Industry News
Online casinos are gaining popularity due to pandemic: how to open one
![Online casinHow to choose the best online casinoos are gaining popularity due to pandemic: how to open one](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Online-Casino-Games.jpg)
It is undeniable that the Internet is taking over the traditional media: news articles are published online, photos are shared on social media, not kept in family albums, and tickets to concerts can be bought through your phone, forget the lines! The entertainment industry is evolving as well, and we are not only talking about streaming services rivaling the television.
The first online gambling sites emerged in the middle of the 1990s, but have become more common in recent years. In 2019, the global online gambling market was estimated to be $53,7 billion worth with Europe as the biggest market accumulating $22 billion. It is expected that in the next 7 years this industry’s global CAGR will be 11,5%, that’s $127,3 billion by 2027. [1] Casinos are the second most popular form of online gambling in Europe, accounting for 32% of the market share in 2018. Online casinos were only surpassed by online sports betting (42,5%) but had left lotteries (12,6%) and internet poker (5%) far behind. [2]
Sounds reassuring, but does having an online casino more promising and secure than the offline one? You see, there are benefits for both internet casinos’ owners and their clients.
The former don’t have to buy or rent space for the real-life casino, the number of employees is significantly smaller, eliminate worries about utility tax or potential robbers. And the customers don’t need to visit another country or drive for hours to get to a casino â they can visit one from the comfort of their homes any time they want. And considering that right now most of the countries are under quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, opening an online gambling service seems like a much better idea. For instance, an Israeli firm Optimove reported a whopping 225% increase of people who started playing online poker for the first time, after the pandemic struck. [3] Also, consider that even after the lockdown is over, many people will be cautious about visiting land-based casinos, prioritizing safety.
So, what do you need to know and do to open an online casino?
First and foremost, set your plans and strategy straight. To open an online casino, you need to figure out a lot of aspects, such as: what will your website look like and what unique features and games will it have, which countries would you like to target, will you need the help of industry experts or SEO-managers to promote your business, etc. If you took care of the planning, you can proceed with the next step.
Choose a gaming software provider. There are plenty of services with a variety of features, so make sure you are not going with the first one you find. The provider must be proven reliable, as well as have customizable software solutions, so you can make your casino look and feel the way you want to.
The selection of available games and slots may vary, some providers develop games themselves, while others offer packages of games from different developers. Either way, the more gaming options you choose â the better, as clients’ preferences differ. Be determined, ask questions, and test services before signing a contract with a software provider.
Get an online gambling license. Having a license is vital to your business, even though the process of obtaining one may be time-consuming. Operating an online casino without a license is illegal. Moreover, most banks and payment service providers will not agree to work with a non-licensed gambling business.
To get a license you first need to choose a country â a gambling jurisdiction â to acquire it from. There are still a lot of places where online casinos are not legalized, but every region has at least one country where you can get your license. For instance, in Europe, you can obtain one under the jurisdiction of Malta, Montenegro, the Isle of Man, Britain, Gibraltar, and others.
Remember that every country has its own set of rules and requirements for online casinos, thus a business owner should choose a jurisdiction with the best possibilities for their company. And also, donât forget the taxes that also differ locally.
To get a license, you will need to gather all the required documents and make sure that your gaming software provider and site are compliant with the countryâs regulations.
Choose a bank or payment gateway service provider to accept money from your clients. It would be better if a PSP supports multiple payment methods, as more people from different countries will be able to use your services.
Note that online gambling and casinos are classified as high-risk businesses, meaning that your company has greater chances to face chargebacks. Because of that, banks usually charge these types of business higher service fees to ensure the merchants are better protected from fraud. For instance, our payment gateway service provider, which is well-experienced in dealing with high-risk companies, Maxpay — is partnered with an anti-fraud platform called Covery, which significantly minimizes the number of fraudulent transactions. We also offer chargeback representation services, meaning that we can process our client’s chargeback and give dispute recommendations.
And lastly, keep in mind that just opening an online casino is not enough for it to be successful â you need to have an impeccable and long-term PR and SEO strategies and be ready to encourage your most dedicated clients, as well as come up with new ideas for games and challenges. In the end, following these tips and rules might make your business highly profitable.
About Maxpay:
Maxpay is a market-leading international payment gateway service provider that keeps merchants first. Built by online business owners for business owners to accelerate growth. Fully compliant with PCI DSS level 1 v3.2 with 5+ years of experience. Global teams provide local insights and online live support for merchants. With companies and partners from 49 jurisdictions, Maxpay provides full-service solutions for accepting card payments in more than 130 currencies with multiple partner banks.
Industry News
Playtech Live Launches Exclusive Bespoke Game with Kaizen Gaming
![Playtech Live Launches Exclusive Bespoke Game with Kaizen Gaming](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/pig-champions-live.jpg)
Playtech announced the launch of a new bespoke game, Pig Champions, developed exclusively for Kaizen Gaming, one of the biggest GameTech companies in the world. This launch marks the first Live Casino bespoke title for the leading sports betting & gaming operator and strengthens the strategic partnership between the two companies.
The game, designed to appeal to all audience types and player types across all markets, is a sporty animated universe in a Money Wheel Game show format, where 3 Pig Champions characters compete with each other to reach the highest multipliers within 3 exciting Bonus rounds. The studio is located in Playtechâs Romanian facility (PTR), offering a unique, immersive, animated experience made with fresh Unreal engine technology, featuring unique gameplay built from the ground up using advanced real-time animation.
Kevin Kilminster, Chief Product Innovation Officer at Playtech Live:Â âWe are delighted to partner with one of the leading sports betting & gaming operators in the world to launch their bespoke Live Game Show, Pig Champions to their extensive player base. After being selected by Kaizen Gaming as the leading developer of bespoke live content, collaborating on Pig Champions has enabled the team to showcase their passion and experience by exploring new innovative ways of bringing live casino games to life that offer a fresh, safe gaming experience for players. Our partnership with Kaizen Gaming continues to evolve and we look forward to our next collaboration in bringing further exciting games to market.â
Christos Mavridis, Head of Live Casino of Kaizen Gaming:Â âOur content offering is some of the most exciting on the market and working with an established partner like Playtech will assist in enhancing our current portfolio even more. Pig Champions stands as evidence of Playtechâs expertise and extensive experience, elevating our live casino offering and emphasising our commitment to creating top-quality innovative game experiences for our players.â
Industry News
Amusnet Ranks Among Italyâs Top Casino Providers
![](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/8-11.jpg)
Amusnet Italy is the fourth-best casino provider in the country for June 2024, according to iGaming Tracker. The company has made a significant leap in the rankings, advancing three positions to secure the fourth spot. The achievement is underscored by a 1.1% increase in market share, reflecting a substantial gain in visibility and preference among online casino operators and players. This rise reflects Amusnetâs growing influence and effectiveness in the Italian market, demonstrating the companyâs leading place among the industryâs top providers.
Several notable accomplishments have bolstered Amusnet Italyâs presence in the country. The companyâs commitment to excellence was recognised with the prestigious Gold Award for Casino Content Supplier 2023 from EGR Italy last November. Furthermore, Amusnet has added six new partnerships with operators since January, bringing the total number to over 30, and has maintained a robust portfolio with over 100 certified games. Additionally, Amusnet Italy has released 14 new games since the beginning of the year, with more games planned for release by the end of 2024.
Polina Nedyalkova, Director at Amusnet Italy, said: âWe are incredibly proud of our progress and the milestones we have reached. This ranking highlights our leading position in the industry and our dedication to delivering high-quality, engaging gaming experiences to local players. Our advancement to the top position underscores our growing influence and effectiveness in the Italian market, and we look forward to continuing this momentum and bringing even more top-notch games to our audience.â
Affiliate Industry
Getting Sticky with It: Why Affiliate Traffic Should be About Quality Not Quantity
![Getting Sticky with It: Why Affiliate Traffic Should be About Quality Not Quantity](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Fraser-INT.jpg)
In a highly competitive âbonus blitzingâ affiliate market, the only real winner is the bonus hunter. These affiliates may be sending traffic through to their partners in volume, but many of their users are just looking to play through a good deal, never to return.
At Slots Temple, we believe the âstack âem high, watch âem flyâ approach to aggressive bonus-driven traffic no longer flies. We wanted to focus on improving the quality of the traffic and that meant doing things differently.
We began life as a site that offered free demo games and slots tournaments, and this helped to build a highly engaged base of players that genuinely loved playing slots. But we wanted to take this to the next level.
When we were awarded a UKGC gambling license in 2022, it meant we could offer cash prizes for our free tournaments. And then the next logical step was real-money tournaments in the UK with juiced-up prize pools, and ultimately real-money slots.
To create better quality traffic, you need to engage with your customers to better understand them and foster loyalty. It helps if you have a unique value proposition to increase the stickiness of your brand and engage audiences more effectively.
Our real money tournaments are a real UVP and are proving wildly popular with our users. The stakes we offer are low. You can play a slots tournament for as little as 1p, and the free-play model remains a large part of what we do â exclusively so outside the UK.
Ultimately, we want to be a safe place for players, which is why offering low stakes games is important. Itâs about fostering a player base that trusts us and feels comfortable playing with us.
Yes, weâre blurring the lines between affiliate and operator, but our players know weâre not just chasing profits at the expense of everything else. Ultimately, our players see us primarily as a destination for fun play and prizes, and itâs important that we maintain that balance. If they thought we were simply out to rinse them, weâd lose their trust, and they wouldnât come back.
Instead, itâs about offering more choice and increasing that stickiness. It also helps us better understand what games our players like to play so that we can offer more personalized recommendations.
And this is how real-money slots tournaments can really increase the quality of traffic. If a player has been playing a certain slot in a real-money tournament, for example, and wants to play at a partner site, we can guarantee that we are referring a player who is already highly engaged with the game and is ready to transition to higher stakes.
Of course, within the framework of real-money tournaments, itâs important to continue diversifying offerings by devising new formats. We have turbo tournaments, risk tournaments — a multitude of formats and price points so everyone can play the way they want to.
Our real-money tournaments are further enhanced by what was always a highly gamified platform. So, we have leaderboards, Xpoints, rewards chests, and challenges.
Continuous challenges, incentives and rewards keep users engaged over the long term. These elements can appeal to usersâ competitive nature and desire for achievement, as they play for bragging rights. This enhances social elements and encourages them to engage frequently with the product
Adding fun and playful elements enhances the user experience beyond the tournaments themselves. Regular rewards and recognition prevent burnout and keep users motivated. And engaged and motivated players are more likely to become passionate about the brand.
Creating a player base that produces true value to your affiliate partners requires a number of the right ingredients, plus a lot of care and attention. But the affiliate landscape is changing, and affiliates need to get creative to get sticky.
Author: Fraser Linkleter, CEO at Slots Temple
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