In the latest edition of SlotBeats’ Spotlight series, we take a deeper look into the world of slot streamers and the growing influence of the players upon the industry.
In the first episode, we look at the audience breakdown and inspect the different types of players that operators and streamers would expect to see participating with streaming platforms.
When it comes to streaming, what’s the audience breakdown – what kind of players do you expect to see engaging with streaming channels and what’s the motivation?
Pawel Piotrowski, Yggdrasil: The streams are the playground of the next-generation players. There are different player segments among both streamers and their followers.
Some players go there for the social aspect of the streams, some like to witness the big wins and fantasise about winning life-changing sums one day, and others see it as a good way of keeping track of the recent releases before deciding to pick a game to play with their own money.
There’s also a large group of players who watch the streams before deciding to play for real money for the first time ever.
Rory Kimber, 1×2 Network: It’s really interesting to see the new types of players that streaming channels bring in. Obviously some are experienced slot players who are looking for the next game they want to try and there’s a lot of ‘new to site’ players who come via the streamers affiliate links.
However it’s the ‘new to slots’ players that streamers bring in that are particularly fascinating – the younger generation that enjoyed streaming as a concept from things like Call of Duty and FIFA before the streaming sites led them to well known slots streamers.
Streamers who converted from console gaming to slots gaming and brought their audience with them have introduced a new type of player to the market.
Andy Sekula, Kalamba Games: It’s the younger generation of slot players, the audience that is already engaged with streaming platforms or, at least, is literate with surfing on the web and playing online at the same time.
Streams are surely something for more engaged players, looking for additional ways to interact with slots and the slot players community.
Vladimir Malakchi, Evoplay: The primary advantage of streaming is that it allows suppliers to reach their target audience. However, its breakdown can vary from streamer to streamer, depending on the channel, its design, language, and most importantly, their preferences for different types of products.
There are streamers that work exclusively with classic slots, while others focus on more innovative or card games, which means the experience of the audience differs greatly. Of course, at the same time, it should not be ruled out that a fan of a classic slot may decide to try something fresher after seeing a more impressive stream – after all, each viewer is a potential fan.
We also apply a wide range of analytics and monitoring to understand audiences for each channel – and tailor our collaborations accordingly. We see plenty of benefits in our work with streamers, not only via promotion of our games but also as a place to communicate with fans and track player experience, as well as getting feedback. The more you’re on top of what your players want, the more you’ll always be ahead.
Fraser Linkleter, Slots Temple: Many of the streaming channels are dominated by younger viewers, so you’d expect a skew towards the under-35s and traditionally, certainly from a gamers perspective, the audience was more male than female.
When it comes to gambling streaming audiences, it’s important that only those over 18 are targeted and over 18 messaging is clear – this is more important than any other channel, given that the vast majority of users are used to seeing video games being streamed rather than gambling games.
The motivation for those watching is to get something of the thrill of playing without having to spend any money, also for those that are interested in the industry and those that play the games can get a taste of what a real session plays like without risking any cash.
Will Barnes, Hideous Slots: The demographic is wider than you might imagine, but definitely falls within the age bracket most comfortable with using the streaming platforms – I would say most are between the ages of 25-60.
I think there is a divide between passive viewers who want to see what new games are on offer, and those that want to engage with the stream and maybe make suggestions of their own. It’s great when a suggestion comes in for a new game and we have a positive experience.
Next week, everyone will be talking about their experience on that game. We often have viewers reliving other streamers big hits as well, and I think that’s great for the community overall.
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