shapes – a colourful, modern twist on the widely loved Tetris – and a game that we believe will be the go-to strategy title for iGaming. Because under the hood, Neon Shapes takes you one step closer to conventional gaming. 

Created with the latest in mobile gaming software, Neon Shapes is one of the industry’s most advanced retro-based titles – and we (again) baked in an industry first: we introduced a skill-based element.

While innovation drives the iGaming market – and captures the interest of the next generation of players – we also believe that there’s strong engagement behind long-term retro game favourites. Because these are the games close to so many players’ hearts. 

The future of iGaming will move us ever closer to mainstream gaming trends, habits, technology and playability. The next generation of online casino players will expect to experience a smooth transfer – one where skill, new technologies and favourite ways of playing are like puzzle pieces that seamlessly fit together. 

In Neon Shapes, you can strategically select where to put the shapes to maximise your chances. For each success, a player gets a special reward – skill points – which are collected in a Skill Balance Pot, and eventually impact the game’s outcome!

Evoplay’s brand promise is that we deliver the best iGaming entertainment. And over the past year the drive for creating entertainment that can truly engage and stand out has never been more important. 

Because we deploy state-of-the-art, in-game technology to make our catalogue 100% mobile adaptive – exactly what other suppliers lack when developing classic games – Neon Shapes works flawlessly across global markets, no matter the device someone is using. 

The vivid neon lighting and immersive soundtrack lends the game a unique style, puzzling players by forming horizontal and vertical lines with randomly generated ‘Ordinary’, ‘Gold’, and ‘Orange’ shapes. 

And, of course, this game is proving popular because retro is always cool – whether you like wearing retro fashion items, binge watching 80’s-inspired Stranger Things, or heading to the cinema to watch Wonder Woman 1984. 

A fun fact: it’s been said that when Alexey Pajitnov first introduced his game, a friend requested a copy for the Moscow Medical Institute where he worked. People there loved it so much, the game was soon banned from the institute in order to “restore productivity”. That’s the power of fun playability. 

We think that Neon Shapes is also a game people will love playing. You could say that it demonstrates the building blocks of making old school, new school. It’s the gaming of yesterday, made for the iGaming of today. 

And that’s a bright-looking future.

No week without B2C growth! 

This time, we’re thrilled to introduce you to our new partner, CasinoHEX, a Swedish B2C platform.

It offers players some useful guides on safe gambling and a list of trusted Swedish online casinos with the best casino bonuses, secure payment methods and widest range of games and outstanding user experience. 

The Evoplay team is happy to join efforts with CasinoHEX in entertaining Swedish players and looks forward to fruitful and long-term cooperation.

We are extremely delighted to introduce you to our new partner, Slot Vegas, a B2C platform that offers the latest news and updates from online casinos licensed by DGOJ.

Following our deal, players can find our game overview on their website in Spanish and play the most appealing titles for free, continuing their adventure only on the trusted online casinos.

Stay tuned for more exciting announcements!

Evoplay is thrilled to announce our latest deal – a partnership that places us in the growing Estonian market with Slots.io, the well-established casino operator governed by the Coingaming Group.

Slots.io now has access to Evoplay’s 40 game titles from the award-winning portfolio, including our constant leaders such as Hot777 and Fruit Nova.

Commenting on the agreement, Vladimir Malakchi, Evoplay CCO, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Slots.io, a well-deserved market leader located in a key market that we’ve been looking forward to entering for quite some time. 

“Agreements such as this are integral to our success. And with a growing library of high-quality products, we believe that our content adds significant value to each of our partners.”

Sveinung Axelsen, Retention Manager at Slots.io, added: “We couldn’t be more excited to integrate Evoplay’s pioneering collection of slot titles, which will provide our customers with unrivalled gaming experiences.

“Evoplay places its partners at the heart of its operations, and signing this comprehensive content deal marks a great milestone for us in our quest to offer the best games available.”

We are happy to announce that we have partnered with Slotmania.it, an Italian-based B2C platform!

On Slotmania.it, players can find and benefit from the best welcome offers available on AAMS online casinos and stay updated with the exclusive welcome bonuses.

Following our partnership with Slotmania.it, players will have access to game overviews of our most engaging game titles with a list of casinos to start the real adventure.

Reach out to us at [email protected] for more information.

We are ready to share another great news – we have partnered with another well-recognized B2C platform in the world of iGaming, Gaming Insider.

Gaming Insider thoroughly analyzes the best ADM licensed online casino operators (AAMS), sports betting sites, and their bonus programs to provide its readers with unbiased game reviews and relevant news. 

Evoplay is happy to welcome Gaming Insider and looks forward to all fantastic opportunities to be provided to players in the nearest future.

In Part 1 of this article, we established that to grow your online casino audience today and tomorrow means embracing player trends and technologies found in mainstream gaming. 

This audience is a single category consisting of various different groups – each with specific entertainment needs.

So, who exactly are these people? And how do you bring them to our world of iGaming?

The first thing to note, is that generally speaking the younger your (legal) potential audience, the less likely they are to gamble. The very people you’d love to have visit your online casino, are those who are the hardest to convince to do so. 

No one said this was going to be easy! 

But surveys also suggest that their reluctance to gamble is not determined by a general rejection of the idea of gambling. These people simply don’t find the available games and gameplay options appealing. Today’s casinos don’t, in short, reflect their entertainment needs.

To find out why, we need to break down your future audience by age-based categories.

Starting with Generation X (those born between 1960-79), we first see something that goes against many online casino design, visuals and game provision assumptions – gender bias. For Gen X, gender plays a fairly insignificant role in gaming needs. 

Both male and female Gen X gamers prefer to play on their mobile devices rather than on a PC or a console. And both genders opt first for sports games, shooters, puzzle-based play, and the classic arcade games that they grew up playing in their youth. 

Interestingly, however, research from the Entertainment Software Association has found that female gamers were more likely to play card and casino games compared to their male counterparts. Particularly poker and blackjack. Which is in stark contrast to what you often see when you visit a land-based casino and join the tables.

But whether male or female, Gen X wants a high-quality mobile experience above all else, and they want sports and shooters as their first choice in game type.

Next up is Generation Y, or Millennials as they are more commonly known – those who were born between 1980 and 1994. Just like the generation that came before them, playing on a mobile device is still the tool of preference, but for this age group gender leads game players down very different paths. 

Girl Racers

Millennial men are far more likely to play shooters, action and sports games. Women tend to gravitate towards casual play and puzzle-based games. But women in this age group are also more likely to choose racing games over their male counterparts. 

Elsewhere in their lives, Millennial gamers often have a ‘creative’ hobby – and this is usually connected to drawing or painting, singing or writing. Food for thought in terms of cross-over content for potential instant games or interactive video slots.

But whatever paths are taken, and whatever the gender who treads it, these are paths they take often. 

Research from Nielsen shows that Millennials in the US are spend-easy and two in every three of them play video games regularly each month. Over 50% of those gamers are in full time employment, their household income is around $60,000, and 76% pay for movie/TV streaming services. The entertainment in their lives is already digitally based, and so they’re primed for an engaging iGame experience.

As highlighted in Part 1, eSports and viewing others play is important to this group – 71% of Millennials do so each month, spending approximately six hours per week watching others gaming, and they prefer to follow regularly scheduled events – meaning, their game-based entertainment is structured/planned, and not random. And as we’ll now see, it’s also something they happily hand over money for. 

Millennials not only pay to play, they pay to watch. On average, they support creators through donations to the tune of an average $28.73 per month. They also pay $25.21 per month for gaming-related subscriptions.

They watch, they click

As the saying goes, ‘follow the money’ if you want to understand how important a target group might be to your business or industry. In this case, follow the advertising money. 

According to PwC, video game advertising reached $1.6 billion in 2020, and will grow to $1.9 billion by 2023. 

If there’s this much money to be made from advertising to Millennials through gaming, your online casino really should be offering the game types that most appeal to them. 

And also note that Millennials exhibit another interesting trait – once they do step through the door to online casino gambling, they are quick to try out various types of games outside of their usual gaming experience – particularly poker and video slots. The games relevant to their entertainment habits will bring them in, and once there they will also play your existing portfolio.

You just need the right type of entertainment to get them through the door in the first place. That means offering premium quality, multiplayer options, being mobile-centric, and mimicking Millennials’ existing entertainment experiences.

Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2010), provide another path entirely. For this age group, gaming is something that in their eyes actually defines who they are. These people were ‘born digital’ – the toys that they grew up with are a variety of console/game controllers. 

In a recent study from Whistle, 68% of male Gen Z gamers said that gaming was “an important part of their identity.” Just over 90% of respondents said they regularly play video games, 84% said it is cool to play video games, and 71% consider themselves to be a gamer. 

While there are similarities here with Millennials, the generation gap throws up something else we discussed earlier – for Gen Z, digital venues that provide social engagement are key to their entertainment habits. 

This group forms a deep connection with gaming through community building and online social interaction. Three quarters of all Gen Z gamers regularly watch others play, and for them Twitch is a tool to “chat and build friendships”. 

Multiplayer games rule the roost, and, more than any other age group, the gender divide has almost no relevance. In South East Asia, for example, females make up almost half of all Gen Z gamers. Everyone is welcome at the party. 

As you’d expect for such a tech savvy audience, the newer the tech, the more natural it feels to them. Perhaps this will be the first ‘augmented generation’. One thing is clear – their entertainment choices are cutting edge.

Play for pay

Particularly powerful is their connection to gaming and personal revenue. They see gaming as a potential source of income from competitions, subscriptions, and donations; in addition to in-app purchases for game items such weapons, skills or modifications.

And interestingly, Gen Z does have a leaning towards betting – though not for the most obvious reason. In 2020, a US report on sports betting was conducted by Civic Science. It found that 10% of Gen Z bet on sports, and when asked if they would do so if sports betting were legal in their state, 27% said they would. 

While this group is usually seen to be keen savers, they are willing to spend on gaming and gambling and do so for two reasons – they believe they can achieve success in skill-based play, where they are confident they can influence the outcome, and they see these forms of  entertainment as collaborative experiences.

As Mark Beal, author of Engaging Gen Z, tells it, “They talk about happily spending money on experiences. Pre-pandemic that might have been a concert, a sporting event, traveling. But to them, wagering a few dollars, that qualifies as an ‘experience’ to them. It’s fun, it’s interactive, it’s engaging, it’s something they can do with their friends.” 

How ‘you’ can win

We know that the future of gaming entertainment will be social, streamed/cloud-based, involve a mobile-first approach, be premium, and integrate new technologies such as AR and VR.

And this means that Beal’s quote could, in many ways, sum up the whole approach to getting new audiences into online casinos. 

To grow online casino participation, and tap into people that have made mainstream gaming one of the biggest and most revenue-heavy forms of entertainment today, the games that operators offer will need to be fun, interactive, engaging and something that can be played (or viewed and experienced) with others.

Does your game developer offer games that utilize these technologies and these features? Are you, as a result, offering them to your potential audience? 

To keep up-to-date with our articles, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Evoplay is excited to announce our partnership, made with Gaming Report, aimed at engaging Italian players.

Gaming Report is a B2C platform dedicated to the world of online gaming. It strives to become a real guide for players to stay updated on what is happening in the world of iGaming Italy and find information on new promotions and useful information for playing.

Evoplay is happy to welcome Gaming Report aboard! We look forward to discovering new horizons together!

We are thrilled to announce that Evoplay has started to work with another B2C platform, TragaperrasWeb.

The TragaperrasWeb website is dedicated to the sector of online slots and casinos with a DGOJ license. Being a player-centric platform, TragaperrasWeb offers players articles, reports on various topics of their interest, and game and casino reviews to keep them updated on all big events in gambling in Spain.

We welcome TragaperrasWeb to our B2C partnership network and look forward to fruitful cooperation!

How do you attract new players – those new to the world of iGaming and gambling – to your online casino? 

Firstly, by understanding that while someone might be new to the online gambling experience, they are absolutely not new to gaming and gaming tech. 

And you can’t easily attract them if you’re not offering what they now expect a game to be. 

To appeal to this largely untapped group of gamers, you need to give them a gambling/betting experience that is new, but familiar. One that riffs on their gaming and social habits – one that makes sense to them. 

Enter skill-based elements, quality mobile play, AR and VR, third- and first-person shooters, multiplayer, spectator participation, and premium gaming experiences, to name but some. 

These are game components that will help you get people ‘through the door’, and once inside they’ll be exposed to the other more established games in your portfolio. But first… you have to appeal to their existing gaming interests.

More of the same

Online casinos actually already know this truth. They often tell us that they don’t have a huge problem when it comes to player retention. People come to play the games they know they like. They play them, and return to play them (and games similar to them), time and again. 

Operators have a much bigger problem with new player acquisition. Solving this problem is all about getting the type of games you don’t yet have – the games your future audience can relate to because they play them in their mainstream gaming.

And many iGame developers are simply too slow in developing such titles.

Take mobile games, as an example. People want to play on their mobiles but don’t want to sacrifice quality. They want great graphics, fast downloading, no lag during play, and the same immersive experience comparable to playing on a PC or console. Regardless of the mobile device they use, they want it to just work. And work perfectly.

What’s it worth?

By the end of last year, mainstream mobile game revenue was valued at just over $76.5 billion. That was more revenue than the film and music industries combined ($60.7 billion). 

That’s right… the biggest movie stars and recording artists couldn’t compete with games on someone’s phone. How much of that $76.5 billion could be moved to iGaming if mobile offerings gave more of a gaming experience, and offered the same quality? 

I like to watch…

Mobile gaming is, of course, not new to iGaming. But it’s often a bad experience if the games don’t have an engine optimized for mobile play. A mobile-first approach to iGaming should be the first thing operators look for when partnering with game developers. 

And what is played on mobile isn’t confined to just slots and instant games. How about esports, for example? The numbers are also compelling. And iGaming can get in on the action.

Tournaments, leagues, multiplayer teams – last year saw the esports industry explode, both in audience and in revenue. It pulled in almost half a billion viewers, and revenue of over $1 billion. China was the biggest audience, where income was pegged at almost $385 million. 

That’s a lot of people watching other people play video games. 

Now ask yourself, do people watch your players? And if they do, are those games actually compelling enough to watch for the play itself, not only the winning? 

A report from Neilson earlier this year indicated that around 70% of millennial gamers aren’t just players – they’re watching games too (largely on YouTube and Twitch). Interestingly, those aged 18-25 are now more likely to watch gamers than watch traditional sports.

They might not know a gamer’s real name, but they’d prefer to watch him/her rather than watch Lebron James on a basketball court, or Lionel Messi on the football pitch. That’s a trend many in the industry would never have foreseen. 

Real/Not real. There/Not there.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have been growing in recent years, and as with esports, are on the cusp of a huge boom. It will likely take one big push from the likes of Apple, Sony or Samsung to see the market light up – and when it does, gaming will be at the forefront. Where then, will iGaming reside?

Five years ago, AR and VR technologies and games generated roughly $1 billion according to Treasure Data, and its reports from market analysts have predicted that this revenue will grow to a staggering $19-22 billion before the close of this year. A report from VYNZ Research put this number at $161 billion by the year 2025.

The mobile AR fun of Pokémon Go, which albeit briefly made global news, will be just the start. Could that lead to iGaming bringing poker, for example, truly into your home? Meaning, literally at your table. Could a video slot’s reels or scrolling play be displayed on the wall in front of you?

Combine AR and 5G with a mobile-first approach to game development, and an operator’s online casino won’t be limited to a screen that only one player can see. The potential for collaborative gaming and gambling is clear.

All of the above demonstrates growing exposure to new audiences, and that brings with it another potential revenue stream – advertising. And for gambling, it’s a dream vertical for affiliate marketing. 

And this – market exposure – brings us back to the audience itself. 

So who are they?

We’ve started to outline some of the approaches that iGaming needs to take to draw in new players. In the second part of this article (to be released next week), we’ll examine more of this tech, and also the audiences connected to it:

Generation B (Baby Boomers: b. 1940-59), Generation X (b. 1960-79), Generation Y (Millennials: b. 1980-94) and Generation Z (b. 1995-2010). 

Each group has different gaming and iGaming needs. You might actually be surprised by the type of games each prefer. 

But most importantly… understanding their entertainment needs, what they play, how they play and how they gamble, will give you great insight into how your online casino needs to offer more when it comes to games. 

Not necessarily more games… just new games that reflect the trends in mainstream gaming. 

Check out our blog next week for Part II.

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