Games by markets: Slotegrator’s analysis of player demand
Choosing a market of operation is a big part of success, but once the market is chosen it’s time to select games for your project. Everything matters here, from regulation to players’ preferences — they’re the ones who will be playing, and your job is to find what they like and give it to them.
Every market has different demands, depending on several factors: regulations, the economy, culture, and betting habits. This article will investigate game types by market and discuss our partners’ best practices.
How to choose game content
Choosing types of games for your project is definitely very important, but relying on your own taste won’t be helpful here. Instead we analyze our past experience, and what’s even better — others’ experience. Do your players like live dealer games, sport betting, bingo, or poker? Do some research to find out everything you can about your players’ preferences.
Regulation
First and foremost, every regulated jurisdiction has its own codes for what types of games can be offered to its citizens and who’s allowed to offer them. Some countries allow sports betting but do not tolerate online casino games, while some are happy to host operators as long as they don’t target the local market. Some governments only allow gambling in the form of state-run monopolies. It is important to study each jurisdiction or consult with a legal team if you’re not used to parsing legal texts.
Another aspect to consider is where game providers can offer their games. Each developer has a list of countries where its content is authorized. Even if you have your own license to operate casino games, you’re out of luck if your game providers can’t legally operate in your target market.
Culture
In many markets, players have a particular prevailing taste in games. Players often like to see their cultural legends, plots, themes, or characters in games they play. Whether it's Egyptian myths, Chinese symbols, or Mexican characters, once you know what your players expect, you can offer them the right game.
Economy
Once you know what types of games are allowed and what themes your target audience prefers it is time to analyze the country’s economy, and by extension, the players’ expendable income. This helps us understand what bonuses and offers online casinos can provide, and what habits players have — for example, whether they place a high volume of low-value bets or fewer bets in bigger sums.
Games by regions
Latin America
LatAm is home to several major gambling markets, including Mexico, Peru, and Brazil.
Players in Latin America prefer online gambling — mobile gambling, to be more precise: not everyone can reach traditional establishments or has access to desktop devices.
The most popular betting product by far is sports betting, especially betting on football. It’s a huge part of Latin American culture: they play football, watch football, and bet on football. Other sports, such as baseball and local favorites like cockfighting, are also popular.
Another popular game in LatAm is bingo, which came to the US in 1929 and then became popular across both Americas. Bingo has been popular as a recreational therapy, a way to collect money for charity, a church group activity, and an instrument of socialization for generations; it has also become a popular gambling vertical.
Slots are in high demand as well, and as in Africa, Latin American players prefer to place small bets at a higher frequency.
Types of games: sport betting, slots, bingo, poker
Languages: Spanish, Portuguese
Form: mobile
Providers: Igrosoft, Pragmatic Play, Platypus Gaming, Thunderkick, Nolimit City
Africa
The most attractive markets for gambling operators in Africa are Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, which is the biggest market on the continent and is expected to reach $2.3 billion in GGR by 2023.
Africa has its share of online casino players, and this vertical is rapidly developing in the region, but sports betting is far and away the favorite among African players.
In large part, this is explained by the culture — Africa is home to hundreds of thousands of sports bettors who love football and everything to do with it. Another reason is the low availability of online casino gaming, due in part to spotty telecommunication infrastructure and the fact that in some jurisdictions (like South Africa), online casinos are illegal while sportsbooks are not.
In particularly, virtual sports are extremely popular in Africa: they cater perfectly to the continent’s biggest segment of players — young mobile phone users who love football and prefer to place many small bets.
African players mostly use mobile phones to gamble — they are widely available and enable easy playing and betting. When it comes to payments, non-traditional solutions are necessary: just like how players don’t always have access to classic casinos and desktop computers, they often don’t have traditional bank accounts and credit cards. African players prefer to make payments through their mobile carrier or e-wallets, so it is important to think of integrating these methods into your platform as well.
Types of games: sport betting, virtual sports
Languages: English, local languages
Platform: mobile phones
Providers: Playson, Habanero, OneTouch
Western Europe
Nordic countries have strong economies, but not every country is attractive in terms of gambling investment. Denmark and Sweden are regulated, prosperous, and growing. Both online casino games and sport betting are popular there.
Players in Great Britain and Ireland are fans of sport betting, with horse race betting being a particular favorite. Online betting is as regulated as online casino gaming, but sportsbooks are more popular among players. Sport betting is also regulated in France, but it is not the only legal vertical there — poker is also popular. Players in Belgium enjoy the full range of casino games, including slots and dice games.
Germany used to only allow land-based gaming but the country has recently approved new regulation enabling licensing of online casinos and betting.
Types of games: sport betting, slots, poker, table games, live dealer games
Languages: all European languages
Form: mobile, desktop
Providers: Amatic, Evolution Gaming, Playson, EGT Interactive, Endorphina, Gamzix
Eastern Europe
Today, the main actor on the Eastern European stage is Ukraine, which recently overturned a gambling ban after 11 years and fully re-regulated its gambling market.
Baltic countries are also very favorable for operators. These countries display both economic growth and sophisticated regulation — Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have smooth licensing processes for both online casinos and sportsbooks. Players there like to see online versions of traditional games — such as poker, blackjack, baccarat, and bingo — and anything they are used to seeing in land-based casinos is welcome on online platforms as well. When it comes to sports, basketball, hockey, and ice hockey are expected to be offered.
Georgia and Armenia attract tourists with their gambling sectors, which are rapidly growing every year. In Georgia operators can offer online casino games and sportsbooks only if they have a land-based license; Armenia is still on the way to regulation.
Igrosoft is one of the biggest and most experienced gaming content providers for the Eastern Europe. The studio’s collection of popular slots is beloved by players.
Types of games: all games of chance, table games, sport betting
Languages: all Eastern European languages
Form: online, land-based
Providers: Igrosoft, Amatic, Endorphina, Evolution Gaming, Spinomenal, KA Gaming
Asia
Asia is a very diverse and promising region, with a dense population, fast-growing economy, and slowly liberalizing legislation. There are several major markets in this region that might interest operators: India, Pakistan, and China.
India is home to 1.3 billion people, and despite complicated legislation — the country is divided into 27 states and 8 union territories — gambling bans have been struck down in several regions.
India and Pakistan are attracting more and more attention due the increasing availability of the internet connection and mobile devices. Players there are excited about live dealer games and sport betting, where the most in-demand sport is cricket. Indian players are also huge fans of rummy and local game Teen Patti.
Macau is a famous gambling hub, well-known as a destination for high-stakes players. However, the Chinese government prohibits gambling throughout the rest of the country. The only legal forms of betting are government-monopoly lotteries and racing. Hong Kong has its own regulation: sport betting and lotteries are available, but only offline through a monopoly held by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
However, Chinese players are known to frequent offshore casinos, particularly live-dealer games based out of the Philippines, where they enjoy games like Dragon Tiger and Sic Bo, as well as other games like culturally themed slots.
Types of games: sport betting, slots, lotteries, live dealer games
Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, English
Form: mobile and land-based casinos
Providers: Evolution Gaming, Platypus Gaming, Ezugi, Vivo Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Tom Horn
How can Slotegrator help?
As a gaming content aggregator, Slotegrator provides over 5,000 games from 75 studios that cover different regions and verticals. Our professional team keeps itself up to date with changes in the industry and every particular provider’s offer, and our APIgrator solution enables single-session integration of all available content.
Contact our team to learn more about games by region and get a free consultation about what games are better for every particular online casino and sportsbook project.