THINK AGAIN
WHY INNOVATION IS ALIVE & KICKING IN THE INDUSTRY
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anguage and its differing meanings can be divisive; however, some words can be more divisive than others. In gaming, “innovation” is a case in point, with a large majority of individuals often complaining that we have not seen enough of it emerge in the last few years. Many seem to believe, however, that inplay and mobile sportsbook – when it ?nally began to live up to its billing towards the end of last year as operators such as Betfair and Paddy Power announced signi?cant revenues – have been the only signi?cant innovative technologies to materialise in recent times. The eGaming Review team has often been faced with and considered this issue and we feel now is the right time to raise it and dispel the myth. After speaking to and interviewing a number of senior industry professionals in the last few weeks and having ploughed through back issues of the magazine, product reviews as well as 10 years of eGR online news, we believe that, despite gaming perhaps not having seen any disruptive technology in the last 18 months to three years, or being faced with the Apple-effect that revolutionised the mobile handset market, as one senior former gaming executive and in?uential investor told us: “The industry is in a state of constant evolution, leading to constant re?nement in prod uct and service rather than major step changes.” Take sports betting, for example, and look back to how sites have developed in the last decade. Major step changes have taken place including live in-play betting, streaming, speed of availability, number of markets and now mobile, with more than a third of Paddy Power’s sportsbook revenues generated on mobile devices in 2011. However, it has been its constant re?nement over time
alongside a number of “big bangs” that has seen it evolve and crucially grow revenues so rapidly. Another senior executive from an anonymous sportsbook operator said he could not believe how often he is told there is no longer any innovation in gaming. “There may not have been revolutionary changes but we are all constantly improving what we offer. It is completely unrecognisable compared to what it used to look like. “Right now we’re streaming tennis, snooker, horse racing and football – the list goes on. You couldn’t do that three years ago. Today it’s all integrated into one in-play console. The changes in the last few years have been huge,” he added. As you will read over the next few pages, the industry is innovating: speed poker and its transition onto mobile devices is ?ying with a number of companies replicating Full Tilt’s Rush product; progressive jackpots could be under threat from insured games and mega prizes that can be added to any game on the market and for little outlay, while mobile is at last making inroads with the industry slow to adopt but showing signs of taking the lead and using its expertise to take it to another level. As Sir Jonathan Ive, senior vice president of industrial design at Apple and designer of some of the world’s most innovative digital products of the last decade, has said: “Our goals are very simple – to design and make better products. If we can’t make something that is better, we won’t do it.” While the last two to three years may not have thrown up the game changing innovation we all clamour for, if some of the companies and products we feature here continue to evolve, believe in and execute their visions and gain more funding as a result, we’re certain this will happen sooner rather than later.
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