Slotegrator’s guide to online gaming software for the Indian market in 2021

When starting an online casino in India, operators have to consider the size and diversity of the market. Different social and age groups prefer different forms of gambling and respond to different forms of marketing, so a carefully chosen target market will help shape your business model — and go a long way to help your online casino succeed. 

Bigger operators prefer to cover all the bases, but for newcomers on the market, it’s important to pick a starting point — effectively serving a niche of the market can be a base for future growth. From a huge array of software options, we picked a few that are performing well on the Indian market. Here are four great directions your onlinecasino can take at the end of 2020. 

Casino Software

The first thing that comes to mind when somebody says “online casino” is the classic games that are associated with traditional gambling halls: slots, roulette, and various card games. Since legal restrictions eased, all three types of online casino gaming have been on a meteoric rise in India.

Slots are constantly in high demand among players and traditionally bring casino operators their biggest profits. In India, slot machines used to provide entertainment for a very limited number of people, as land-based casinos are only allowed in specific states, but now anyone can try their luck online. Casino software providers are trying to keep up with the deluge of demand, offering hundreds of different games which provide something for every age group and demographic. 

Roulette is one of the classic games which remind players of the glamorous casinos of Las Vegas and Macau. The simplicity of gameplay and sense of excitement make roulette easy and entertaining. Also, various casino card games, like blackjack and baccarat, are popular in markets around the world, and India is no exception.

These games are appealing mainly because of a low entry threshold, simple and exciting gameplay , and range of available wagers. Slots and roulette can be played with tiny stakes and low risk, or with bigger wagers with the potential of huge winnings. 

Bingo Software 

Bingo is immensely popular among Indian players, who even took to their balconies to participate in games during the lockdown in Delhi. The game itself is very old, dating back to the 19th century, and its ease of gameplay contributes to its popularity.

Bingo traditionally attracts an older demographic, and interestingly enough it’s one of the few gambling activities that attract more women than men. It has a comparatively slow pace, low risk, and prominent social element – land-based bingo is played in a gathering (traditionally church and or pub), often as a form of charitable gambling.

Coming back to 2020, rapid digitalization and limitations on big social gatherings have given online bingo a huge popularity boost. It may come as a surprise, but it is an online bingo game, not a puzzle or card game, that currently dominates the Indian mobile games market. And the audience of various online bingo sites is growing much quicker than many experts anticipated, with many providers increasing their bingo software offering.

Besides giving devotees a chance to play their favorite game, the online version also tends to appeal to different demographics. Overall, online bingo attracts a younger audience, with a larger share of male players, than its land-based counterpart.

Online bingo also adds an element of convenience. A game can be started from mobile in the morning and then finished later in the evening from a laptop, which is a great fit for a new bingo demographic with less time on their hands.

For an online platform, bingo is a great choice because it has a very specific audience that doesn’t overlap that much with other forms of gambling, and is experiencing unprecedented growth which will likely accelerate even further in the future. 

Poker Software

Poker is one of the most popular card games in the world, and due to the way it is played, it is classified as a game of skill in many countries — including India. Unlike bingo, poker is a go-to form of gambling for younger Indians.

Despite its depth and complexity, poker is an easy game to get into. Online poker is accessible from anywhere via mobile or laptop, and it not only gives younger, tech-centered people a chance to learn and improve their skills, but brings the cardroom to those who have never had one near enough to visit.

Poker is also quite diverse; there are many different variations of the game, with subtle differences in rules and gameplay. Hold’em and Omaha are the most popular in India, but there are also Stud, Draw, and other, more exotic variations.

Thanks to its status as a game of skill, poker is viewed as a more prestigious pastime than other forms of gambling, with educated people and intellectuals forming part of the wide audience the game attracts. 

Sports Betting Software

The last on our list — but definitely not the least — is sports betting. Not only does it form the biggest part of the rapidly growing gambling market in India, it is also the case in many states that while the law prohibits land-based betting, online betting is allowed.

As long as the company providing the betting services is not located in India, the business is completely legal. Offshore operators have plenty of incentive to face the Indian market; experts claim the country’s sports betting industry is worth at least $3 billion, and will reach a value of $5 billion in 2022.

The most popular sport to bet on is cricket, followed by horse racing, but of course, a country as big as India has a lot of fans of various sports disciplines. Online sportsbook software providers offer packages that include data feeds for a variety of sports that are popular in the region and support the country’s main languages (like Hindi, Bengali, or Punjabi). That way, operators can offer their players the sports they prefer in the language that they speak.

Sportsbooks are a bit different from other gambling platforms because they tap into a more mainstream audience. Sports betting is popular with India’s large middle-class population, and the number of bettors is increasing at a fast pace, along with the sports themselves. 

The online gambling business is full of variables and difficult choices, especially this year, which has turned many industries on their head and changed the world economy. Depending on the size, budget, and target market of your enterprise, different software options will serve you better than others. If you are not sure where to start or what you are looking for, and you’re in need of a second opinion, contact us for a free consultation.