Egaming industry predictions for 2014 - part four
In the fourth of a series of articles leading up to the New Year, we ask egaming experts to look into their crystal ball and predict the big themes for 2014
Alex Czajkowski (pictured), eGaming and eCommerce marketing director at Agency Lex, formerly CMO Gala Interactive
1) 2014 will be the year of the properly integrated two-screen experience. Be it on tablet or smartphone, players are already watching and gambling, as in in-running. Next year will see this come up to a new level, with new “super-aggregator interface models” coming to the market either via operators or as independent portals to further improve the player experience by tying in social and communications among like-minded players.
2) Online lotteries will heat up, with betting on individual numbers in lotteries around the world becoming far more mainstream. Expect to see existing operators leverage this channel but some surprise entrants too, opening up more of a market for this simple gaming. And of course it’ll be tablet/mobile first, most likely supported by a major national broadcaster.
3) Cross-over selling. Operators have fantastic traffic and loyal (ish) player bases but seldom cross-sell outside of gaming verticals. In 2014, smart operators hit by the UK PoC tax will look to diversify their offering to other digitally delivered experiential goods, such as dating, insurance and travel. A William Hill trip to the Kentucky Derby, 888 dating and Ladbrokes breakdown insurance? They laughed when Sainsbury’s got into banking… they’ll be thanking me next Christmas!
Julian Harris, leading gaming lawyer and partner at Harris Hagan law firm
1) We will see a continuation in the trend for more European jurisdictions to legislate to cover online gaming. Some may seek to shore up their restrictive market, such as Belgium, while others provide opportunities for outside operators, such as Romania or Germany.
2) Until the new Bill in the UK is finalised and the Commission has addressed a number of current uncertainties, such as the issue as to whether the activities of both parties to a “white label agreement” will require licensing, operators will not know the full extent of the requirements which they face. In addition, with the Commission planning major changes to the LCCP, many operators have not yet appreciated quite how onerous the burden of UK licensing will prove.
3) The pace of regulation of online gambling in the USA is likely to increase. While only three states “ Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware “ have so far opened for business, we believe that up to another 10 will begin initiating this process during 2014.
In other news:
– Egaming industry predictions for 2014 – part three