In an iGaming market where many operators have access to the same major suppliers and aggregators, how do you make a game portfolio a genuine competitive advantage?
When most operators can connect to the same providers, the catalogue itself rarely sets anyone apart. The advantage comes from how you use the portfolio.
Operators should track player preferences from the first touchpoint, usually the ad, and monitor how those preferences develop once players are on board. This varies by market and by traffic channel. One rule follows: if a game appears in the creative, the player should find it in the lobby.
Our job as a platform is to give operators the tools to act on this, with full control over lobby customisation and flexible settings for different player groups.
What matters more when building a strong game portfolio: volume, variety or something else?
What matters most is how well the content matches what your audience wants. Having 100,000 games in the catalogue won't help if players can't find what they came for.
Classic slots show the limits of volume. Providers in this segment compete on quantity, and many titles share the same themes and mechanics.
No two audiences want exactly the same thing, so operators need range. We build that into the platform. Alongside slots, sports and live games, our aggregator brings in trading cards, CCTV games, trading, prediction markets and more. Operators who want something entirely their own can use our Tequity integration to create a branded game on a ready-made RNG engine.
Operators should track player preferences from the first touchpoint, usually the ad, and monitor how those preferences develop once players are on board
What is the most effective vertical to concentrate on for operators: slots, sportsbook, live casino, crash games or another vertical?
Positioning and strategic goals play a part, but advertising decides the most. Players come looking for what the ads promised, so the focus vertical has to deliver it.
In most markets, slots bring the strongest revenue growth. Asia is the exception. Players there favour live dealer games, baccarat above all and Asian projects build their portfolios around them. Crash games engage a different audience, but in essence they work like slots for younger players.
Sportsbook is a long game because reputation matters more there than in any other vertical. A sports-focused project has to build its strategy around trust and stability, and it usually takes two to three years to earn that reputation. In the end, the right vertical comes down to who the operator wants to reach and how long they're prepared to wait for results.
When a project covers multiple verticals, how do you determine the right balance between areas such as slots, live casino and sportsbook?
The split is rarely equal. It depends on the project's main vertical.
For a slots-focused project, a typical GGR split is 85% slots, 12% live casino and 3% sportsbook. A sports-focused project looks very different: 60% sportsbook, 25% live casino and 15% slots. Live casino projects are the less obvious case. Even there, slots bring the largest share of GGR at 60%, with live casino at 30% and sportsbook at 10%.
So the entry point is always the core vertical, and the rest of the portfolio is built around it.
What does a multi-vertical content offering (sportsbook, live casino, slots, etc..) actually bring to an operator's business?
Higher revenue per player. A quality brand that covers several verticals meets different content needs, so players have no reason to look somewhere else.
In our experience across brands, adding live casino raised ARPPU by 15%, and adding sportsbook brought another 10%. Both verticals have smaller volumes than slots, but they still grow what each player brings in.
Having 100,000 games in the catalogue won't help if players can't find what they came for
It matters what kind of content you add, though. More providers in the same vertical mostly cannibalise GGR, because players just shift their spend from one game to another. New verticals give players more options, and they end up spending more.
How do you balance proven hits with emerging studios and new content formats?
Proven hits work best in established marketing channels, where they help bring in new audiences. Young studios are tempting because they usually offer a lower revenue share, which makes their games cheaper for the operator. But filling the lobby with them to save on costs is risky. Unproven content can pull acquisition metrics down, and the savings won't make up for that.
New releases still deserve a chance, but the odds are tough. Around 400 games come out every month, and only about one of them secures a place in the top. Our New section lets players try fresh titles, so operators can see which mechanics actually catch on.
In the end, the operator calls the balance. We give them the tools to mix content and test what works.
Looking ahead, which content verticals do you expect to shape the next generation of iGaming?
That's a hard one to call. I think the next generation will be defined by speed. The digital world keeps accelerating how quickly people take in information, and today's players aren't willing to spend much time on a single game.
The main challenge is holding attention and focus, and whichever content solves it will shape what comes next. How exactly is still unclear. It could be animation, bright visuals or the mechanics themselves. Formats like crash games or tower climbs might be where it starts.
The September magazine issue of Global Gaming Insider explores the live casino sector and where it’s heading next. Become an insider now to access the full issue
