The online gambling market is saturated with games. Every year, the number of gamers who regularly engage in games on online casinos is on the rise. This means that the market is becoming crowded with iGaming operators who push as many new games as possible under the noses of players, in the hope of making large profits.
However, games will be unsuccessful if they are just replicas of previous ones that have come before, and do not offer the unique and exciting experiences that players are looking for when they engage in betting online.
If you choose to create a game that you think will take the market by storm, but which you won't be able to modify later on, then you may face problems later down the line. Customer preferences and trends in iGaming are always changing, and so you never know when certain games will become outdated and thrown onto the pile with all of the other forgotten games.
Customizable Games vs Non-customizable Games The major disadvantage of games that are developed and left unchanged is that they will very quickly become irrelevant. In many cases, games from the previous year may be considered as 'retro', but not in a good way…
A simple solution to this is creating games that can be easily customized, so that you can keep evolving them after they have been released.
Here are 5 of the main reasons why customizable games will play an important role in the future of iGaming:
- Customers are demanding fresh gaming experiences all the time
If you run an online gambling platform, it is essential that you keep your games relevant by reacting to industry trends. This will make sure that the games you offer will never be classed as 'old fashioned' and cause customers to look elsewhere, with other providers, for their online casino experience. At the end of the day, content is king, and so you need to keep your gaming content fresh and exciting for your players so that they will never get bored and try out gaming with other providers.
Having customizable games means that you can constantly change what you're offering to keep things exciting for your players. If, when logging on to your online casino, they find games that have new features and which have been adapted to reflect the latest major trends in online gambling, you will capture their attention and get them playing your games again and again. The iGaming industry is constantly in a state of evolution, and so should your games.
- Your games need to be constantly modified, updated and improved
When you are starting out with new games, it is almost impossible to get it right the first time. If you have non-customizable games, this can be hugely damaging to your business, because you will have spent a large amount of money, time and effort in trying to reach perfection, and may not quite get there. However, by developing an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) which is customizable, you can learn valuable insights into what your customers want, and change your product accordingly.
If you choose customizable games, over time you will keep improving them little by little, and you will end up with that perfect game you were looking for in the first place. After every small change you make, the customers will enjoy a slicker and more exciting experience every time, and this will help you to drive loyalty and customer retention. A customizable MVP for your games will bring you amazing results and create games that your players love more and more as they evolve.
- You can create features that aren't offered anywhere else
No player wants to play the same games on repeat until they become boring. You want your games to be as authentic and memorable as possible, which will keep you ahead of your competitors and make your platform at the top of the list when players think about visiting an online casino. Customization is of paramount importance to help you stand out from the crowd, because it allows you to create unique features that aren't offered by your rival platforms who are trying to steal your customers away from you.
The customizable features that you might choose for your games could include anything from bonus games to reward loyalty and different in-play betting options, to building your own brand identity through logos and colour schemes in your games. Customizing various elements of your products will drive the 'freshness factor' of your games through the roof, and will result in your players becoming more loyal to your platform and continuing to come back and enjoy your games in the future.
- Operators can keep costs down with customizable games and limit risk
Developing any game from scratch can be difficult, and takes a lot of time, effort and money. In many cases the development will stretch your resources to the limit, and if you come across any major disasters they can very easily be devastating to your game, and also for your business as a whole. Customizable games help to limit your risk, as if you experience any unforeseen hiccups along the way you have the capacity to fix them without it costing too much money.
Customizable games are, therefore, a good investment in terms of time and money. If you need to make changes to a game, you can carry out these actions easily if the game is customizable. Furthermore, it won't take you very long nor cost you a lot of money. With games that can constantly be modified and changed, they are a very good investment for the future, because you can always update them and keep them relevant and exciting. What's more, if your game becomes obsolete and no longer relevant to your customers, you will effectively be burning money before your very eyes.
- There is lots of data available to use - you need the capacity to benefit from it!
Online casino technology is continuously improving at a rapid rate, and with that comes lots of Big Data about your players and their behaviour; without trying very hard, you can easily collect lots of valuable data that can be used to benefit your games. It is important that you use this insight to your advantage to keep on improving your game with data-backed updates which will appeal to your customers. If you have a non-customizable game, however, this will not be possible - you won't be able to react to new data to improve your games.
But if you do have customizable games, you can rapidly react to Big Data and make the essential changes that the data reveal are necessary. The more data you have, the more you can improve your games to suit the preferences of your players, and the more you can tweak your game to make it the best possible version of itself.
Apollo - a prime example of customizable gaming Apollo from RedLab Gaming is a customizable Crash game which can be designed and transformed to suit the playing preferences of your customer base. With Apollo, you can truly get creative, and give your game an exciting premise that will thrill your players and keep them coming back to your platform.
Whether it's modifying the look and feel, adding extra in-play betting features, or fixing issues that you hadn't predicted prior to development, Apollo offers the chance to create an ever-evolving game that won't fail to wow your players.
There are a number of additional features that you can add to the Apollo game after you have released it to your customers, based on what they want to see. This could include bonus awards to customers for free bets, in-game tournaments to push betting activities, or in-game mystery jackpots. And of course, you can easily give the game a makeover depending on the latest industry trends, or for seasonal events - so when it's Halloween or Christmas, you can give your game a spooky or festive style!
Apollo can become a top game for almost any sportsbook operator, as it can be customized precisely to fit perfectly in with the rest of your platform's games. Plus, your game can be developed and tested in a very short space of time, and we can get it on the market quickly to generate revenue for your business.
To get started with creating your customizable Apollo game for your online gambling platform, speak to a member of the RedLab Gaming team today!