Interviews
“BetGames is a great acquisition tool for new players” – Exclusive interview with BetGames.TV Head of Sales
Having proven itself as one of 2020’s standout industry performers, BetGames has not been one to rest on its laurels in the first six months of 2021, launching a host revamped games, as well as establishing its Malta hub with plans to take the company from 100 to 300 team members by the end of the year.
We caught up with BetGames’ Head of Sales, Thomas Aigner, to talk through the studio’s latest moves and plans for continued global expansion.
Looking back at the last six months for European markets, how can we assess performance and what we’ve seen as an industry?
There’s been two main stand-outs that we’ve witnessed: the increasing player preference for low-stakes entertainment and the popularity of live gaming generally as a remedy for quarantine. As lockdowns have continued in the first half of this year, our games have retained a wealth of players since we intrinsically attract a lower spend with far more regular play – as well a fixed-odds betting format that has ensured we’re a welcome home for sportsbook customers looking to try something new.
In light of what has been effectively an ongoing recession, we’ve also learned that the key to player engagement is a low-spend proposition without the risk of big losses, combined with simplicity in gameplay and the high-frequency in sessions. Given that the majority of players the world over have been observing social isolation, this makes perfect sense – with a strong preference for pick-up-and-play products that offer live entertainment for hours without emptying their wallet. The live experience has been a well-placed antidote to the seclusion that many have experienced over the last 12 months or so.
I think one of the biggest lessons learned has been that diversification is imperative. Pre-Covid, we’d expect operators to be focusing up to 70% of their spend on promoting sports and little else. Those who continued with that approach through 2020 and indeed, the first six months of this year, given the lack of retail environments in Europe, have really felt the pinch.
Moving forward, there needs to be far more focus on alternatives such as ours, as we’ve clearly learned that sports fans are unaccustomed to the majority of casino, or indeed the playing format available, even with Live Casino. It is essential that suppliers take onboard the lessons learned from betting activity, especially when it comes to providing the low-spend, extended sessions that have proven to work so well, and adapt accordingly.
When it comes to BetGames, what regions have been key in Europe so far? Where have you been focusing your energy?
Europe is an incredibly diverse continent when it comes to playing styles, and the BetGames customer certainly varies between markets. On the whole, we attract sports bettors, which is particularly the case in Eastern Europe, where we know that 70-80% of our returning customers are sports fans – and this is one way we really differentiate ourselves as a supplier against our competitors.
For mature markets, such as Scandinavia and the UK, products such as Bet on Poker have performed particularly well, as they offer a playing format that resonates very strongly with players, delivering a winning combination of both poker, which is a continental favourite, alongside the fixed-odds betting format we are famous for.
Looking to new entrances, expansion in Greece, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Ukraine and Georgia are top of the agenda for us, with this summer’s sporting calendar likely to give a welcome boost for all. Having said that, we’re aware that is hard to bring in new game types that can resonate with established players – this requires significant time and resources. We’ve revamped our commercial department accordingly to handle both expansion and our existing partners, which means we have close to triple the resources from last year to have the helping hands in place to support the day-to-day.
As has been evident from many of our recently agreed partnerships, We’re set to work together on pushing and promoting our products with the operator group, dedicating a separate category for our games. This kind of approach will be particularly effective as we differ from traditional Live Dealer and Live Casino Games – which means our target demographic is different. This means that together we can focus on particular player segments that we can engage and retain.
Tell us about the launch of your Malta Hub – that’s certainly big news for BetGames – that must be big news for your recruitment plans?
To keep pace with our rapid recent growth, we realised that we had to expand our capacity and we’re planning to greatly increase our headcount. Opening the Malta office was a logical step in that roadmap, not only to cater for the extra bodies but also to position ourselves closer to the heart of the igaming industry.
Looking at the numbers, we have incredibly ambitious plans to increase our 200-strong team by more than 50%, with our Malta hub ready to provide a platform for attracting the best of the industry’s talent. It will also be a hugely convenient place to meet our clients and friends, and while we understand the way that businesses and people have evolved in the last 12 months, we recognise the need to have that base where our colleagues can be inspired and productive – offering a home, a meeting place, and a space where we can collaborate and innovate.
The long-term strategy we’re currently on course with is set to change our operations as we know them. By planting our flag in Malta, I see it as an excellent chance to transform the company to a new level of growth that will help us to increase in size and revolutionise the way we deliver service to our partners.
When looking at Europe – how would summarise the changing trends of player demand? What products do you plan to offer accordingly?
Increased regulation in Europe is also going to have plenty of influence on shaping player demand over the year ahead. In my view, the key to success if going to be offering regulation-friendly, low-stakes, simple and easy extended entertainment that can keep players engaged without emptying their wallet.
Economic circumstances (as well as lockdowns) demand this – and players want an easily accessible experience that can be enjoyed in a low-spend format. This is especially going to be the case this summer – and our approach is to always offer complementary products that can boost engagement and sportsbook spend, rather than drain it.
BetGames is a great acquisition tool for new players – while also broadening the target group for live content because of the simplicity and availability of content, odds and betslip format, attracting sports bettors. Accordingly, our partners need content that can fit in seamlessly alongside a sports betting offering, and we’ve specifically designed our catalogue to work in this way. Sports betting margins will always be inherently higher for operators as they don’t carry the cost of using a third-party, making us one of the few suppliers globally that can truly offer a partnership that can boost both sides of the coin.
Last but not least – where are the key markets in Europe for growth our readers should be watching over the next 12 months? Where has BetGames got its eye on?
We’ve got our eye firmly fixed on Greece at the moment, as already mentioned, but looking further afield, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Brazil, Ukraine and Georgia are other territories that we see plenty of potential in, as I’m sure most of our fellow European suppliers and operators see too.
In evaluating where’s best for us, there’s a host of regulated markets available and we’ve got to make sure that we’re entering the regions best suited to us and our portfolio. We’ve significantly changed our assessment criteria to make it a far more comprehensive process to apply due diligence. This means that we’ve now got our own taskforce dedicated to performing key market analysis with a criteria that encompasses both qualitative and quantitative data. This now totals 14 different key factors that we analyse to work out where our products will work best – and we’re very excited for the bringing our unique catalogue to more players than ever before!
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Match Hype has just won two industry competitions. Talk us through your product.
Match Hype brings engagement from social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram into the sportsbook. Our technology automatically turns raw sports data into short videos full of sports and betting insights. We have the capacity to create up to a million videos daily in more than 30 languages. We also provide hosting and streaming of the videos, and we track everything in the video thanks to our own player. The high level of video experience and the scale make us unique in the market, and we believe that this innovation is extremely needed in the industry—and the judges in the competitions probably agree with us.
What technologies are you leveraging to deliver such a cutting-edge tool/product?
We have more than six years’ experience in developing dynamic video solutions for clients like Microsoft, HBO, and SAP, and a decade in high-end video production for similarly well-known clients. Match Hype is the essence of this. We have developed our own robust cloud infrastructure that enables us to work on a huge scale. We can also leverage the integration of third-party solutions that help us make the video content rich and engaging. The AI boom came at the right time to help us make the experience for the viewer even better.
Who is Match Hype aimed at?
We focus mostly on sportsbook operators, where we think we can bring the biggest value. But we also have clients on the affiliate and media side. Our “competition” at the moment are creative professionals who are able to create one video at a time. To cover hundreds or thousands of events daily, you need huge manpower. With Match Hype, you don’t need that—it’s all automated. Anybody who appreciates this level of efficiency will benefit.
The end users are any sports fans who enjoy engaging videos. So basically everybody.
Has this industry been slow to embrace video content and unlock the potential it offers? If so, why?
It’s hard for us to talk about the whole industry, as we haven’t been part of it for that long. But iGaming feels like a conservative industry where only truly meaningful innovations make it. Fingers crossed for Match Hype being one of them. We are confident because of our track record in other industries, and mostly thanks to the results of our dynamic videos that are already used by significant igaming industry players.
What makes video content so effective at customer acquisition? How can Match Hype be used in this regard?
People just love video content. In the last review, TikTok said that the average user spends around 90 minutes a day on their platform. Platforms like Spotify used to be music and podcasts only; now they are full of videos. You just can’t ignore that. Video killed the radio star, and a static sportsbook is next to die.
And what about retention? How can it be used to keep players engaged and coming back for more?
Imagine that a 30-second video gives you the exact insights to help you make a betting decision without spending dozens of minutes on different resources to gather all the information. People don’t want to read anymore. This is probably an even bigger strength of Match Hype than user acquisition.
What can we expect from Match Hype in the coming months?
We will establish Match Hype as an industry standard for dynamic video content. We’ll bring many more sports like tennis, basketball horse racing and. We are preparing real-time video use cases—for example, half-time updates in football—and new distribution channels like integration directly into streams. The potential is huge. Stay tuned.
Any final thoughts?
For the last year, we have talked with literally hundreds of iGaming experts, investors, and executives. Almost every one of them sees fan engagement as a huge topic in the upcoming months and years. And video will definitely play a key part in it.
Video says more than a thousand words. Give it a go—watch one of our 30-second videos and see for yourself.
The post Exclusive Q&A w/ Radek Pšurný, CEO at Match Hype appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
For those that might not know, can you give us a brief overview of Pick’Em Player Props?
In simple terms, the new Pick’Em Player Props product from WA.Technology is almost like a hybrid between fantasy sports and sports betting. In the same vein as traditional player props products that you see in traditional sports, players can select markets on individual players – we have just taken that model and elevated it.
During the game, players can make between two and six bet selections. For example, will Erling Haaland score more or less than 2.5 shots? The number of bet selections the player makes then determines their multiplier. By allowing bettors to unleash their sporting knowledge and provide engaging games for them to play, we are helping our operator partners to not only engage with a wider player base but also to fuel long-term retention. It really is a one-of-a-kind product and one we’re incredibly excited about. It’s already proving to be a top performer in LatAm.
Why has now been the right time to unveil Pick’Em Player Props?
Over the last few years, we’ve seen significant growth in the number of player proposition products. There are several reasons for that. Sports fans have shown a growing affinity for individual players rather than a team. They follow players on social media and engage with content featuring that player.
This reflects the wider trend we’re seeing: the new generation of fans is more in love with the players than the team itself. A great example of this is both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Bettors worldwide would wager on either of those players and engage with their content regardless of which team they played for or what club they supported.
The appetite for player-driven betting is increasing dramatically, resulting in a greater demand for products specifically tailored to individual athletes.
With more traditional sportsbooks, however, we’ve found that there isn’t as much depth of product regarding player propositions – aside from goal scorer markets. We wanted to change that – we wanted to deliver a fun, engaging product that helps build a sense of community among players.
Since Pick’Em Player Props is also a hybrid of fantasy and sports, it can act as an attractive tool to facilitate new market entries, as fantasy sports are not regulated like sportsbooks or iGaming. Take the US for example. In most states, operators do not need a licence to offer a fantasy sports product. This is the case for many markets around the world, too. I believe this will be an attractive proposition for operators looking to expand their international footprint, and as a truly global provider, we’re here to make that happen.
In your view, what differentiates WA.Technology’s Pick’Em Player Props from other player props products on the market?
Currently, we are the only B2B provider to offer a player propositions product that combines sports and fantasy. A handful of companies in the US offer something similar, but they are all B2C companies – we are bringing something totally unique to the B2B space.
Fantasy Sports have always been popular in the US. But over the last 18 months, we’ve seen a meteoric rise in the demand for player proposition markets; we wanted to develop a product that caters to that growth in demand and delivers something unique for our partners.
For other player props products on the market, something that is worth noting is that the design and UX are doing little to engage Millennial/Gen Z bettors. This audience demands a streamlined UX that is easy to use. Our Pick’Em version has been specifically designed with this demographic in mind, although we have been careful not to disenfranchise other age groups. We have kept the design sleek, streamlined and easy to use to deliver that. It’s extremely well-designed compared to what you might see in a more traditional sportsbook.
The game is straightforward to understand because we have fixed multipliers. This decision differentiates us from more traditional products, where the multipliers vary depending on how many bets you place. It also makes the product much more accessible for players who might otherwise not be familiar with fantasy or player props.
Another major defining factor is that we have ensured players can add multiple bets from different markets together. On most sports betting sites out there, you cannot combine player props markets. You couldn’t, for example, have a bet slip combining Erling Haaland’s Over/Under Shots and Kevin De Bruyne’s Shots on Target. We know this is frustrating for many bettors. We wanted to eliminate that barrier and elevate sports fans’ experience.
How does the level of data granularity influence the design and effectiveness of player proposition betting products, particularly in terms of player engagement and personalised betting options?
We are very fortunate that the data feed we use for our player props markets is the best. We have a wide range of insights and data analytics available, giving us an edge over other companies within the space – this is a serious differentiator.
The enhanced data range means we can deliver many more bespoke, personalised betting options to players while also getting more granular with the markets we can offer.
Our Managed Services Team, which oversees all things trading, also closely monitors the markets that are most popular with players. For example, if we see an influx in bets on ‘shots on target’, we know how to create more promotions around this particular market. We can tailor the CMS to engage better with players and create a more personalised experience.
Players can also ‘favourite’ particular players and clubs. Any market featuring that player will automatically appear when the Pick’Em Player Props application loads up.
Are there any markets where you believe Pick’Em Player Props will prove to be particularly popular? If so, why?
In all honesty, I can’t think of a market where this won’t be popular! Regions such as LatAm present an enormous opportunity for the growth of player proposition markets. I believe we can really plug a gap in the products currently offered to bettors.
Across the continent, we’ve seen players show a real passion for player-focused markets, and we’re here to capitalise on that. In Brazil, for example, if we were to create markets on Neymar, I’d anticipate this would gain much traction!
The real selling point for Pick’Em Player Props here is that we offer an extensive range of sports and markets that cater to a broad audience – but within that, we can personalise sports and bet selections not to overwhelm the player. I’d expect that markets on football will perform exceptionally well across Africa and LatAm, while countries such as South Africa may have a stronger preference for Rugby or Cricket.
Ultimately, it’s about understanding the unique preferences of players within each jurisdiction our partners operate in and tailoring the product accordingly. With teams based in various markets worldwide, we can get to grips with the local knowledge and fully understand what resonates with bettors.
In your view, what are some of the factors behind the growth of player props products in the last 12 months?
Most definitely shows how sports media companies are incorporating more player-specific content into their roster. This already has a huge impact, and I can’t see it changing anytime soon.
Whether it’s interviews with specific players, post-match analytics on performance or even the inherent growth of social media, the balance is undoubtedly tipping more towards the player rather than the team.
Personalisation will also have a considerable knock-on effect on the growth of player propositions. Bettors want more bespoke offers, specific bet suggestions and more instant content tailored to their unique playing habits. With a product like Pick’Em Player Props, you can personalise that betting experience to your heart’s content.
It also becomes much easier for sportsbooks to align with a specific user’s interests when we deliver unmatched data analytics and levels of personalisation that are available via WA.Technology’s product suite.
In short, Pick’Em Player Props gives operators the tools they need to create wide-ranging engagement opportunities without sticking to the rigid sporting calendar, where sometimes you might have to wait several days between a game. By incorporating fantasy sports, we can deliver round-the-clock content much faster, therefore meeting the demands of players. If you want to find out more – make sure to stop by Stand 1095 at SiGMA!
Behind every stellar online slot is an equally stellar maths model. These are becoming more experimental as the industry flirts with an increasing array of innovative new mechanics. We spoke to Pablo Martinez, Math/Design Lead and Founder at maverick game studio Peter & Sons to find out more.
Do you have to be a maths genius to build a slot machine?
Nah, you don’t need to be a maths genius. It’s more about having the right mix of skills and loving what you do. You need to play a lot of games, see what’s working out there, and understand what makes them fun. Knowing maths helps, sure, but it’s more about creating something players want to keep coming back to.
Peter & Sons is known for making games that dare to be different, visually and thematically. Is the underlying math equally experimental?
Definitely! We love pushing boundaries, both in how our games look and how they play. Sure, it’s a bit of a gamble to have a bunch of games with unique mechanics, but we’re all about trying new things. Games like Peter Hunter and our upcoming Muddy Waters are great examples — they bring fresh gameplay and new experiences to the table. Each year, we try to put out at least one or two experimental titles, keeping things interesting while mixing them with more familiar styles.
Do you come up with the maths model first and then build the game around that? Take us through the process of building the game from start to finish.
We usually start with an idea for the mechanics first. We make a quick prototype to see if the concept can work with the maths. Then we bring in the art team to brainstorm themes that will fit well. Once we have a basic prototype, we go through a bunch of tweaks and changes until the art, mechanics, and maths all feel right together. It’s a back-and-forth process where we’re constantly finetuning everything to get the best balance.
Why do you think a mechanic like Megaways was so successful?
Megaways took off because it’s a fun, exciting mechanic that gave players something fresh, but smart brand marketing really helped it catch on.
Is there pressure as a slots developer to come up with the ‘next’ Megaways?
Not really. Coming up with new mechanics is always fun, but it’s not the only way to make a hit. Plenty of top games are just clever twists on classic mechanics. It’s more about creating a great experience that keeps players coming back, whether it’s something brand new or just a fresh spin on something more familiar.
Which slots are more popular, high or low volatility, and why do you think that is?
It depends on the market, but in some unregulated markets — and especially with some operators — high-volatility slots are really popular. A big reason for this is streamers. High-volatility games make for exciting content, so they get a lot of attention and hype online. That thrill factor really draws players in.
Which is your favorite Peter & Sons mechanic and why?
Right now, I’d say the fishing mechanic in our upcoming game Muddy Waters. It’s a new twist on the fishing genre that really brings something fresh to the gameplay. It’s exciting to take a familiar theme and make it feel totally different.
Tell us about the mechanics in your latest release, Barbarossa Revenge.
Barbarossa Revenge is a pirate-themed, high-volatility game with 243 ways to win. It’s a DoubleMax game, meaning the multiplier doubles with each cascade. You’ve also got Multiplier Jumps and a Cashout feature that guarantees wins. During Free Spins, the multipliers don’t reset and can keep growing unlimited. With a max win potential of 30,000x the bet, this game is a real thrill!
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