INSIGHT
“But they also want the convenience
of doing this from the comfort of
their own home, while commuting
to work and so on, so being able to
access these games from their desktop,
mobile and tablet devices makes them
even more appealing.”
He added that the suppliers had
“really upped the ante” in recent years,
bringing to market new games, new
formats, products and features that he
says have “significantly improved the
player experience”.
This is particularly the case with
mobile. Amy Riches, head of
marketing at Evolution Gaming,
says the advances in 4G and Wi-Fi
hotspot networks, alongside lower
data plans for the players, have
driven uptake, as have the increased
screen sizes and the rise of the
so-called phablet.
“The key challenge is creating a
gaming experience on the smaller
screen that is every bit as satisfying
as it is on larger-screen desktops,”
she says. “We don’t simply
automatically resize a game to fit
the screen; each game is tweaked for
optimised performance on each device.
Nothing is left to chance.”
Kilminster from Playtech agrees:
“Most technical issues on mobile have
been overcome and ultimately mobile
is a technology carrier. The key is to
be able to offer our products across
any device, whether it be mobile,
online
or otherwise.
“The product offering and user
experience are equally, if not more, vital
and we believe we have evolved rapidly to
offer the best in class across these elements.”
Ihre says that mobile will be key to
the future growth of live dealer in the
years to come. “Mobile will (drive) its
adoption with younger players who wager
predominantly from their smartphones
and tablets.
“In more mature markets such as
Europe, live casino tends to appeal to
slightly older players and those with an
appetite for risk, so long as they feel in
control and are playing with an honest
and transparent operator.”
“Customers are intrigued and aren’t put off by the cameras.
If anything it adds to the drama and the online audience
are confident with the game as it’s coming straight from
a trusted source and an environment a lot of them have
visited physically”
George Constantinou, Hippodrome Casino
Table service
A further push comes from the
increasing uptake of live casino products
by land-based casino operators moving
online and the introduction of on-premises
studios. One such deal comes from
Evolution with the Hippodrome Casino
in London, where the director of its
online casino George Constantinou
says the product has been a hit with its
walk-in casino audience.
“The reaction has been great,” he says.
“Customers are intrigued and aren’t
put off by the cameras. If anything it
adds to the drama and the online
audience are confident with the game
as it’s coming straight from a trusted
source and an environment a lot of
them have visited physically.”
The “trusted source” comment
touches on the provenance of live casino,
a product that emerged from Asia,
where RNG table games were initially
“Mobile will (drive) its adoption with younger players who
wager predominantly from their smartphones and tablet”
Ed Ihre, Codeta
76
iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT/NOV 2017
distrusted for cultural reasons and hence
the live casino version was developed.
Yet the product has migrated to
European markets with alacrity. The
market is growing at pace: it is worth more
than €1.2bn according to H2 Gambling
Capital figures. Sources working for the
operators spoken to for this article suggest
that live casino is now worth around 25%
or more of all casino revenues for most
mainline operators.
More studio facilities are being built by
all the suppliers and enough deals are being
announced to suggest the pace displayed by
Evolution is being matched elsewhere.
That company’s shareholders have
certainly cottoned on to the company’s
success. The shares recently transferred
from the junior exchange in Stockholm to
the main Nasdaq Stockholm list and the
price has risen more than 75% in the past
12 months.
It’s a heady valuation but the success
could mean the next news about live casino
will come in the corporate field rather than
in operations.
SCOTT LONGLEY has been
a journalist since the early
noughties covering personal
finance, sport and gambling.
He has worked for a number of
publications including Investor’s
Week, Bloomberg Money, Football
First, eGaming Review and Gambling
Compliance. He now runs his own
editorial consultancy, Clear Concise
Media, and writes for a number of
online and print titles.