INSIGHT
THE ENEMY OF
INNOVATION?
The industry’s ongoing battle for financial success and unwavering focus on the bottom line comes at an
ultimate cost to its sustainable development, writes Thomas Rhys Jones of Xcaliber.
‘INNOVATION’ IS A WORD frequently
thrown about in the software industry.
Everyone wants to have the chance
to showcase the ‘newest’, ‘latest’ and
‘greatest’. But in the igaming industry,
which increasingly depends on standing
out from the crowd in order to be
successful, it habitually seems that this
notion takes a back-seat when compared
to many other industries.
This idea is driven by the pursuit of
profit, which has become the causal
mechanism for these things. Outsourcing to
the lowest bidder is the norm, with all eyes
on the bottom line.
This permeates the gaming industry,
which is still essentially a young business
and needs to be groundbreaking in order to
continue sustainable growth. What we’ve
done is to define profitability in terms of
percentages, rather than reward innovation,
as many igaming companies are simply set
up to become money-making machines,
where invention and forward-thinking take
a back seat to profit, to the detriment of the
growth of the industry.
The problem tends to lie with those in
positions of power and is perpetuated by
business schools teaching that profitability
is king. In the 21st century, this is an
outdated notion that can leave you in the
dust in an ever-changing world and more
crowded marketplace. Before, it was a
chore to find new alternatives or better
options, but in the global web age, this is
becoming easier almost by the day.
The igaming market as a whole is
saturated and success appears to be
dictated increasingly by those with the
biggest advertising budget and best offers
in order to capture market share, rather
than looking to be innovative or have the
courage do anything new, which many (in
my experience) feel is to the detriment of
the industry.
The current trend for those who enjoy
financial success is to capitalise by buying
out the competition, driving down costs
through assimilation of services and then
sitting back and enjoying the profits. From
a pure business model point-of-view, this is
generally a sensible option, but at what cost
for the future? Again, innovation takes a
back seat and is replaced by a homogenous
experience for the customer; whether
you’re at brand A or brand Z, you have the
same experience.
There are operators out there that have
tried new things, with varying degrees of
success. Concentrating on mobile gaming
was embraced by a few key operators.
Some of these have become household
names, but many have disappeared as
quickly as they came along.
Focussing on mobile gaming was a
fantastic concept because it is a broad
approach with guaranteed growth. Added
to this, there were not enough brands who
had really taken the time to invest in this
growing segment, so those that created a
marriage of technological advancement
and effective promotion found themselves
riding a wave of enormous growth.
Integrating a social element has been
popular at several operators, but again
this can limit the range of potential
customers. These aren’t generally the same
group of people gaming operators want
on their site, as they want them to bet
big and consistently. Those who join for
social reasons generally are of a younger
generation, with less disposable income and
more chance of being a ‘flighty’ customer.
Conversely, some brands have leveraged free
gaming on Facebook for the same reasons.
Virtual reality has been hyped as the next
great gambling innovation, and with the
release of the revolutionary Oculus Rift VR
headset and other similar devices for home
use the interest in VR has risen exponentially.
The first full VR casino is now available and
major software developers are working to
advance casinos providing an accurate realworld experience.
As impressive a step as this is, this
focusses on a very niche market. Many
also feel this goes against the very nature of
online casino gaming and could simply be
seen as another gimmick, no matter how
technologically advanced. With ever-rising
traffic figures for mobile, for instance, how
does the VR experience fit into this trend?
Embracing this new technology is a step
in the right direction, but may not be as
revolutionary as it seems on the surface.
Many of these features are simply borrowed
from other industries or are a ‘gimmick’,
rather than forcing the industry forward
with something truly clever or revolutionary.
What cannot be abstracted here are the
core services. If a customer cannot play at
a brand without being able to deposit in
confidence, play the best games available
and withdraw quickly and simply on a
constant basis, then this is what needs to be
fixed before looking to ‘push the envelope’
of your brand.
THOMAS RHYS JONES
is commercial director,
Xcaliber. Thomas has
been working in the online
marketing industry for 10
years, in gaming for eight,
mostly working with B2B and new
technologies on both operator and
provider side.
NAME: THOMAS RHYS JONES
DATE: 22 OCTOBER
WHEN: 10:30
iGB Affiliate Issue 59 OCT/NOV 2016
57