Live casino pioneers take on streaming giants YouTube and Netflix

It’s fair to suggest that most ‘sane’ executives within the iGaming world set realistic and attainable goals for the coming year… For example, make X amount of money by this quarter, break into a new and emerging market or release several new games in time for the next big conference.

All straight forward goals, right? If you were to sit in on the AGM of any major online casino or iGaming software provider you’d hear the same goals repeated again and again, however, head over to Evolution Gaming’s Stockholm headquarters and you might hear something a little bit different.

Those amongst the upper-echelons of the corporate structure at Evolution Gaming are not prescribed to this realist mindset. They’re thinking on a much larger scale than many could have ever imagined. If we’re being honest, they might even be a little bit mad for it, but we love it!

Evolution Gaming Chief Exec makes bold statement on competition

 In an interview with Gambing Insider last month Chief Executive of Evolution Gaming, Martin Carlesund told a reporter the following regarding his company’s overall ethos and mindset: “We are crazy, paranoid; we really want to be better every day. We want to be the best company in the world. How are we going to get there? If you lose that, you should quit.”

He then went on to explain that he feels the flourishing live casino game show genre has the right idea in attracting completely new players, and that entertainment today is driven by people looking at popular streaming and social sites and apps such as YouTube, TikTok and Twitter.

Carlesund echoed his Chief Product Officer Todd Haushalter words from a year earlier, when he boldly stated that these mainstream streaming providers are Evolution Gaming’s main competition now, not just other iGaming companies such as Playtech and NetEnt. 

The Swedish Chief Exec then added: “We fight against the little time we have, where we actually do something we want to do. You, me and everyone else has a number of things we have to do: those things involve sleeping, eating and taking care of our families.

“You can go to the gym, you can watch a movie on Netflix, or you can just surf on your computer. That is the time we’re fighting for. We’re not only competing with each other; we’re competing to get a piece of that time.”

Are Evolution Gaming ahead of the industry with global trends?

The company as a whole seems to be looking at their growth on a significantly larger scale than others, which is unsurprising considering their numerous successes… Multiple Game of the Year awards, soaring share prices and most importantly, establishing themselves as the leading provider of live casino games in the last decade.

In 2019 research conducted by GlobalWebIndex found that ‘The opportunities for social engagement, at all times of the day and in various locations, have facilitated the evolution of social platforms into entertainment hubs’. 

Evolution Gaming has taken this trend and turned it on its head, by releasing a number of interactive immersive game show style games such as Monopoly Live and Blackjack Party that heavily rely on their entertainment value, yet also have a unique social aspect to them. 

This social aspect takes inspiration from services and sites such as Facebook Live, YouTube Live and Twitch. It’s this social feature that’s undoubtedly the driving force behind players’ decision to remain within these types of games, even when they’re not actively betting.

The Digital in 2020 report released last month by We Are Social and HootSuite revealed that on average the world’s internet users (4.5 billion people) spend an average of 6 hours and 43 minutes online each day, with mobile devices accounting for more than half of the time we spend online in 2020. 

Digging deeper into figures from the report we found that 3 hours 18 minutes a day is spent watching television, 1 hour 10 minutes playing video games and 2 hours 24 minutes engaging with others on social media. 

Combine all of these popular media pastimes and what have you got? You’ve got something that looks just like Evolution Gaming’s live casino game shows. 

Will Evolution Gaming seriously rival large streaming sites?

It’s fair to make the assumption that due to the reputation and wide-reaching demographics of the aforementioned streaming sites and apps, Evolution Gaming is never going to realistically reach their lofty heights… However, ultimately that’s not what they’re looking for in this grand strategy. 

If the live casino powerhouse can just take a portion of the people away from these sites and apps, even if for less than an hour, then they’re going to quickly discover that their strategy has worked to a tee and paid off, because those few minutes are all it takes to sell Evolution’s vision. 

Whilst developers are working tirelessly to make their games more engaging, the reality is that seasoned gamblers are used to watching the same five reels and identical table after identical table… So by throwing something completely new into the mix, that still has a strange air of familiarity about it, has given these players a welcome new and engaging experience.

In terms of Evolution drawing in new players, ask yourself, what could be more inviting than taking part in a real-life game show from the comfort of your own home? You’ve got social interaction coupled with unrivalled entertainment and of course the opportunity to win real cash. 

It’s no wonder Evolution Gaming is putting all of its eggs into this highly lucrative basket.

At the time of writing this article, during what could be considered the quietest time of day for online gambling, early afternoon midweek, there are over 5,600 players in Evolution Gaming’s live casino game show rooms… 2,000 of those players are playing Lightning Roulette, compare that with the 500 that are playing in their main Live Roulette room… This should tell you everything you need to know with regards to the direction that Evolution Gaming is moving in.