A panel of operators have lauded the potential for live casino to move beyond its traditional VIP player base to a broader appeal among casual gamers.
The ‘Live Casino: At A Crossroads?’ panel took place this afternoon as part of the CasinoBeats Malta Digital conference.
Hero Gaming chief executive officer Sam Brown flagged the level of innovation in the vertical, as well as highlighting a lower dependence on liquidity than once was the case.
“There are a lot more of what we’d call unlimited products, which are allowing for lower stakes and larger audience participation”, he said.
Agreeing with fellow panel members, Ellmount International Interactive head of casino Stefania Mincu and Genting Online managing director Jeremy Taylor concluded, “There is definitely room to grow here”.
Commenting on the broadening range of games now appealing to more casual players, Brown added that he was skeptical about the idea that live casino was ever an exclusively VIP product. “I know that’s quite often mentioned, but I think it is played at higher stakes, though I wouldn’t say it’s as much more naturally a VIP product. I think it can be a product that can be consumed and enjoyed from all different value levels”, he said.
Stoiximan and Betano live casino manager Christos Mavridis also pointed out the way live casino games have started to borrow from game show formats and introduce elements from RNG games, which helps attract casual players and cross-sell the products with slots players.
“I believe that there is a wide audience for the live casino the last year so I cannot say that it’s only a VIP product. Definitely the stakes are higher, definitely the average bet is higher on live casino tables, but there is a lot of space and I think both operators and suppliers are working to attract more casual players”, Mavridis explained.
Mincu mentioned that the changing behaviour of players and consumers in general works in the favour of live casino operators. “Here I’m referring to the migration from land-based to online”, she said. “And we’ve noticed this in retail, for example, that in the past ten years, ecommerce has been taking from 5% to 16% of the share. So I think we should expect the same in our industry, along with our shift of volumes”, Mincu added.
Brown returned to this point toward the end of the conversation. “People now are very rarely engaged in one thing at once. If I think about how I watch television, it’s very rare that I’m focused on the television. I’ve usually got at least one or more screens on the go at the same time”, he said.
Conversely, the panel also reflected on the challenges presented by the more fragmented approach of consumers to media consumption. Session times on gambling products are becoming increasingly more frequent and shorter, which does not lend itself to the traditional live casino game formats.
Taylor described the innovation seen in the vertical to date as happening on a spectrum, with dual play in the traditional games, Lightning Roulette in the mid-tier and games like Monopoly and Crazy Time being introduced for the lower-value players.
However, he added that while new behaviours may present challenges to the established formats, they also present opportunities for innovation, along with, to a lesser extent perhaps, the opportunities provided by VR and AR technology.
