In the third part of SlotBeats Spotlight, our five experts look into the revolving slot preferences of LatAm players and inspect what slots we are currently seeing resonating with customers on the continent.
What can you tell us about changing player preferences? What type of slots are you seeing resonate with players there?
Victor Araneda, GAMING1: Conventional wisdom still holds true across our operations. We’ve seen our biggest titles, such as Fakir and Relic Heroes do extremely well, yet more and more we are starting to see large differences in regional preferences in terms of types of games, frequency, average bet size and the like.
Being able to capture these data points and improve our offering to fit these differences will be key to the future growth of our portfolio in the region.
Ruben Loeches, R Franco Digital: The transfer of players from land-based to the online domain has certainly seen a change in player preferences, given we’re now dealing with many different demographics.
As part of this, games that are able to replicate the land-based experience have proven hugely popular. This is especially the case for slots that can be themed around roulette and video-bingo games – which have been very well received alongside branded content.
Unai Concha Olabarrieta, OneTouch: Conventional titles with classic themes and mechanics tend to perform well on the continent, and players in countries where video bingo is popular, such as Brazil and Mexico, generally enjoy 5×3 slots.
In a region where sport is hugely popular, it goes without saying that slots with a sporting-theme are also likely to enjoy a strong performance.
The stable regulatory environment in Colombia, meanwhile, means that providers have not shied away from investing in the expensive copyright licences required to produce branded content. For that reason, slots featuring local celebrities and popular culture is becoming more common.
Maria Luisa Malfasi, ESA Gaming: Among local operators there is a great thirst for content, partly driven by the fact that the market is still young. There is currently a lot of experimenting going on to discover what works which means there is a great opportunity for suppliers to offer a wide variety of games and content.
As mentioned, for us it is all about offering a simple experience while still highly entertaining. Our portfolio includes classics such as Roulette and Blackjack but also titles that are inspired by computer and mobile games such as Candy Crush and Minesweeper.
We find this has resonated very well with local players as you do not need to educate yourself about the games before starting. We have received great feedback from both operators and players in the region because our products are all about offering a simple experience.
Sebastian Damian, Booongo: Games that feature Hold and Win mechanics are proving very popular with players across many LatAm regions. The nature of these games offer much more than a traditional slot, with players able to secure entry to additional bonus rounds where they can claim in-game jackpots. The mechanics are easy to understand, as winning symbols are fixed in place during Free Spins and the cash value of all symbols is collected once the round is completed.
At Booongo, we’ve added several new titles to our Hold and Win portfolio this year and will continue to do so in order to meet the demands from operators. With a mix of game themes, operators have content at their disposal which can appeal to a wide range of players and accommodate different tastes.
