Software Development For The iGaming Industry

The online gambling industry is an extremely lucrative high growth industry, attracting a massive number of investors and new start-ups. Online gaming has grown at a 10% annualized growth rate in more recent years. Fierce market competition, coupled with rigid laws on promotion and advertising means that technology and development play a vital role in the potential success of iGaming service providers and stakeholders.

For the majority of start-ups, the white label solution or turnkey website option remains the option of choice, given the stringent licensing requirements and regulations which characterize the iGaming industry.

The land-based market as a model

At the heart of any iGaming software platform is the guiding principle of re-creating the experience of playing in a traditional land-based casino or game of chance as faithfully as possible.

Present software permits the recreation of the ‘brick and mortar’ casino experience with game variations beginning to rival the virtual gaming industry.

The vast majority of traditional games of chance now have virtual coverage. The range of 5 deposit bingo sites demonstrates the degree of competition that is now challenging the domain of traditional land-based enterprises.

Presently, the iGaming industry gaming applications typically include casino, poker, bingo, sports betting, lottery, and related games of chance.

Social Gaming Platform Development

Similar to its land-based counterpart, the online gambling sector is heavily restricted with respect to the specific regions and territories in which the online entity may operate in.

Furthermore, because of the social sensitivity of the product and its potential risk to vulnerable groups and minors, promotion and advertising are similarly restricted and must be conducted in a manner that does not appeal to or attract ‘at risk’ patrons.

Hence, software development initiatives that permit screened users to engage with each other potentially enhances a site’s standing and customer loyalty. Because gambling is viewed by many patrons as a form of entertainment with a perceived social value, developments that capitalize on this sense of community and social interaction can perhaps set one particular iGaming operator apart from the competition.

Developments that hold the customer at the site and satisfy this element of social engagement can typically include:

• Chat and messaging modules
• Online forums
• Activity walls and achievement badges
• Friendship and follower modules

User data management

Future software development should further recognize the importance of site management modules. The key factors which make this critical are:

• The industry limitations are restricting the site owner to specific regions and markets.
• The restriction on traditional promotion and marketing avenues generally open to other online merchants and industry sectors.

Given the fact the iGaming business owners are faced with uniquely restrictive operating limitations in a highly competitive market, superior control and access to statistics and reports become key developmental criteria.

Summary

Developers for the iGaming industry should firstly recognize the unique operational limitations which characterize the iGaming industry.

In an industry typified by cut-throat competition, the development of modules focused on the secondary ‘social’ element of online gambling as a means to holding site users for longer periods and as a means to growing organic traffic becomes of key interest.