Challenging the conventional wisdom on mobile casino
Magnet Gamingâs head of game licensing Thomas Nielsen on why the old rules on casino games no longer applies
Providing games to online casinos and their players was fairly simple a few years ago. Quantity rather than quality was what mattered, as almost unlimited real estate allowed operators to showcase as many as they wanted on their customerâs desktops.
Not all of the games were profitable, of course. But long tail theory meant the casino made money because there was content for everyone somewhere on the site.
The arrival of mobile and its meteoric rise changed the game. The demands of players, requirements of operators, and their provision by suppliers all changed too. Limited real estate and the variety of increasingly sophisticated devices is making people think again.
Price of success
Mobile devices and their operating systems are getting better. With greater sophistication comes greater expectation. Players now demand quality graphics and sound. Features that were once a pipedream are now standard.
Suppliers and operators who want to compete need to improve. Players want the ultimate gaming experience on whatever device theyâre using. The days of quick, cheap mobile conversions have gone. At the same time, players donât want games that are so complex they soak their battery or cost them a fortune in data.
Suppliers need to work with the best games developers available, rather than out-sourcing to cheap overseas alternatives. If development budgets need to go up then so be it. Operators may need to bend too. The race to the bottom on revenue shares is over. Ultimately, you get what you pay for.
The fragmentation problem
The arrival of better quality devices has spawned a greater variety of them. Not only do players want to play anytime, anywhere, they also want to play on anything.
Turn your back and youâll miss the latest release or upgrade on Apple or Android. It is a game designerâs nightmare. No sooner have they developed for the latest iteration than they have to roll out another. Well it ainât going to change any time soon.
More devices mean more of a focus on how games look and play on different screens and with different methods of control. One size never really fitted all and it certainly doesnât now. Operators need greater quality assurance and suppliers need longer development times rather than rushing games out of the door. Quality now trumps quantity.
Little and often
Generally speaking, desktop users spend longer playing games during fewer sessions than mobile players. The latter prefer to snack on their gaming content. To keep up with this shift, weâre likely to see game designs that work aggressively and get players wanting more. Acquisition was once the key battle ground, but itâs now retention thatâs important.
Games need to scratch the playerâs itch quickly. If heâs on the bus on the way home heâll be getting off soon; if heâs second screening at home theyâre competing with the football. Games canât afford to have mini-games within them that take ten minutes to complete.
Less talk, more innovation
Weâre very good at talking about innovation in our industry. But the reality is that regulatory and taxation pressures at the top of the food chain are hitting revenues further down, stifling creativity.
If players wanted re-skins of old favourites weâd be fine, but they donât. They want new ideas and fresh content featuring better graphics, new maths models and exciting features. These take time and effort, naturally, but we could take a leaf out of socialâs book.
Many social games are more sophisticated than their real money equivalents. They have greater variations and a broader range of features because their designers have been given greater freedom to innovate and create. Adopt some of their ideas and we might even adopt some of their players, in the long-hoped for and much talked of conversion. Sociable real money is the future.