Egaming industry predictions for 2017 - part 4

David Nordberg, CMO, Mr Green

Focus on sustainable growth – I’m convinced next year we will see an increased focus on sustainable growth among operators. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I believe 2017 will be the most competitive year ever in egaming, which puts massive pressure on each operator to lock down their recoup and ROI models for the 2017 user acquisition marketing budget. If you don’t have it sorted by now you’re in for a rough year and your growth will not be sustainable. Secondly, with so many markets being saturated and CPAs continuously increasing across the board, I believe operators will focus more on retention. Increased loyalty is key and can only be achieved through strong brand building.

Gamification of the user experience – Players are looking for entertainment rather than quick wins and we need to find a way to cater to their needs. We’re not only competing for the player’s money anymore, we’re increasingly competing for their time as well. With mobile and free-to-play games taking up more and more of the player’s time the egaming industry will be forced to gamify the user experience to a much larger extent. It is the gamification of the user experience that keeps the players engaged over longer periods of time. I believe next year achievement systems, loyalty programmes and storytelling will become commodities within egaming.

Social gaming on larger screens – Gaming on larger screens will have a breakthrough in 2017. Tried playing live blackjack or live roulette on a 72-inch screen with your friends? It’s a great experience and a much needed move from playing alone on a desktop or mobile device. I believe it could have a greater impact on the industry than we think because it suggests an alternative to the stereotype of the ‘lonely’ player. Finally, egaming is moving into the living room and becomes socially accepted.

Steve Donoughue, online gambling consultant

Regulation – I see increased regulation for the online industry as a result of the anti-gambling campaign targeting its sights on the new biggest gambling sector. FOBTs will no longer be an issue as the Triennial Review will basically destroy them as a product and those in the other sectors of the industry that campaigned against them will also reap a reward of a hardened government approach against gambling. Whilst Brexit dominates the front pages, politicians will be seeking out an anti-gambling campaign to give them some positive column inches and with the CEOs tied up in M&A there will be little capability to push back. Stakes and prizes limits on online slots could happen.

Consolidation – As I’ve mentioned before I think that paying advisers’ children’s school fees and lining the pockets of senior management usually outweighs any rational thought in the majority of M&A decisions. So much more exciting than actually running the business. This will continue in 2017. Organic growth through exciting innovation and marketing with above average management shouldn’t be seen as the outlier, but will be again.

Technology – Technology evangelists will continue to pump so much hot air into the industry’s conferences and trade press that our industry will be cited by environmental groups for increasing global warming. That is not to say that AR/VR won’t be the biggest next big thing or that block chain won’t change the whole way we pay for things. Just that it’s not happening in 2017. Hardware costs need to come down and real broadband speeds need to go up for VR/AR, governments and financial institutions need to accept and regulate for blockchain. It will happen. Just in the same way it took a decade for mobile to become the dominant technology and only exploded at the tipping point when 50% of people had smart phones. AR/VR and Blockchain still have a long way to go, however hard a two-man company from Lithuania promise they are sitting on the future right here, right now.