The iGaming market has become a fierce landscape of competition between developers seeking to attract players to their newest titles. These games are often scooped up by online casinos as soon as they are released, helping attract players by offering new, exciting games.
Some casinos, however, don’t rely solely on developers to release new games. Instead, they design and develop (or contract to develop) their unique, in-house games offered exclusively to their players.
These titles and the latest titles in the gaming market provide gamblers with a wide variety of games to choose from. Meanwhile, for the casinos launching in-house titles, there are numerous benefits as well.
Development Process
An online casino can choose to launch in-house games in two ways. While each option provides benefits and drawbacks, they both result in unique games that the casino can leverage to its advantage.
In-House Development
The less-traveled route is to opt for in-house development. This is often not chosen because online casinos must employ dedicated development staff, purchase equipment to develop games, and jump through the regulatory hoops required to have a game licensed for public use. Depending on the type of slot game chosen for development, this can also be more challenging.
However, in-house development gives casinos greater control over the final game being produced. As everything is done within the same company, a more exact vision for the game can be followed, and changes can be made on the fly as needed.
Collaboration Development
Collaboration development is more popular than in-house development. In these instances, an online casino contracts an existing game developer to produce the required game. This approach is usually more seamless, as the developer already has the required staff, resources, and licensing frameworks to ensure the game can be launched without problems.
The downside to this option is that casinos may have more limited control over how a game turns out. With changes only requested as and when a preview is submitted, some changes may not be allowed, and the game may be slightly different from what the casino is looking for.
When deciding which option to choose, online casinos must consider specific factors. In addition to the cost and amount of control each option offers, other factors like time-to-market and the developer’s expertise must be considered. Balancing all these factors is challenging and can (sometimes) result in a game that the casino may not want to publish for its players.
The Benefits of Exclusive Titles
Although the development journey may be challenging at times, when a high-quality, entertaining game is produced for exclusive launch at a casino, numerous benefits can be obtained. Some are small, while others can give a casino a significant advantage over competitors.
Attraction of New Players
Among the most prominent and visible benefits is that online casinos offering exclusive titles can attract new players more easily than competition sites. This is because these casinos can leverage these games (and access to them) to encourage players to register a player account.
Bonuses for these games, such as free spins in the case of slots, are also often offered in promos like welcome bonuses that entice players to register.
Increased Player Retention
Alongside attracting new players, in-house titles have also increased player retention. When gamblers genuinely enjoy playing an exclusive title, they are less likely to find an alternative gaming provider and would rather stay where they have access to the game.
Due to this, online casinos with exclusive titles have a larger database of consistent players than casinos without. Such sites tend to experience fewer sudden swings in usership.
Boosted Brand Identity
Because many exclusive games are released with their host casino name in the title, they are a great way to bolster a particular casino’s brand identity. This strategy is seen in many large online casinos, such as DraftKings, BetMGM Casino, and even Stake.us Casino, which refers to its exclusive titles as Stake Originals.
This boost in brand identity acts as additional marketing for the casino at no extra cost and can help a casino brand become familiar to players who may have heard of a game but have never visited a specific casino.
Game Theme Control
As already mentioned, whether using in-house developers or contracting with those in the industry, developing an exclusive title gives a casino control over the final game product. This allows the casino to tailor the title to the specific needs of its players, offer features unique to the casino, and align the themes, mechanics, and feel of the game with the main casino.
All these factors work together to make the title different from anything available elsewhere and reinforce the casino’s brand identity.
Less Third-Party Reliance
Although a measure of reliance on a third party remains if an exclusive title is developed by an outside studio, in-house games allow casinos to operate more independently. This is because the casino can then run the games on their own servers, push updates when needed or wanted, and pay less in extensive game licensing fees to studios.
Depending on how the lowering of this reliance pans out, this could also translate to significant cost savings, in addition to the benefit of lower licensing fees.
Higher Profit Margins
Although not always the case, there is merit to the reasoning that in-house games lead to higher profit margins for casinos. This is because of the additional revenue generated by new players attracted by the games and the continued spending of existing and retained players.
The fact that exclusive titles typically have higher payout rates than other titles, thereby making them more appealing to players, also results in greater player spending and higher profit for the casino.
Conclusion
In-house gambling titles may require extensive work on the part of an online casino—even if done in collaboration with an existing studio. However, the benefits of launching exclusive titles easily outweigh the effort required and can help any casino experience a boost.
