MICHAEL BRADY INTERVIEW
customisation and con?gurability, which made it hard to differentiate the product experience. “Big companies are constrained by technology which is a major issue, particularly in regulated markets where you need to continually update and conform, whereas everything we build came recently. We build it in the knowledge we have to have software that can be used in regulated markets. The key thing is they can pick and choose which games they offer,” he notes. He believes part of Bede Gaming’s initial appeal comes from the fact that it has chosen to work entirely in HTML5, rather than developing native apps, while retaining the ability to apply “wrappers” to give the impression of native content and branding for operators who wish to go down such a path. “Our HTML5 bingo and keno products give our B2B partners the ?exibility to customise and con?gure the gaming experience to their requirements,” he explains, adding the company is capable of “creating a branded slots game from concept to launch in less than two months”. Brady also pays tribute to the fact that “HTML5 is quick to build, easy to skin and maintain. It is accessible from any internet enabled capable browser and can be wrapped in a compiled ‘native’ app. It’s perfect to distribute into third party apps as web content.” While acknowledging that there have previously been certain sticking points which might have pointed those in doubt towards the native option, Brady sings the praises of frameworks such as Phonegap and Appcelerator for their ability to allow HTML5 to access native features and compile into native code. “Game engines like Unity3d can now compile into iOS, Android, Flash and native PC/Mac programs, and hence are very attractive propositions, but skilled resources like we have at Bede are hard
to ?nd,” he adds. “Our objective is to allow our partners to differentiate their content at game level and across devices.” Nevertheless, Brady still expects the bulk of the content made available through Bede’s platform will stem from third parties, suggesting: “Where we build content ourselves it will be because there is no other high quality third party product available that we can plug into our platform. In certain markets partners will want local content that is not available elsewhere and we will build that for them. “Unlike some other platforms, we have no hostility to other content providers because we recognise that there are so many great games out there that our partners will want,” he adds. “There is no point in us trying to build yet another version of blackjack or roulette when we can integrate a great version from a third party.” While suggesting “operators don’t like it because it threatens their margins”, Brady has no doubt about the value of an open platform and believes the speed with which it allows Bede Gaming to act will prove invaluable going forward. “Most platforms were built a decade ago and aren’t designed to allow third party integrations. We can do an integration with most third parties in two weeks while I know other platforms take three to six months,” he says. Whether Bede Gaming’s rise to prominence will come as quickly as its speed of integration remains to be seen, but, with a number of signi?cant deals already signed and more in the pipeline, the chief executive has every reason to feel con?dent.
Bede Gaming Family Tree
CEO – Michael Brady Brady has been involved in the egaming industry for more than a decade, becoming one of Cashcade’s ?rst ever employees when he joined the bingo business (which would later launch Foxy Bingo) in 2000. In 2003 he founded Business Betting, launching a number of white-label egaming sites including UK-bingo.net, and has been involved in several facets of the industry ranging from online poker and ?nancial spread betting, and from online casino to mobile gambling. He returned to Cashcade in 2009, by which time it was part of PartyGaming following a £71.9m acquisition, and was named commercial director of bingo in 2011, remaining in the role as the operator merged with bwin in March of that year. In 2012 he left bwin.party to form Bede Gaming. COO – Dan Smyth A former professional poker player, Smyth entered the egaming industry in 2003 and has since been awarded a key individual certi?cate by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. Smyth founded Crown Bingo in 2005, a company for which Bede Gaming chairman Saumarez Smith spent a period as CEO, and which featured in the eGaming Review Power 50 in 2009. Smyth co-founded Bede Gaming with B rady in 2012. Chairman – Joe Saumarez Smith A former newspaper journalist with the Financial Times and Sunday Telegraph, Saumarez Smith entered the gaming space in the 1990s before forming consultancy Sports Gaming in 2001. He has held the post of chief executive of Sports Gaming ever since, during which time the company has acted as publisher of egaming sites including BetAsia.com and IndiaBet.com. He also acts as an online gambling advisor to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
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