The LoginCasino team has interviewed Arcangelo Lonoce, Head of Business Development Europe at Habanero, to find out the aspects to pay attention to in the gaming industry, the future of table games, and other news about the casino products, which are important for operators to know.
Arcangelo, what were the most popular online slots in 2020? Do they have a chance to remain popular in 2021, or will more innovative products substitute them?
This year, gamification will feature prominently on the agenda. With regulatory restrictions getting continually tighter, it can no longer be the incentive of financial reward that attracts punters. Rather, slot developers will need to emphasize the entertainment factor, which means doing more to gamify your content suite.
That said, many of the top-performing slots on today’s market utilize the simple yet compelling themes we’ve seen time and again, so quality titles that go easy on “disruption” may continue to lead the way.
Some experts say that the pandemic has led to a spike in the slots sector. Is that true or false?
There has been growth, but not a spike. Yes, people had more time on their hands this year, trying out different forms of entertainment. And yes, that led to an organic increase in slot activity, with a higher level of sportsbook or land-based to online casino cross-sell than might normally be expected. But was it a wholesale transition of sports bettors or casual players to the slot market? The data just don’t bear it out.
It goes without saying that the slot development market is extremely competitive. How can gambling software developers with less experience compete with industry leaders?
The quality of your offering is the first, second, and third most important factor – everything else is window dressing. That means you need to get it right on mathematics, presentation, UX, and price.
In short, you need a world-class product that is delivered in the right way. Newer, smaller studios have the chance to provide operators with a more bespoke service than their larger counterparts can offer.
Yes, there’s also an element of innovation. But innovation isn’t everything. The market is competitive, but there’s a huge appetite for the high-quality products already out there. Out of the huge number of slots that are currently available, only a handful are consistent performers, so there’s plenty of room for new, quality suppliers.
Regulation has made margins tighter than ever before, and with more territories going live that’s only going to continue. There’s a race to the bottom on price at the moment, and the only way to thrive is by adopting a global model. As a budding supplier, every regulated territory should be of at least some interest to you.
What role of social media playing do you envisage in the development of the industry?
Gamification has the potential to attract players using social media, with ever-involving jackpots potentially paying out the kind of wins that are likely to be shared widely. Social casinos, of course, hold plenty of weight when it comes to F2P and acquisition strategies – as well as the emerging influence of streamers.
Social media could also make our industry more socially and politically acceptable – scrolling through Twitter these days, you find lots of negative articles about gambling. That’s why we as an industry need to bolster our social outreach for a more accurate representation – and do more to showcase that we’re an entertainment-first industry more than anything else.
What is the future of table games? Can we expect something revolutionary in this vertical?
There could be new developments on the horizon in the way table games are delivered. Some of the products we’ve seen from the likes of Evolution make very clever tweaks to existing models – but aren’t revolutionary in themselves. Players value this as it’s a twist on something different while offering the mechanics they already love and understand.
As a result, I don’t believe we should see anything too radical because those changes have been made in a way that respects the original format and has reaped the rewards, nonetheless, that’s what players want. That said, we have seen a fresh approach taken by some suppliers, improving underlying mathematics and UIs without reinventing the wheel. This year’s developments will be very interesting indeed.
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