For the global online gaming industry, early February - and ICE - brings the business year into sharp focus. So what are the big ideas aiming to make a splash in 2015?
MANY of the year’s gaming headlines belonged to huge acquisitions – such as Amaya’s audacious swoop for PokerStars - or regulatory evolution; the UK’s move to place-of-consumption regulation being a prime example.
Yet, for most companies in the online gaming sector, the effective day-to-day running of a forward-looking i-gaming business is the bare minimum required to keep pace and to dare to dream of being a player like Amaya.
For those companies, it is about innovation and getting desirable products to market at the right time – and that means games, game engines, sports books, platforms, development kits and a whole lot more. And ICE – in all its shouty glory – is the place for showing off.
The time for wondering whether mobile will begin to drive is over – on-the-go gaming and wagering has exploded in popularity. It can come as no surprise – Facebook has been open about its mobile-first strategy for more than a year and the growth in second-screen sports betting clearly relies heavily on mobile and tablet use. The aspect of the mobile boom that has surprised many is its sheer scale.
In 2006, mobile wagering accounted for less than five per cent of global online gaming revenues totalling around $1bn. In 2017, it is forecast that mobile will contribute $12bn to i-gaming revenues, making up nearly 24 per cent of the total interactive market (GBGC Global Gaming Report).
Throughout 2014, a number of high profile gambling and sports betting operators including William Hill, Ladbrokes, bwin.party and 32Red, reported year-on-year mobile growth of more than 100 per cent.
Paddy Power now takes more than half of its bets from mobile devices while mobile accounts for 70 per cent of sportsbook revenues at Betfair. At Net Entertainment, mobile revenues climbed 16.5 per cent in Q3 2014, compared with the same period in 2013. So, mobile is a given. It’s here and, for many, it is the primary interface.
Read the full article in the latest issue of iNTERGAMINGi
