Poll results: Acquisition and technology more important than social
Only 12% of readers believe that operators can best manage complexity by investing in the social gaming sector.
This week we asked readers how egaming operators can best manage complexity in a constantly evolving industry, and the results were somewhat surprising, with investment in social deemed to be less crucial than entry into regulated markets and technology investment.
Bwin.party’s merger was expected to bring about a flurry of similar deals, with operators looking to consolidate their positions in the market, but aside from Ladbrokes’ high-profile attempts to find the perfect partner, this did not materialise. Indeed, Lads’ discussions with 888 and Sportingbet both eventually came to nothing, leading to CEO Richard Glynn pledging to pursue an “organic” growth strategy. As a result only 22% of those polled believed that mergers represented the best way to strengthen an operator’s position in the industry.
Initially this may be seen to indicate the growing importance of social gaming to egaming operators, which requires different skillsets and capabilities. Operators and service providers alike have either invested, or stated their intention, to invest in social, with bwin.party and Playtech the latest to announce their plans. However, just 12% of readers believed that operators should invest in social, which may be seen as unusual, considering the vast amounts being invested in the sector, namely IGT’s US$500m acquisition of Double Down Interactive.
The two key areas which readers believe will help gaming companies negotiate an increasingly complex market; 33% believe operators should acquire local partners in order to launch in regulated markets, while the same amount believes that investing in technology is the best way forward.
Scandinavia has seen two high-profile acquisitions in the past weeks, with leading operators Betsson and Unibet both snapping up smaller companies to grow their market share. Betsson agreed a price of 65m to acquire Nordic Gaming Group to boost their presence in the Nordic and Baltic regions earlier this week, while Unibet will take over Bet24 for 13.5m in order to challenge Danske Spil as the leading online operator in Denmark.
Betfair has been actively investing in its technology, signing a deal with Geo Networks to take delivery of a fibre network to improve the exchange of data between two of the company’s London datacentres, and launching an ‘app cloud’ allowing developers to build personalised betting sites and widgets on the exchange betting operator’s platform. In a busy week for Betfair’s technology teams, the company has also launched a suite of mobile casino games today “ a launch described by director of gaming Sam Hobcraft as a “very exciting development.”