Promoted feature: A smart choice – performing in the igaming market through aggregation
Chief commercial officer Federica Faggiano explains how iSoftBet takes the pain out of content aggregation
Both emerging and established brands in the igaming industry face a similar challenge when it comes to offering content choice. Audiences are attracted to novelty and innovation and suppliers are constantly developing new products and features – from themes and mechanics to gamification tools – not only to meet audiences’ tastes, but also to enhance and create new, amazing gaming experiences.
On average, an operator offers content from 30 providers. To be able to supply such a broad choice to players means having to integrate with multiple providers in multiple jurisdictions, as well as having the manpower, knowledge and expertise to nurture these relationships.
This is where aggregation fits into gaming: one single place, all relevant providers, all the necessary tools and services and support. Here is an overview of what iSoftBet offers.
The elephant in the room: common aggregation pain points
There are several challenges operators encounter when it comes to aggregating content. The main issue is the potential complexity around the integration process. Operators want to get products live swiftly and efficiently. This is often difficult to achieve, taking into account the quantity of content provided, however this is also where some aggregators gain more ground than others – the simpler the integration process, the more operators will choose the platform.
With igaming changing and audiences switching tastes at such a fast pace, content aggregation providers must know their products and partners’ positioning, and offer a strategic ‘go-to-market’ approach. In the absence of proper support, aggregating content comes down to thousands of games and no strategy to distribute them.
Conversely, the iSoftBet approach is to provide all the necessary support with proven industry, technical and market expertise. This saves operators from wasting time on research, management or other administrative tasks. One of our key strengths is also facilitating direct relationships between game providers and the operators, so the process is kept as transparent and as information rich as possible.
Creating amazing experiences takes more than just a studio
This is where we step in, aiming to be as clear as possible about the services we provide, while continually working to solve aggregation pain points and challenges. To properly frame our portfolio, we are a games developer and aggregation platform elevated with player engagement tools and services.
At iSoftBet we offer operators entry to our platform through one integration. Here they can find our proprietary content, as well as third-party games from the industry’s most renowned providers, all with market-specific content readily available to support their aims. The core games are then elevated with our tools – tournaments (iNgame), achievements, free spins, jackpots and cash drops, regulatory widgets, data analysis – with more in the pipeline.
Benefits over brand: a gateway to endless capabilities
iSoftBet is integrated with more than 300 operators worldwide, all of whom have taken advantage of our key benefits including aggregated games, elevated with an array of state-of-the-art player engagement tools. As we grow our aggregation platform, we can frame our solutions within three core pillars: Velocity, convenience, diversity.
First, we pride ourselves on offering our partners velocity when launching them in localised markets. We offer rapid entry to 20 localised markets where we have regional experts, armed with all the knowledge and experience needed, and who are always available to offer our customers the best content, features and advice on how to instantly and sustainably succeed in new territories. In 2020 alone, we went live with more than 200 new deals. We were one of the first suppliers to launch in Switzerland, Portugal and Romania, and in 2021, we look forward to maximising localised opportunities in Greece and Germany.
When launching in a new market, you also need convenience and a trusted partner who offers ease and simplicity. Three years ago we launched our platform with Sazka in the Czech Republic and integrated our leading tournament and achievement player engagement tool, iNgame. Today, Sazka regularly uses our tournament tool as part of its weekly and monthly promotional activity across all providers through our aggregation platform, including Egaming, Tech4Bet, Synot and more. Each iNgame promotion has contributed to its success: during 20/21 its GGR increased more than 50%, with actives increasing more than 20%. We have also seen the same trend among other operators who use our player engagement tools in the UK, resulting in a turnover uplift of up to 200%.
Diversity consists of several elements that make our aggregation platform stand out: more than 150 top-performing iSoftBet games, more than 8,000 third-party titles from 85 partners and customisable player engagement solutions, plus crucial performance data and analytics that optimise operator offerings in real-time. Having access to such a rich set of third-party games, our experience lies in offering diverse tools, many of which are market-specific. In some countries, we offer an array of slots and table games themed for specific audience preferences. This applies to both our proprietary content, with slots like Golden Gallina suited to an Italian audience, and our aggregated content, with many suppliers producing games adapted to each market.
Consistent performance and well-nurtured partnerships
We strive to nurture relationships with our partners and keep the symbiosis between supplier and operator thriving. Our expertise and services are directed towards helping the end customer get the best representation of the product, and we reinforce this through communication between all parties involved.
In the last two years iSoftBet has signed new strategic partnerships with more leading providers including Relax Gaming and Skywind, QuikGaming, Hölle Games and Swintt. We also went live with Arcadem, securing our first games provider exclusivity, including its hotly anticipated slot Eternal Night, exclusive to our aggregation platform for two weeks.
Our goal is to always ensure a stable and sustainable ecosystem, and our results speak for themselves.
Federica Faggiano has more than 10 years of experience in the igaming industry within well-known companies including iSoftBet and GameAccount Network. She began at iSoftBet as key account manager and progressed to head of account management, leading both European regulated and global markets expansion. More recently, she heads the entire commercial unit as chief commercial officer. Faggiano’s contributions have led to a visible optimisation of a multitude of commercial processes within iSoftBet, including account management team setup, structure and coaching, as well as the implementation of key partners relationship strategies.