Industry Predictions 2016
We asked some of the prominent and leading figures in the online
bingo industry for their comments and predictions for 2016.
Darren Sims,
Chief Operating Officer,
Stride Gaming plc
With the ever increasing pace
of mobile gaming adoption,
2016 could be the year where
mobile replaces desktop as the
dominant platform for bingo
play. When moving to mobile, do you try to deliver the
same desktop experience or rather provide a watered
down version suited for the limited screen of mobile or
maybe you go all in for an app?
Different companies will employ different strategies
to fit with company goals and targets, but whichever
route you choose always keep the player experience
top of mind. I predict those that will transition the best
will be those companies that offer their core desktop
experience within the limits of a mobile offering.
Daniel Phillips,
Chief Operating Officer
– Bingo Division,
Playtech plc
In line with the group’s omnichannel Playtech ONE strategy,
one of the biggest changes we
made as a network in 2015 was
the pioneering switch to HTML5-only development.
This single code base enables us to build cutting-edge
content with more agility, speed and customisable
features to allow for greater differentiation. These can
be deployed simultaneously to our licensees across
multiple channels in record time. This supported our
great performance in 2015, and will continue to be a
focus for our strategy in 2016. We expect this to become
a wider industry trend.
Personalisation and data-enabled analytics software
and technology to enable its use will play a larger
role in player acquisition and retention in increasingly
competitive, regulated markets.
Increased competition will also lead to further market
consolidation with smaller players either merging or
falling away. The larger brands will continue to flex their
ATL spending power focusing on the generally lower
CPAs to recruit bingo players.
Daniel Flesch,
Commercial Director,
Dragonfish
2015 was a landmark year in
the UK online bingo market,
with the introduction of Point
of Consumption tax and
regulation. Nevertheless, the
Dragonfish Bingo Network, which conformed and
adjusted its platform to the new market conditions
in advance, has overseen the launch of 13 new sites
during the calendar year, with several more in the
pipeline and a steady trend continuing into 2016.
Existing operators look to extract maximum value from
their players, in part through the power of cross-sell,
while new partners recognised the potential in the
market, as presented by the latest figures released from
the UK regulator.
2015 heralded the growth of Dragonfish’s casino
offering, now rebranded CasinoFlex, developed over
our award-winning bingo platform. The CasinoFlex
product suite enabled both existing and new
Dragonfish partners to launch their own, bespoke
and fully branded casino/games proposition, across
mobile and PC (see Foxycasino.com, Moongames.com,
SecretSlots.com). The recent growth shown by our
partners’ bingo websites has been complemented by
the CasinoFlex offering, introducing a growth engine
and incremental revenues.
2016 looks like the year of CasinoFlex, with a growing
number of prospects looking to enter this booming
market, estimated at two billion GBP in the UK alone.
Garry McGibbon,
Head of Player Marketing,
Mandalay Media
The introduction of regulation
in the UK has already had
considerable impact on the
gambling industry and will
continue to do so. The addition
of further rules, in particular with regards to the
presentation of offers and marketing, presents a new
challenge