INSIGHT
There are plenty of sports bettors and
lottery players happy to play more games
when online, but for whom the existing
slots focus is simply unappealing.
The evidence we have seen suggests that
between one in two and one in three of
these sports or lottery bettors are willing to
play more (given the right product), but that
only about one in eight is happy with the
existing casino offering.
Gamification and its flawed appeal
Casino operators aren’t stupid. They know
slots are lacking something, and so they
set about trying to fix it. What could be
better than borrowing from the games
which are succeeding so well with a
younger audience – social?
As an innovative young company,
we have frequently been asked to add
gamification layers to product: league
tables, badges, awards, levels, points. Some
companies have made an entire USP out
of customer journeys that try to layer on a
narrative of adventure and progress to the
existing slots range.
By definition, we gamify things which
are not much fun – fitness, answering
surveys, doing the recycling. If you need
to add gamification to a game, you are
acknowledging a lack of fun in the
existing product.
Most slots players aren’t willing to admit
they play, let alone share their overall spend
or wins on Facebook or Twitter. Where
levels and awards are dependent on spend,
games designers start to skate close to some
very thin regulatory ice regarding chasing
losses or encouraging more play.
Points, rewards and the unlocking of
levels may indeed offer interest to the most
committed player – but almost by definition
this is the player who least needs it. That is,
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iGB Affiliate Issue 66 DEC 2017/JAN 2018
most of these ideas have little appeal to the
player who plays only a couple of spins if
offered a promo.
Rather than fretting about how to gamify
slots – which work perfectly well as is for
those who like them – the industry should
look at what products might appeal to
those who don’t like slots.
far bigger audiences than just the younger
player alone.
They are also the audience that
operators will continue to need as their
existing player base ages. As Millennials
become older and richer, they may well
suddenly become convinced that they need
to purchase life insurance or financial
“Rather than fretting about how to gamify slots –
which work perfectly well as is for those who like them –
the industry should look at what products might appeal
to those who don’t like slots”
Innovative suppliers are looking at
several rich seams of innovation:
● ● Familiar, more broadly appealing
existing game types such as scratch
or instants
● ● Game types that borrow from popular
genres such as esports and social gaming
● ● Games that enable greater interaction
and sociability, such as multiplayer and
competitive or collaborative games
● ● New game types that emphasise fun,
progress, learning or community
Millennial market
Innovation is costly and frequently fails.
Why bother appealing to Millennials
when the industry can grow by converting
land-based players to online or reaching
into new markets in Asia, Africa and South
America? Millennials are not that rich.
In immediate cash terms, they are not
the most attractive of customer segments
– but they are influential. As the early
adopters of new technologies, brands and
ways of interacting with the world, they
soon persuade their parents, bosses and
social groups to follow suit. Finding types
of games that appeal to them can unlock
advice. But nothing indicates that they
will suddenly perceive a need for or
attraction to slots as a leisure activity.
Put bluntly, at some point somebody
will come up with a new game type
that works. I hope it’s Gamevy but it
could be a completely different
entertainment company, outside the
traditional igaming industry.
Perhaps something will emerge as a
grass-roots craze, much as poker did.
But when that happens, an industry
overly focused on a narrow, niche product
and player base will find its market slips
away faster than it can respond.
PAUL DOLMAN-DARRALL
started his first business at
nine, selling ink cartridges to
kids with fountain pens. Since
then he’s worked as a senior
business analyst at John Lewis,
a business transformation manager
at Gap and vice president of business
change at Barclays. He co-founded
Gamevy in 2013, where he is chief
executive officer.