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Assessing the Dutch market

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Assessing the Dutch market
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It is a full year since the regulated online market opened in the Netherlands. In this round-table feature, we ask Matej Filipančič, Head of Turnkey Solutions at Bragg Gaming, for his view on how the market has performed to date and what lies around the corner.

Having opened up online gambling in October 2021, the Dutch regulator De Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) implemented a cooling-off period affecting many major operators. Has this affected the growth potential of the Dutch market?

It’s hard to say and with a year since the new legislation entered into force, it is now easier to focus on the positives and how the market has evolved in the last 12 months. First mover advantage has been crucial in the Netherlands and the initial 10 licensees have really carved out a big market share. It’s great to see that players have been channelled towards new operators rather than staying with incumbent ones as it means wider choice, exciting new products and better promotions through various acquisition channels. Consequently, this should attract more players, leading to healthy market growth. We think the Dutch lawmakers and regulators have done a great job with the new legislation benefiting both operators and players and we have great expectations for the potential in the country.

 

Will restrictions on advertising make it difficult for new entrants to the market to gain market share? If so, what part can suppliers play in attracting and retaining Dutch players?

It is very important to distinguish between online operators and those with a land-based presence here as there will be a relative advantage for the latter who will still be able to use some methods of advertising to retain players. All operators will need to be innovative and creative in coming up with ways to reach customers while also making sure their campaigns are fully compliant. For newcomers, it will become more difficult to gain a player base compared with those that were present at the time of market opening. The new restrictions are not at all in favour of newly licensed operators in that sense, but suppliers can make a big difference here. At ORYX, we offer a wide range of retention tools, which became even more important to operators after the marketing ban announcement. The new licensees on our platform have already come up with very exciting and successful strategies on how to utilise our state-of-the-art Fuze™ player engagement platform and other products to stay ahead of the competition.

 

What appetite have you seen among Dutch players for content types that are popular in other regulated European markets? Are they out-performing classic games that originate from the Dutch land-based heritage?

We have seen that top-performing content from world-leading providers such as Evolution, GAMOMAT and Pragmatic Play has outperformed the rest of the competition. This includes localised traditional studios like Greentube, Edict (Merkur) and Stakelogic, who still remain very popular with players. The result is a relatively healthy mix between the traditional games which have been present in the land-based machines for decades in the Netherlands and internationally recognised brands which perform well in all markets. Live casino has also been very strong and seems to have a great appeal to Dutch players.

 

What are your hopes for the Dutch market across the next 12 months?

Hopefully the restrictions will be applied equally on all operator websites, including the state-owned companies that were already in the market before the new regulation entered into force. There is of course potential for growth for all licensees, old or new, but it is crucial for recent entrants to be innovative to acquire and retain players. ORYX was the first external platform to launch in the Dutch market and we hope to maintain the position as a leading supplier there with the help of the exceptional track record of our operator partners.

We hope our platform partners can make use of all our tools to continue to grow and operate successfully in the Netherlands, gaining market share while making sure they are fully compliant and continue to excel in terms of Responsible Gaming and player protection. We are also in a great position to offer our proprietary products to new clients in the market and can guarantee a safe and exciting experience for the players, along with a profitable business for our partners.

Industry News

Maximising Your Cross-Market Appeal

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Maximising Your Cross-Market Appeal
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With Bitblox introducing an entirely new breed of crypto-based price prediction games to the iGaming industry, we talked to CEO, Brandt Page, to discover how combining elements of both chance and skill with lightning-fast betting rounds has helped improve their cross-market appeal.

 

When Bitblox was first established, our core concept was relatively simple; we didn’t just want to provide players with a new twist on an existing format like slots or casino games, but instead sought to create an entirely new vertical that combined elements of chance and elements of skill.

One of the main drivers behind this decision was the fact that we wanted our releases to appeal to as broad an audience as possible – and I think from the figures we’ve seen so far, we’ve already had some notable success on that front in terms of the players that are engaging with our games.

Funnily enough, I was recently talking to the Head of Marketing from one of the operators that we work with and they told me they were struggling to place our games optimally. Initially, they’d put them in with crash and instant win content, but they soon discovered a lot of their in-game traffic was coming from sports bettors. A move to the sports betting tab followed, but the exact same-thing happened with casino players, leading to the games eventually winding up on the front page.

As this was going on, our games were continuing to post solid numbers with the customers who bet on both sports and casino – and all of this engagement was coming without there being any additional promotion from us or the operator. So why was it that our games were performing so well across these different player segments? I believe there are a number of contributing factors.

First and foremost, having this hybrid model of games of chance and games of skill that I’ve already mentioned has placed us in a fairly unique position within the iGaming industry. On the one hand, the simple premise of our Bitcoin-based titles – coupled with their attractive designs and intuitive UI – makes them highly accessible to casino players who are just looking to have fun.

On the other, the fact that Bitblox games aren’t based on RNG and are instead pinned to the real-time movements of the Bitcoin market certainly resonates with a sports betting audience. As they have the ability to follow the charts and use this information to inform their decisions, they definitely feel they have more control over the outcome than if they were playing a traditional slot.

Another key aspect of our cross-market appeal is the fast-paced nature of all Bitblox releases. With casino players being accustomed to the quick wins and instant gratification of slots and crash games and sports bettors also showing a growing preference for in-play wagering, we’ve ensured each game round is resolved quickly and that there are multiple opportunities for betting.

When we first launched Up or Down?, which features one-minute betting rounds, we soon learned that even this timeframe is too long for some players. This resulted in us developing Up or Down? Turbo – a game which kept the same mechanics as its predecessor but reduced the betting window to 20 seconds – and this has gone on to become one of our most successful titles.

Keeping all this in mind, one of the things I’m most excited about is the upcoming release of our latest game, 3 in a Row, as I think this is a title that really ties everything I’ve talked about so far together. Designed to look like a slot machine, 3 in a Row challenges players to correctly predict how the Bitcoin price will move over three separate 20-second windows for even bigger payouts.

Intended to appeal to casual users and serious sports bettors alike, players can elect to either spin the reels for fun and select a random price sequence or use the bet builder feature to put together their own custom prediction. With the latter essentially functioning like an accumulator bet, players can select up to three possible combinations – i.e. Up/Up/Up, Up/Up/Down etc – and only one result needs to land for them to win, ensuring they stay engaged until the final seconds.

I believe that 3 in a Row can help build on the strong foundations we’ve laid down with casino and sports bettors and provide operators with another popular option that offers significant cross-market appeal. Based on what we’ve seen from previous Bitblox releases, the audience for titles that combine elements of chance and elements of skill is definitely out there – and I’m looking forward to our unique brand of crypto-based games being enjoyed by even more players in future.

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Industry News

Gaming Corps to launch with lotteries in the USA via EQL games deal

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In-demand content provider extends reach into largest iGaming market in the world with its full suite of games made available via iLottery aggregation platform

Gaming Corps, a publicly-listed game studio based in Sweden renowned for creating industry-leading games, has made its debut in the US market through a breakthrough agreement with leading lottery provider, EQL Games.

The distribution agreement will see Gaming Corps’ full suite of games made available to EQL Games’ powerful iLottery Aggregation Platform, developed to provide lottery operators across America with direct access to a portfolio of proprietary and third-party games.

Following the integration, EQL Games’ lottery operator partners will be offered proven Slots, Table Games, Multiplier Games, Mine Games and Plinko Games, as well as titles under Gaming Corps’ innovative and trademarked Smash4Cash™ series.

The deal and integration come at a time of growing demand among online lottery operators in the US for non-traditional content, a format that Gaming Corps has excelled in, especially with its Smash4Cash™ games, which have been a hit with players in global markets.

EQL’s aggregation platform has been developed to allow online lottery operators to quickly and easily access content from multiple game studios simultaneously through one integration and one commercial agreement.

Its iLottery Aggregation platform simplifies the process of adding new games to an online lottery brand across regulated states. In addition to the third-party content provided via its aggregator platform, EQL Games has a portfolio of in-house titles.

This includes games produced under licence with Team USA which were rolled out by several state lotteries for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this year, with new titles being planned ahead of the Winter Games in Milan (2026) and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles (2028).

Juha KauppinenCEO of Gaming Corps, said: “The USA has always been somewhat of the holy grail for game developers like us, which has been further emphasised as markets in several states have become regulated. The potential in the American market is enormous, and the impact for us is a bit difficult to assess, but we have great hopes for the collaboration with EQL Games, which has an impressive platform towards U.S. lotteries.

“We believe it will have a significantly positive impact on our revenues. I would like to personally take the opportunity to thank EQL Games and Brad Cummings for the collaboration, and we are now working hard to complete the integration so that all our games will be offered to EQL’s customers via their platform.”

Brad CummingsCEO of EQL Games, added: “Including Gaming Corps as a supplier to the EQL Games iLottery Aggregator is an exciting step forward in our mission to offer unique, high-quality content to state lotteries. Gaming Corps’ expertise in iGaming, along with their unique game portfolio, fits perfectly with our vision of enhancing the lottery experience through dynamic and engaging content.”

 

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Industry News

Public Voting Starts for Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0

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The highly anticipated Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0 has officially entered the public voting phase as submissions are closed.

More than 70 game providers have turned in over 160 submissions, including Tom Horn Gaming, Pragmatic Play and RubyPlay. Public voting involves enthusiasts casting their votes to pick the winner of the Game of Public Choice category.

The Public voting phase ends on December 1st 23:59 GMT+4.

Concurrent to public voting, the first phase of private voting also starts during which all participants who have submitted entries get the chance to vote for one favourite in each category. An international auditing company oversees this phase to eliminate duplicate votes and self-votes. This phase ends on November 19, 23:59 GMT+4.

The second phase of private voting will also take place with a jury of industry experts making their decisions based on the shortlist picked by participants during the first phase.

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