Enhancing Engagement in iGaming Through Gamification
In the age of smartphones, streaming, and shorter content, keeping a hold of your audience’s attention span for long periods is becoming increasingly difficult. In the iGaming industry, we cannot get away from the fact we are competing for the user’s entertainment hours outside their day-to-day responsibilities.
The likes of Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook are all competitors of iGaming operators to a degree. Our brains want to be occupied and entertained as much as possible, and this is where gamification comes in. While we may be offering a gaming experience already, there are other ways in which we can gamify traditional experiences to both retain and acquire players. At The Unit, we specialize in integrating innovative gamification strategies to help operators stand out in this competitive landscape. This is not unique to our industry either when you look at the examples of how Duolingo has gamified the process of learning languages, and even how mobile apps have gamified the dating world.
Closer to Home
In iGaming, we see a unique product offering where some may use the product for long-term financial gain, but many will be utilizing it primarily for entertainment purposes.
In some cases, we see gamification tools, such as players being asked to spin a wheel to win a prize, or their regular play with the operator can place them on a leaderboard where they can win rewards for consistent winnings and performance. This is particularly prevalent in verticals such as online poker or sports betting during a particular time, like we may see with Super Bowl LIX coming up, where, generally speaking, skilled betting competitions will work well with regular players who want to see something extra for their success. At The Unit, we help operators design and implement these gamification strategies to maximize player engagement and satisfaction.
These types of games are ideal for existing users and enhance the operator’s customer relationship management (CRM). The effects of these will more likely be short-term, but they can still be a very useful tool, especially when entering specific festivals or events.
F2P: The Best Acquisition Tool for Gamification in iGaming
When it comes to acquiring new customers, however, the most effective gamification tool tends to come in the free-to-play (F2P) format. One of the most famous examples of this in the iGaming industry has, of course, been Sky Bet’s Super 6 product, where players aim to correctly predict the exact scores of six games from the weekend’s football fixtures in an attempt to land a large cash jackpot.
The game has been in existence since the late 2000s and is renowned as one of the early games that allowed players to play for free with an online betting operator without having to even make a deposit. It has always appealed to players who may just be dipping their toes into the world of online betting or like to keep their play down to a very casual level.
An obvious challenge that comes with offering F2P games is that they will, by their very nature, be a loss-leading product. The long-term benefits are clear, though, because these games can tie in with real-money products, and eventually, after you have built trust with the player, they may feel inclined to make a deposit and play real-money games over time. They can also offer multiple revenue streams, with in-game purchases and advertisements, so the ultimate goal of monetization will still be achieved.
Following the success of Super 6, many operators have tried to implement similar games, especially surrounding weekend football during the season. What they may have found is that these games require innovation and development, rather than an attempt to copy what has already been a proven success for a tier-one online operator.
The skill set required to develop F2P games differs greatly from what you see in the development of real-money games. A majority of suppliers in the industry may rather focus their time on products that immediately lead to a revenue stream. This means F2P games need to be especially innovative, and developers will constantly have to remain on top of player trends.
The Right Supplier to Implement Gamification in your iGaming Platform
At The Unit, we are seeing some standout examples of how this genre can be implemented successfully. We work with Xtremepush, who provide CRM services and marketing powered by AI. Xtremepush also offers a gamification engine, bringing free-to-play games, journey gamification, and ultimately, loyalty.
This brings me to the point about how working with the right supplier can be crucial in the growth of gamification in iGaming. Like with many other departments, operators have to weigh up whether their in-house expertise can match up with what a bespoke supplier can offer with a ready-made array of games that will be ready to launch in a short space of time.
There is always an issue of whether the operator’s in-house budget would be able to sustain the development of these games themselves, and a mixture of in-house and outsourcing can also be an approach that works well.
We certainly see a place in the market for suppliers like Xtremepush to move the products forward and allow operators to further diversify their offerings, building both user acquisition and retention across a long-term period. It will be very interesting to see how gamification, and in particular F2P games, look in 2030, but we are confident they will continue to offer long-term revenue streams as they develop.
