Gaming Corps: scoring big with football-themed games

Check out our latest Q&A with Graeme Savill, Account Management Team Lead at Gaming Corps

We’ve just seen EURO 2024 come to a close – was the result of the tournament what you expected it to be? Did any teams surprise you? 

It’s been a fantastic event overall and I was lucky enough to attend some of the games in person during the first couple of weeks of the tournament. My team, Scotland, failed to qualify out of the group so my time in Germany was very short-lived but the experience of being there to watch my country with our fans was incredible and I have amazing memories of the trip. In terms of surprises, I’d say Georgia and Turkey both defied the odds of last-16 qualification and had great tournaments while the two finalists, England and Spain, were both worthy of the chance to lift the trophy with Spain ultimately coming out on top.

There doesn’t tend to be much cross-over between sports bettors and slots players. In your view, what opportunities do major tournaments such as EURO 2024 present to gaming providers when it comes to engaging with new audiences? And how did Gaming Corps achieve this?

It’s true that the two segments do vary considerably in their betting preferences and patterns, but these bi-annual football events (the World Cup being the other) create huge opportunities for the industry as a whole. Creating collaborative content and working with tier-one global sportsbook operators has proven a very successful strategy for Gaming Corps while for our partners it allows them to enhance their casino offering and engage more deeply with their player base. We have several football-themed games within our Arcade portfolio including Penalty Champion, Plinkgoal, Football Freestyler and Samba Soccer that operators can access to help do this.

During June and July, we’ve seen record player numbers introduced to these products through cross-sell efforts so it’s been very advantageous to have these included in our offering. In preparation for the event, our product worked around the clock to roll-out dozens of bespoke branded versions of these games which have been front-facing on casino pages with many of our operators. The feedback we’ve received is that during EURO 2024, many casual sportsbook players have enjoyed being introduced to a different style of casino games like our Crash, Mines and Plinko verticals as they deliver a more compelling experience than traditional style casino games such as slots and roulette.

What’s the secret to creating slot titles that appeal to both demographics of players? Should more game developers be turning their attention towards creating slot titles centred around major sports tournaments?

Creating slot titles that appeal to both traditional slot players and sports fans requires a thoughtful blend of themes, features and mechanics that resonate with both audiences. I believe the key to success is around thematic relevance, so creating games for and targeting them to players around key events in the sporting calendar. This allows operators to build hype on the game and players love timely and seasonal titles as a way of being gently guided away from the classic products on the market and towards non-traditional content. Throughout June, a large majority of operators have offered a dedicated category with sports-themed casino games for players to discover which has benefited us immensely as they have stocked more titles from our diverse portfolio. Engaging gameplay features are critical like within our Penalty Champion game where we’ve included the sports-related shootout which adds an extra layer of excitement and engagement. Likewise, balancing game mechanics is important; games must be simple enough for traditional casino players to understand but include exciting elements that appeal to sports fans, such as dynamic animations and fast-paced action. These keep players entertained and eager to sample more products themed around their favourite sports.

With player acquisition costs at an all-time high, how can slots developers retain players onboarded during tournaments such as the EUROS and perhaps introduce them to other iGaming verticals? 

There are so many variables here but yes, due to acquisition costs, players must be retained to maximise player lifetime value and loyalty.  One example would be the use of in-game advertisements to promote other verticals. This could mean offering free spins in slots for trying out a new sportsbook feature. This is something that we want to work on together with our operator partners for the remainder of 2024 to maximise the opportunity. Likewise, the bundling of promotions can be highly effective in encouraging players to try different types of games. My belief though is that player engagement and communication is the most important factor whereby the strategy actively engages with players on social media platforms to create a community and keep them informed about new products and promotions. This is very true in countries such as Brazil where influencer marketing has been extremely strong in the overall marketing mix.

We have the Olympics coming up in a few weeks’ time, and then the restart of domestic football calendars. Can we expect to see any more sports-themed titles coming from Gaming Corps? 

Yes, I do believe that sports-themed casino games will continue to evolve and will be used by operators to attract and retain players. We’re always looking to innovate and bring something new to market and we’ve discussed our latest vertical Smash4Cash and how we can introduce a sports element to it. This approach has already brought us big success in the Mines, Plinko and Crash verticals.  We have also been working on games outside of football. Due to operator demand, we did create an ice hockey-themed game which we launched with a localised approach for countries in the Nordics and to enhance strategic partnerships with branded versions of the game for certain operators. This is a fun and engaging product and I’d say watch this space for future sports-themed games that take a similar format. We aspire to become an industry leader in creating fun, innovative and engaging sports-themed content and from the success we have achieved with the first few games we have developed, we too will be lifting the trophy in next to no time.