It is time for all igaming stakeholders to “get on the same page” about what it means to be innovative, asks BetGames.TV COO Aiste Garneviciene, adding that she expects the market to change more in the next three to five years than it has in the previous 50.
Garneviciene, who earlier this year bemoaned a “sense of sameness starting to saturate the market”, is firmly on the other side of the coin with BetGames.TV.
A pioneering creator of live-dealer gaming content, BetGames.TV now offers – according to Garneviciene – “a matchless combination of betting, casino games and lotteries”. She added that the “core fundamentals of invention and advancement” lie at the root of the company’s fast-growing games portfolio.
However, Garneviciene has acknowledged that – “as a microcosm of the tech-age” – today’s operators understand the importance of modernisation and the concept of innovation very differently.
For example, the BetGames.TV approach is largely to keep the same principles for the casino games in place, but offer considerably more betting markets and options to win. The key aim of this is, of course, to apply a better spin on existing products or technologies.
“In the iGaming market, innovation can be divided into technologies and products,” Garneviciene explained. “The very tenet of the argument is that people interpret and relate to innovations differently. It is time for all stakeholders to get on the same page.
“The term innovation is bandied about as being completely original and revolutionary, but this is not the case by and large as new technologies and products are often based on adaptation, either by recreating a popular game or increasing functionality of existing products or technologies.
“We have noticed that a small percentage of platforms are resistant to change, and this is a problem the industry has to take on board.”
Innovation and technologies
The challenge for suppliers to the iGaming industry is often to offer small and continuous positive changes to their operators, relative to the markets they are active in, which are either hard to notice (and rush to copy) or not easily accessible to the competition.
“Innovation is a major buzzword in the industry, but it must be taken in the context of relativity, meaning what is labelled fresh and innovative in one market can be the norm in another one,” said Garneviciene. “Just look at the difference between the European and African marketspace for example.
“The term innovation must be seen in the light of attracting a new, fresh and upwardly tech-savvy target market and audiences as well as allowing the existing player or operator to change to the latest offerings, which are vastly improved versions of traditionally accepted models.”
Innovation and product
Who is driving innovation in the sector? Is it the supplier, client or end-user? Garneviciene believes that this axis is complete when all three play an equally valuable role.
She said: “All businesses are driven by the user-end experience, something that is clearly evident in the iGaming sector. One thing we must always consider is that the client is paramount, because all innovation is based squarely around their needs.
“However, product development is the crucial aspect in increasing client outreach. Once a product has hit the market, constant work needs to be done to tweak and fine-tune the end-product.
“Many companies become complacent when it comes to adapting to change, but the truth is that in this dynamic space the competition is geared towards a younger demographic, one more tuned into diversity, speed and interaction.
“The iGaming market will, categorically, change more in the next three to five years than in the previous 50. Going with the times, and sometimes looking ahead of the present day is the way to succeed.”
Regulatory challenges
As more and more countries adopt their own rules and regulations for iGaming, Garneviciene admitted that BetGames.TV’s cross category combination of sportsbook and casino games has brought them challenges from a licensing point of view.
“This was the initial struggle we faced at BetGames.TV as the licensing or regulations firms did not know which category we fell in, as we are not an outright casino or sports betting model,” she said. “However, through stubbornness, bright ideas and hard work we managed to create our global niche.”
