eGaming Review June 2012 | Page 3

EDITORIAL TEAM Editor James Bennett T: [phone] E: [email protected] Senior reporter Tom Washington T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Tom Victor T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Robin Harrison Millan T: [phone] E: [email protected] PRODUCTION Production editor Claudia Honerjager E: [email protected] Art editor Toni Giddings E: [email protected] Sub-editors Rachel Kurz?eld Eleanor Stanley COMMERCIAL Commercial manager Ben Robinson T: [phone] E: [email protected] Publishing executive Sam Compagnoni T: [phone] E: [email protected] Publishing executive Debbie Robson T: [phone] E: [email protected] Editorial director Gwyn Roberts Chief executive Charlie Kerr Circulation manager Fay Muddle Subscriptions Emmanuel Nettey T: [phone] E: [email protected] Product Reviewer Catriona Campbell E: [email protected] Reviews were carried out by Catriona Campbell at Foviance, a customer experience consultancy that has worked across a wide range of online gaming products areas and helps companies understand online customer behaviours. [E D I T O R ' S LETTER ] With bwin.party on the verge of announcing its social strategy and a likely acquisition to bolster its new venture, 888 quietly refocusing its attention on the previously, and rather embarrassingly, written off Mytopia and sportsbooks such as Betfair launching a number of Euro 2012 apps in the run up to the tournament, the race is on to ?nally generate decent looking revenues from social customers. But the big question is, is the egaming industry too late? We don’t necessarily think so, but then again the majority of operators and traditional online gaming suppliers are going to have a lot of catching up to do if they are to compete with smaller, more ?exible and arguably more advanced social gaming studios and developers that have sprung up in their masses in the past two years. Read this month’s cover story on p32 to ?nd out more. To some extent it’s not their fault that they have been left behind and are only just making inroads into an industry many still believe is unproven. The amount of newly regulating markets, ensuing legislation and the serious headaches that come with battling with regulators and local governments to ensure they are able to operate in workable conditions has rightly distracted most of our Power 50. There are, however, a handful – namely Gamesys, Betfair, Caesars and 888 – that have chosen to invest in social casino, mass multi-player games and social poker at the back end of the last decade and that have seen some encouraging returns as a result. So, with social and online convergence this year’s hottest conference topic in London, San Fran, Berlin and Dublin, how can online gambling capitalise on this growing phenomenon? Will this and next year see a ?urry of operator and supplier investment or will the likes of Zynga look to partner or even snap up a large online business? It’s a tantalising time for both industries and one which could take a number of, at present, unknown directions. eGaming Review is published monthly by Pageant Media, 1 East Poultry Avenue London, EC1A 9PT ISSN 1742-2450 Printed by The Manson Group © 2012 all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used without the prior permission from the publisher James Bennett EDITOR 03