Latest News
Could Smartphones Take Over Consoles in Popularity?
Video games are a big part of peoples’ lives, allowing players to connect with friends and relieve stress, and consoles are the vehicles. Since the first-ever console war in the 80s, the industry has been dominated by giants such as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. UK households with access to a gaming console now stand at more than eight million.
It’s tempting to think that PlayStation and Xbox are unrivalled by those figures, yet it isn’t the case. Smartphones have been quietly taking over the iGaming sector for a while, to the point where 91% of phone users report playing games on their device in the last month.
Can smartphones become the new power? Here are the indicators that show they could in the future.
Mixed Demographics
Men and boys are the main console users – women and girls are playing too, but they aren’t as common as the guys – but smartphone users, and the people who play games on them, overlap. Women love to play on their mobile devices because 61% say it helps them relax and 40% believe it’s more interesting. For developers, this consumer base is incredibly lucrative as it means they can advertise a range of products and services for different players. This is reflected in the offerings, as the App Store and Google Play let users download everything from The Candy Crush Saga to League of Legends and Angry Birds. Betfair, a safe online bingo website, concentrates on digital bingo and scratch cards. Their RNG-driven games can be played both on desktops and mobile, which is one of their strongest appeals to the modern generation of gamers. Meanwhile Pokémon Go is a favourite globally, earning the developers $894mn in player spending.
Smartphone Numbers
A feature of smartphones that put them at the forefront of a gaming revolution is the numbers. 80% of UK adults own or have access to a mobile phone, which encourages downloads. App-wise, Statista highlights that twenty-billion were downloaded in the UK in 2020 alone, a boost of over four-billion in 2018. With this level of accessibility, it’s not hard to see how smartphones are starting to challenge consoles. In comparison, the eight million consoles in UK households are tiny when you consider smartphones’ popularity. And while they are used for different things, the average usage clearly shows more phone owners rely on their devices to game.
Screen Time
Three hours and 23 minutes per day – that’s the average screen time for a person in the UK. Over a year, this equates to fifty hours staring at a screen and scrolling through messages, social media and the internet. However, gaming is beginning to rank highly since, according to Wired Shopper, over 64% of people download one right away on a new phone. Not only does the level of time spent on a phone in the UK mean it’s more likely for people to play games, but a significant percentage of smartphone users actively split their time between gaming and everything else modern devices have to offer.
The figures highlight how more people are using phones as vehicles for gaming. In the future, the fact that 5G and streaming technology – Microsoft has developed the xCloud – will improve only increases the odds of smartphones taking over as the kings of the gaming world.
Conferences in Europe
Your Platform, Your Way: GR8 Tech Presents Customized iGaming Solutions at SiGMA Europe
GR8 Tech, an award-winning high-performance sportsbook and iGaming platform provider, will exhibit at SiGMA Europe on November 11-14, delivering a more exciting experience than ever before. Attendees can visit GR8 Tech at booth 2163, featuring an immersive, enhanced setup with a second floor dedicated to VIP meetings.
The business-focused team will showcase GR8 Tech’s ecosystem of solutions, including the flagship GR8 Sportsbook, the GR8 Casino, and a range of innovative standalone products such as CRM, Sportsbook iFrame, Feed, and Payment Gateway. Live demos will also be available, giving visitors a firsthand look at the capabilities and potential of GR8 Tech’s cutting-edge technology.
GR8 Tech will demonstrate the customization capabilities of its GR8 Sportsbook, highlighting the value it delivers to operators through a variety of options, including platform customization with widgets, geo presets, margin management, and more. Attendees will learn how GR8 Tech’s advanced recommendation models enhance the sports betting experience by offering personalized suggestions for events, bets, and content tailored to player preferences. GR8 Tech’s team will also show how operators can customize their platform with features like widgets, providing greater flexibility and control to optimize the user experience.
Secure your meeting with GR8 Tech in advance and explore how its high-performance, geo-tailored technology can elevate your iGaming operations.
Australia
A-Leagues extends with Stats Perform, adds Opta Stream and Opta Search to deepen fan engagement and grow sponsor inventory for men’s and women’s competitions
The A-Leagues, the top level of football in Australia and New Zealand, has extended its official media data partnership with sports AI and tech giant Stats Perform and added the new Opta Search and Opta Stream to unlock new sponsor inventory and deepen engagement for fans of its flagship men’s and women’s competitions.
Stats Perform’s trusted Opta data feeds, widgets and tools will continue to power A-Leagues’ official fan platforms including aleagues.com.au, the Official A-Leagues app and A-Leagues social media channels, including its popular YouTube videos.
The extended partnership sees the addition of Opta Stream, which is set to supercharge fan engagement and sponsorship across A-Leagues’ match centres by providing rolling, automated, sponsored visuals of real-time game stats, live text commentary, milestones and insights, powered by Opta data feeds.
It also includes Opta Search, the third part of OptaAI Studio, Stats Perform’s set of tools to put advanced sports storytelling at the fingertips of sports content professionals. Opta Search will enable A-Leagues’ editors, presenters and communications teams to enrich their coverage with enthralling milestones and insights across games, teams and seasons from Opta’s enormous statistics database.
Stats Perform’s products will be used across the Isuzu UTE A-League Men which begins on October 18, and the Ninja A-League Women which kicks off on November 1.
“Our leagues are rich in stories that Stats Perform and Opta make it easy for us to tell our fans, connecting them more deeply to our teams and players,” said Ned Negus, Chief Commercial Officer at the A-Leagues. “By leveraging Opta’s real-time data, insights and products, our content team will be able to showcase key statistics, player performances and milestones in a visually stunning and informative manner, and our commercial teams are delighted with the additional high quality inventory created for our sponsors.”
“We’re pleased to meet A-Leagues’ requirements for detailed, trusted, reliable data and products to drive fan and sponsor growth across the Isuzu UTE A-League Men and Ninja A-League Women,” said Steve Xeller, CRO at Stats Perform. “I’m particularly excited about their addition of Opta Stream and Opta Search – they’re among our newest AI-powered products and have already broken records for customers in Europe, boosting them to the top of search engines and attracting enormous user numbers. We can’t wait to see what they achieve for A-Leagues,” he added.
Opta Search is part of Stats Perform’s new OptaAI Studio, which also comprises Opta Graphics and Opta Live, used by pro teams, colleges, media and broadcasters across the world.
Together with Opta Stream, Opta Search leverages Stats Perform’s detailed, trusted Opta data feeds to help tell more vivid stories and uses automation and AI to empower large and small teams to be more productive, whilst growing sports audiences and sponsors.
Conferences in Europe
SOFTSWISS Invites Partners to ‘Grab Success’ Together at SiGMA Europe
SOFTSWISS, an international tech company with over 15 years of experience in iGaming, announces its participation in the SiGMA Europe Summit 2024.
SiGMA Europe Summit will be held in Malta at the Malta Maritime Hub from 12 to 14 November. With 1,000 exhibitors, the event will host 27,000 delegates from the iGaming industry and beyond.
Creative Concept
After a resounding celebration of its Grand Anniversary in Portugal, SOFTSWISS is returning to Malta with the award-winning concept, ‘Grab Success in iGaming’. The campaign’s slogan fully reflects the industry’s rapidly evolving character. SOFTSWISS incorporated the Maltese crab, inspired by the region’s natural beauty, as a striking visual element in its marketing campaign. This creative approach was recognised and rewarded at the prestigious EGR Marketing and Innovation Awards 2024.
Innovations
During the SiGMA Europe Summit, SOFTSWISS will showcase three new innovative solutions alongside its other well-established products. Recently launched products include the Lotto Software, the Retail Betting Solution, and the Horse Racing Module. Additionally, Affilka by SOFTSWISS’ team will reveal a new feature for its affiliate software – Geo-Distributed Redirect Application.
Vitali Matsukevich, Chief Operating Officer at SOFTSWISS, shares: “Working at the heart of the industry, in Malta, for many years, SOFTSWISS see the SiGMA Europe Summit growing and constantly bringing together industry leaders, experts, and prominent players in the market. SOFTSWISS looks forward to meeting its partners and friends at the last big event of the year to finalise current projects and prepare a basis for next year’s collaborations”.
Public Speaking
During the SiGMA Europe Summit, SOFTSWISS experts will also share their profound professional experience. Vitali Matsukevich will shed light on the important theme ‘How to choose a secure and safe crypto casino’ for those who want to learn more about selecting a trustworthy crypto casino by focusing on licensing, security, and spotting red flags.
Partners and potential clients can book a meeting with the SOFTSWISS team at the company’s stand 2145 via the link to discuss mutual projects and the newest iGaming trends.
About SOFTSWISS
SOFTSWISS is an international technology company with over 15 years of experience in developing innovative solutions for the iGaming industry. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licences and provides comprehensive software for managing iGaming projects. The company’s product portfolio includes the Online Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with over 23,500 casino games, the Affilka Affiliate Platform, the Sportsbook software and the Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS revolutionised the industry by introducing the world’s first Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution. The expert team, based in Malta, Poland, and Georgia, counts over 2,000 employees.
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