Independent consultant and former Bee Cave Games COO Jeremey Strauser explains why licensed real casino slots are leading the way in social
If you look at the top grossing charts for casino games, you will see the highest ranked games all deliver rich, immersive game experiences that rival the entertainment value of a real casino. This is not coincidental or aspirational, many of the top apps include real world slots content that you can find on the casino floor. This content explosion has led to the continued growth of social and mobile slots games that are dominating the industry by player base and revenues.
Perhaps it was International Game Technology’s (IGT) acquisition of DoubleDown Interactive and the subsequent proliferation of the IGT catalogue of games to social and mobile platforms that started the avalanche. But DoubleDown is not alone, as the dance cards of casino slots makers is pairing off with social and mobile developers at a blistering pace.
And it’s a relationship that makes sense for both sides. The slots companies have found a new revenue stream in an increasingly competitive market with little downside or direct cost, while the social developer can pin the unique selling features of a game on known brands and games with existing customer bases.
Emerging trends
Digging deeper, there are several trends that are standing out in terms of this content migration from the casino world to social. First, there is a need for high-quality slots content. I have been pained to listen to some developers talk about how easy it must be to develop slots games and that players don’t care about production values or quality. Nothing can be further from the truth, and the casino industry is leading the way by a long stretch over social developers in delivering high production values, great animations, sounds, bonus games that slots players expect.
Secondly, the value of a licensed slots brand cannot be understated. The trust, familiarity and ease of a game that a player recognises from a trip to their favourite casino immediately validates the experience for them and leads them to retain or monetise at a higher rate. It was eyeopening for me at Bee Cave Games when we added real world machines from Multimedia Games – a smaller but fast-growing provider in the US – that we had a flood of user comments about finding their favourite Carnival in Rio game and being thrilled to play it online or on mobile.
Is it quality, brand and familiarity that drives average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU) for licensed slots higher than original themes in the social market? A partner at a major publishing host of social casino games once offered me advice that real world slots can lift revenues from an average of $0.25 per DAU to $0.40. It couldn’t be that content alone was the driver of this 60% lift could it?
In a way it was, but it was content that the player never really sees. It is the math model behind real world slots that is the secret sauce. Not only do casino slots manufacturers have dedicated teams of experienced mathematicians iterating on math that drives player enjoyment, longer term play and of course, house edge. The huge win for social developers is that you are licensing themes after they have been vetted and tested on the casino floor.
Everyone’s a winner
This is not a zero sum game in that you must have real-world slots content to win or that the most content will win the market. However, it makes the margin for error very slim for the social developer who will need to push innovation further and in different directions in the face of great, real content.
MyVegas from PlayStudios is a good example. They have a very unique approach to game progression, quests and a different type of deep integration with real world casinos in their frequent player points program with MGM. By all accounts that agreement is working well for both sides and both partners seem to deliver on it in full, I was inundated with MyVegas advertising in the Mandalay Bay casino just last month in Las Vegas.
But in supporting the adage of you can never have too much of a good thing, MyVegas recently announced a slots content deal with Konami to bring their real-world slots to social. Another win-win-win for the casino industry, social industry and of course, the slots players.