Viewpoint: Dermot Smurfit, chief operating officer, Game Account
It may have taken a while, but skill-based games are finally beginning to deliver on the promises made year after year by advocates...
IT may have taken a while, but skill-based games are finally beginning to deliver on the promises made year after year by advocates.
Since launch in 2002, the GameAccount Network has been striving to balance product innovation with the need to generate meaningful yields from an operator’s customers.
Fast forward to 2009 and our network recently closed a record calendar quarter with over £100m wagered, and users competing in a variety of head-to-head cash games, buying into multi-table tournaments and staking on side games.
Average net gaming revenue per active player day has risen to £12 (14) during the last quarter, nearly doubling from the same period the previous year.
With player yields at an all-time high, we are moving the focus of our network towards customer retention, ensuring players are compelled to play more frequently through a combination of network-wide promotions relying on a new bonus engine, added-value tournaments and a variety of new games, functionality and features released on a regular basis.
Added to that is the impact of market-leading backgammon liquidity, the most popular game in the network, which is slowly drawing customers away from standalone backgammon-only websites and into the hands of blue chip operators including Betfred, BlueSquare, William Hill, PaddyPower, Stan James and Sportingbet.
“Look. Beyond. Poker.” A simple mission statement driving the business since day one. Although it may have once appeared like poker simply could not fail, many mainstream operators are now reporting declining activity in the game. The US-facing websites shoulder part of the blame, but there is growing evidence supporting the argument that demand for poker has peaked. As belief in increased poker revenues wanes, operators need other compelling person-to-person games to cross-sell to their growing number of lapsed poker players. Now is the time to look beyond poker.
This article first appeared in the June edition of eGaming Review.