"We are increasingly beginning to see the desire of users to experience VR casino gambling"

CasinosHunter online casino reviewing platform, and Slotegrator, a software development company that works in the online gambling niche, have analyzed some of the key aspects of casino gambling online that are relevant in 2022.

In an interview provided by Slotegrator, Ayvar Gabidullin, Business Development Manager at Slotegrator, talked with Mike Hunter, founder of CasinosHunter.

Slotegrator cooperates with the world’s best game developers and provides platform and other solutions, as well as business and jurisdictional advisory services, that help online casino operators run their businesses effectively. Slotegrator’s decade of expertise in software development, business operations, license acquisition, and compliance has led to the company’s widespread international recognition.

CasinosHunter creates betting sites and games reviews, provides educational content and guidelines for gamblers, and collaborates with many software developers in the niche. CasinosHunter has over 100 reviews of casinos on-site, numerous educational articles, and interviews with casino games providers and leading iGaming companies. 

Q&A Session with Mike Hunter and Ayvar Gabidullin

Slotegrator cooperates with famous European and Asian providers that offer more than 7000 games for online projects. CasinosHunter reviews many different games by different software providers. What are the key challenges connected to casino games for online casinos that seek popularity among players? 

Ayvar Gabidullin: Some games are popular with the European gambling community, others with Asian players. Slotegrator's partners include leading providers that offer a variety of content; the client will definitely find the right games for his gambling site. In addition to integrating games into the platform using the APIgrator solution, we provide consulting support and preliminary analysis of target markets. This helps prevent game-related problems from occurring. 

Mike Hunter: The popularity of slots depends on the market. We often see the same slot can be through the roof popular in one country and in the bottom of the rating in the other country. For example, in Canada players pay attention to mechanics or features, while in Asia, the leading role can be played by the graphics and style, making it popular even with generic mechanics.

Slotegrator develops online casinos that are flexible, user-friendly, multilingual, and SEO optimized. CasinosHunter reviews online casinos run by different operators, and created for different markets; there are currently over 100 online casino reviews on the CasinosHunter platform. What are the main challenges that casinos usually face? What can make customers like, or dislike, a new casino site, and how this can be avoided?  

Ayvar Gabidullin: Clients who choose a turnkey solution especially value their time. Therefore, we, as developers, must recognize potential problems and, even at the stage of preliminary negotiations, find their solution. This is called a flexible individual approach. 

First is the issue of adapting platforms to target markets — it is important to pre-designate locations. European and Asian players have different expectations for how an online casino should look and feel. Based on this, you need to develop an interface, implement payment instruments, choose games, and so on. 

Second is the convenience of gameplay. In the process of interacting with a new user, the operator can increase the chances of his return through the presence of a mobile version of the casino, a pleasant interface, thoughtful features, the presence of user settings, and prompt support for players. 

And finally, the backend of the system should be easy to use and contain only those functions that the operator needs. We try to automate processes as much as possible, for example, automatic payments, etc.

Mike Hunter: From the player's point of view as a customer, the determining factor may be the UX component. If the developer initially sets a clear and convenient location of the main navigation elements of the interface - this is at least 50% success for the platform. It is also important that the interface corresponds to the market in which the casino will operate and is convenient specifically for users in this geo.

The most common mistake in terms of UX occurs after the casino expands its geo and language versions of the site as it grows, without changing the interface of a particular language version to the end-user.

For example, in the case of translating the site from the English to Persian (Arabic) version is not enough just to change the direction of the text, you still need to change the location of some elements in the design. This is probably the main problem of large casino platforms, as there is no universal UX design.

The UI component (graphic content) also plays an important role, but here the subjective experience of the user's interaction with the site comes into play, as some may like a certain design and some may not.

Slotegrator can provide the casino with well-developed affiliate networks, but are affiliate sites necessary for casino promotion and functioning? How CasinosHunter as an affiliate site sees the role of affiliate platforms in efficient promotion? 

Ayvar Gabidullin: The iGaming industry has a huge affiliate space, including affiliate sites. This is one of the most profitable ways to monetize traffic. Players visit these resources for news, reviews, and bonus information. 

Affiliate program software is already integrated into the platform, so Slotegrator clients can choose the affiliate program that suits them.

Mike Hunter: The number of affiliate sites is growing not every year, but literally every month and the competition is becoming extremely high. In my opinion, this is the most important indicator of the demand for this type of promo for casinos. But speaking of quantity, it would be dishonest not to mention the quality of these very sites. 

Unfortunately, most affiliate projects have very low quality and content levels. Fortunately, and again, thanks to competition, webmasters face the need to start working on the quality of their sites and think, first of all, about the player and content.

Slotegrator assists casinos in connecting the relevant payment methods for the players to use for depositing and withdrawing. Are there any particular complications that new casino sites encounter at this stage? 

Ayvar Gabidullin: Many new casinos don’t think it’s worth it to acquire a license. However, while they save money on licensing and application fees, they also ensure they’ll struggle with payment processing; 99% of payment service providers won’t cooperate with unlicensed operations, and the same goes for financial institutions like banks. 

It’s also critical for operators to offer the most popular payment methods in their target market. Slotegrator’s Moneygrator solution aggregates more than 250 payment solutions, supporting both fiat and cryptocurrencies and including popular options like e-wallets as well as traditional go-tos like Visa and Mastercard.

Mike Hunter: I completely agree with the thesis that young casinos underestimate the benefits of buying a license. Thus, they deprive themselves of the option to cover the maximum number of clients due to popular payment systems.

There are no exact statistics on this, but I am ready to assume that in this case, young unlicensed casinos can lose up to 30% of customers per month, and this is every 3rd potential user. 

I will add that even we at CasinosHunter do not accept the placement of unlicensed online casinos because, in addition to payment systems, this is a very important aspect of casino reliability and guarantee that the player will receive his reward in case of winning.

What policies, tools, or approaches can make online gambling a safer and more transparent place for entertainment? 

Ayvar Gabidullin: A commitment to responsible gambling is good for the whole industry. 

Casinos can protect their players by allowing them to “self-exclude” if they feel they’re developing a problem. They can also have a dedicated support team to help players if they need it. They should also make sure that players have free access to whatever information they need to be safe and secure on the platform.

Casinos can also use additional technologies. For example, the Seamless Wallet allows the player to completely restore their progress if connection to the casino is dropped mid-game. Other features can also accelerate and add extra security to the KYC process. 

It’s also important to include a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section in the site. Here you can offer the answers to players’ most common questions about the technical, organizational, and legal aspects of your site.

Mike Hunter: Online casinos are required to provide their sub-platforms with a basic set of responsible gambling tools as this can somehow help the player identify the problem and find a solution.

It is good practice to have telephone numbers or addresses of responsible gambling centers in the specific country where the player lives. Thus, the casino can comprehensively help the player to find a solution, in case they feel they need professional help.

Are there particular ways to check if an online casino is safe and reliable? What technical aspects of a casino site should be present for the site to be considered safe? 

Ayvar Gabidullin: There’s a very easy way to check if a casino is safe to play on. Licensed casinos will have an insignia on their front page that acts as a link to the website of the jurisdiction where they are licensed. This is a quick and easy way to check if a casino is legitimate. 

Also, if a casino supports common payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, and others, it’s a sign of legitimacy; payment service providers and financial institutions usually won’t cooperate with unlicensed operations. The same goes for their game content; many leading developers only supply their titles to licensed operations. 

Mike Hunter: I can completely agree and confirm the words of Ayvar Gabidullin above. The most important criterion is a license from a licensor or a specific jurisdiction. I can add that it is extremely important that the badge on the casino site homepage has a link to the certificate, as dishonest casinos simply fake the badge to mislead users.

In case the player suspects that something is wrong with the badge, they can also clarify the information about the license on the Terms & Conditions page, there must be a license registration number by which you can check the license’s relevancy and validity.

Large and well-known payment systems and gaming providers will not work with dishonest casinos and unlicensed casinos because they value their reputation and also pass the certification of their games.

What gambling industry trends come into effect these days?

Ayvar Gabidullin: In light of the current mobile-first trend, as well as the increasing importance of quick and simple navigation, it is impossible not to mention Telegram Casino, which has quickly gained popularity with operators. Telegram Casino is an alternative way to access the casino through the popular messaging application, where the classic backend management system allows you to control all aspects of the casino: notifications and mailings, content, components, and so on. 

Telegram Casino includes full integration of the bonus module, as well as the ability to register several accounts at once in different currencies, including cryptocurrencies, and convenient and fast depositing. The available games for Telegram Casinos includes more than 7,000 video slots from well-known developers. The solution also features the Fun in-game currency, which allows you to maintain a separate balance and receive bonuses on it. 

Demand also remains high for blockchain casinos, an innovative type of gambling platform with integrated cryptocurrencies that guarantee high transaction speeds and secure payments.

The rest depends on the markets where the operator operates. For example, live games are popular in Asian markets, while the trend toward gamification is spreading rapidly in Europe. 

Mike Hunter: This topic is very close to us. We are always trying to keep up with the latest trends in the gaming industry and just recently researched online casino gaming trends as part of the Q&A round-up, which also featured Slotegrator's representative Hmayak Manukyan.

From a technical point of view, optimizing sites for mobile-first is the most important trend today. More than 50% of traffic now comes from mobile devices and tablets, especially in Asian regions and Latin America. In this regard, the fact of full implementation of the 5G network around the world also has its positive influence.

From a gaming point of view, we are increasingly beginning to see the desire of users to experience VR casino gambling. Especially the demand for VR casinos has grown in recent years, during and after the pandemic. Moreover, new technologies already allow for making such projects.

With regard to games, especially online slots, there is also a growing need for exclusive mechanics and bonuses, high-level graphics and animations, and a per-game component such as movie trailers and exclusive soundtracks that make the slot even more immersive.