What is trending in the Platform Disruption Era in Gaming?

The process of digital transformation marked the last decade and in retrospect we can say that online experience has changed dramatically.

15:53 13 January 2020

The needs of operators and players have evolved as well. We come to a point where existing, legacy platforms no longer support businesses seeking to enhance services, experience and meet the requirements of modern players.

How the landscape for platform provision has developed in recent years, and what does the future hold?

The shifting focus towards mobile is one of the most significant changes that, in a way, created the need for more flexible platforms. There is a continuous trend of demand from operators to have control over who they integrate with and in what way.

Legacy platforms on the other hand, may have been built on the same type of code as more modern platforms, but the way that code was built means that lot of platforms are no longer suitable in this day and age.

The main cause for this is that new generation platforms are built with a modular API based model. This means that you no longer have to go back to the source code to make platform changes and things can move extremely quickly. This presents a new way of building on current tech or building a new platform to deliver customers’ needs.

Higher Demand from Modern Platforms

One of the key capabilities of modern platforms in order to deliver the control they need is integration. Those days when operators had to wait for months for a new casino vendor or payment provider to be integrated are over. The switch to mobile increased number of possible integrations and operators that are in the market have re-invented the platform provision. Couple of years ago, operators featured games on their website across one landing page tab. Today, the number went up to hundreds of games from different suppliers, and all of these must run on a single system. A good example for an integrated system and gaming marketing can be found at the online slots at SlotsWise.

Regulatory compliance is also another demand on platforms which needs to be carefully considered. They have to be agile, able to move at speed and adapt to new regulations that take effect, especially in cases where they come around suddenly. Sound software is the key to any platform, especially with fierce competition that bids on meeting player expectations.

Forward- Facing Platform Provision

New technologies and automations are still the main focus. AI is an interesting consideration and a bit of a buzzword across many markets. iGaming and players’ virtual space is not different. The processing power of these AI tools means that they are very interesting for an industry like this one. Key point here is big data, and there are multiple platforms running at the same time.

With the ability to segment and analyse the player data more efficiently than manual processing, many operators are trying to integrate the technology somehow. Gaming space represents a "blue ocean" in terms of doing business, and its use is something that has yet to be figured.

What the Future holds

We do not expect to see another significant change such as the mobile shift for at least another decade. However, various ways to play may be the next disruptors for platform provision.

Virtual Reality (VR) has been something that has been toyed with, but we don’t think that will become mainstream until players can sit and play seamlessly without a big headset. If VR becomes the hype for the masses, platforms will have to find a way to adapt.

Augmented Reality (AR) and TV gaming products currently entering the market are not yet at the point where they can hit the masses.

In the next couple of years, we will be keeping a close eye on platforms and how they can adapt to those systems.

The conclusion is – none of these futuristic scenarios are quite well written and ready. The focus should remain on platform updates and transformation. Related services will continue to build more powerful bonusing tools, segmentation tools, fraud check tools and will strive to automate every step – potentially with continuous usage of AI.