TRAFFIC & STRATEGY
There was a time when new online casinos would hit the UK market pretty much every month . But , about 24 months ago , there was a sudden slowdown , followed by a slew of brands withdrawing citing issues over squeezed margins and long-term viability .
Worryingly , this was before the government white paper ( and the consultations that keep rumbling on seemingly interminably ), the ongoing discussions around affordability checks and the announcement that , from September , slot stake limits will be limited to between £ 2 and £ 5 .
If you include InTouch Games handing in its licence , pulling another network of brands from the market , it ’ s been a torrid few years .
Shock of the new
You only need to look at the number of brands on our new online casinos page to see the scale of the problem – we now consider a brand to be “ new ” if it has launched in the past couple of years . If we didn ’ t , we would be left with only a couple of brands to push to players .
This is not ideal . We are well aware that when players say they are looking for new casinos , they really do mean new . But we have refrained from taking the same approach as other comparison sites that list brands regardless of when they launched because they could be new to the player .
There are many reasons why operators have been reluctant to launch new brands in the UK market and the delayed white paper absolutely has had a lot to do with
UK brand slowdown : Where is the growth ?
Martyn Hannah , MD of online casino comparison site Comparasino , says that despite a slowdown in new brands hitting the UK market , player demand remains strong . So what are these players looking for ?
this . And while its contents were better than expected , the ongoing consultations are still creating enough uncertainty to deter operators from making a move .
When it rains
The situation has not been helped by the stake limit coming into force in September . While the impact of this will likely be limited – the vast majority of players are not , or won ’ t be , wagering £ 5 per spin – operators simply want the dust to settle before assessing whether the UK can be a viable market for them .
This situation has been compounded by increasing pressure on operators to apply the lens of responsible gambling across all areas of the business . We all support the desire to protect
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