In the second part of SlotBeats Spotlight, our five experts expand on how they would define the Latin American online slot player demographic and look to see if this challenging year has altered players’ slot preferences.
How would you define the typical demographics of online slots players on the continent? Has it changed this year?
Victor Araneda, GAMING1: We’ve worked hard on increasing our already popular slots offering in Colombia, including our landmark additions of Evolution Gaming and Pragmatic Play with our Zamba.co casino – and we see a growing trend of new slots players coming to the fold.
For us, it’s always exciting to be welcoming a younger generation of players in their 20s and 30s in traditionally what has been the domain of older age brackets. We hope to see a similar trend emerging in Peru with our MGA-licensed site next year.
Ruben Loeches, R Franco Digital: Online slots are (to a largely proportional extent) the domain of the more ‘millennial’ audience. In most instances, smartphones are the principal channel for gaming – so with that comes a certain expectation for the type of entertainment on offer.
Given the closure of land-based gaming locations, such as arcades – this has certainly begun to shift, with a far broader demographic getting in on the action as operators succeed in migrating players online.
Unai Concha Olabarrieta, OneTouch: Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, we saw the emergence of a young and tech-savvy demographic of players with a preference for online gaming. This trend was even more pronounced in emerging markets such as those found in Latin America.
This year, on the other hand, we have seen an increase in sports bettors and land-based players, pushed online by the pandemic. As an older demographic, they bring a different set of demands and preferences, which operators looking to set up shop in Latin America would do well to recognise.
Maria Luisa Malfasi, ESA Gaming: One important thing to remember is that in many LatAm countries, players are completely new to online slots. It therefore makes little sense to offer them heavy and content-rich games, packed with complex mechanics and features that are so popular in Europe.
At ESA Gaming we specialise in mobile games, but our focus lies in cross-selling into sportsbooks. This means we must make sure the gameplay does not disrupt the sports betting experience. Our EasySwipe portfolio consists of simple and lightweight titles that are quick and easy for players to grasp while still being entertaining.
Many LatAm countries have a sports-mad population and that is why our products work perfectly in the market as it combines the worlds of casino and sports betting. While we had a lull in sports events that impacted the overall GGR for the Colombian market earlier this year, the trend was reversed in June with the arrival of a new sporting calendar. July was the best month in Colombia’s history.
Sebastian Damian, Booongo: COVID-19 has resulted in more land-based players switching to online, which means that operators have needed to further diversify their product offering to meet the requirements of all sets of player preferences.
Above all else, players demand quality content that keeps them entertained. Competition in the market is growing as more operators and suppliers head to the region to capitalise on the region’s potential. Players have more choice now and those that offer an inferior product will soon find out when their target customers turn to alternative providers.
To read the first episode, click here.
