Egaming industry predictions for 2017 - part 8

Susan Biddle, commercial technology consultant at Kemp Little

 Esports, and betting on them, will grow in popularity – I hope that, whether by self-regulation or otherwise, this burgeoning industry can put in place appropriate protections to ensure the fairness and transparency consumers deserve, and that we will get some clarity on the regulatory regime applicable to “match-ups”.

Collection and use of customer data will be key issues, from both a commercial and a regulatory perspective – Effective customer relationship management will continue to be a key differentiator, with customers wanting increasingly personalised services.  The 4^th Money Laundering Directive comes into effect in June, extending its customer due diligence regime to all gambling services (apart from any non-casino sectors considered to be low risk – we await the results of the Treasury consultation on this), and preparations for the General Data Protection Regulation will continue.

Advertising and marketing will continue to be a hot topic – Affiliate marketing is likely to remain in the spotlight, with particular concerns about self-exclusion lists and spam. The clamp-down on misleading offers and other terms will continue.  If regulation is to keep pace with technology, the focus probably needs to shift from TV advertising to online and social media.

Tough on non-compliance – Great Britain’s Gambling Commission will make good on its clear promise of higher penalties for non-compliance.

George Oborne, managing director at India Bet

Growth in poker – Microgaming’s entry into India’s nascent poker market has sparked a race to market both locally and internationally. PokerStars have expressed an intent to provide an India-facing product in 2017, whilst India’s first and largest poker site, Adda52, was sold to the Indian casino group, Delta Corp, for just over $20 million. We can expect this trend to continue with both local, start up sites emerging alongside more established, Microgaming supported, brands such as those managed by lottery giants Essel Group and Sugal & Damani.

 Moving online – On 8 November, US election day, Indian PM Narendra Modi announced that over 80% of Indian currency would become obsolete overnight. The anti-corruption move has effected all sectors across India, with the land based casino operator, Delta Corp, losing 40% of its share value. However, as Indian consumers flocked to move their hoarded cash into bank accounts, the undoubted winner of this move was ecommerce. E-wallets, cards and net banking are now essential with access to the newly circulated currency still restricted, the knock-on tech and social developments are sure to aid almost all aspects of the Indian online gaming sector.

Mobile growth – Internet penetration in India has grown over 200% in the past five years and 314 million Indians now have access to mobile internet. The combination of super cheap devices, low cost data and a population of 1.2 billion suggests this trend will continue. At Indiabet.com, 72% of our users now access the site through mobile devices, up from 61% in 2015 and 55% in 2014. Our development is heavily based around this trend and we look to provide responsive content serviceable on the full range of device specifications available in India.