The live casino vertical is one that started somewhat slow but held an enormous potential from the very beginning. Today, companies such as Authentic Gaming define the market by creating new and compelling games.
Authentic does not focus on imitating successful products in the market, but rather, the company seeks to create tailored and unique products that help it stand out while pushing innovation in the live casino segment.
As the founder of Authentic, Jonas Delin knows what it takes to be continually at the forefront of innovation.
We approach Delin in the context of the company’s newly-released XL Roulette, which follows the well-established tradition of creating a unique experience for live casino gamers.
Q: Can you tell us a little more about this “player-first approach” that makes Authentic Gaming’s XL Roulette a worthwhile option for consumers?
XL Roulette is an adaptation of what has become the biggest success story in live casino, roulette with multipliers. While we were inspired by the original game launched by Evolution Gaming a few years ago, XL stands out as a much better option to players because it offers them up to 11 Lucky Numbers per spin that payout 50-500x instead of getting up to five Lucky Numbers with the original version.
In addition, the optimal theoretical RTP for XL is 97.3% (including straight-up bets) while the original game’s straight-up RTP is 97.1%. This might seem like a marginal difference but in essence, for every million dollars wagered on the game, XL will theoretically payout $2,000 more in winnings to players.
When you account for the fact that the original version of the game is the most popular live roulette table in the world with wagers running into the billions of dollars, for every billion dollars wagered, players will be $2,000,000 better off with XL!
Q: What is the particular appeal that players will find in XL Roulette and what player base would it appeal to in general?
The game allows players to pick the volatility that suits them best. XL can be played in four different modes where the difference is how many Lucky Numbers will be activated. The XXXL mode gives players a minimum of three and a maximum of 11 Lucky Numbers per spin, each one paying 50-500x while XXL serves up between two and eight Lucky Numbers and XL one to five. The more Lucky Numbers with high payouts means the lower the regular straight-up payout.
Players can change the mode in-between game rounds, and they can also switch off the Lucky Number feature altogether and play the game with the standard roulette paytable.
This means the game caters to all different player types. The thrill seekers looking for big payouts will cover nearly a third of the roulette table with Lucky Numbers in XXXL mode while the traditionalist can enjoy the stunning studio and charming game show presenters without having to cut their odds for straight-up bets in the chase of Lucky Numbers by simply switching to the standard paytable.
Also, since game modes can be changed in-between game rounds, if you think that your favorite numbers are coming up with 500x payouts then you can switch on XXXL for a few rounds and then go back to the standard paytable when desired.
Q: How has the live market changed since Authentic Gaming has launched and what are the milestone events that took place?
This is a complex question, probably worthy of a whole essay but I’ll try and keep my answer short and sweet!
Growth has been driven by a few key trends and developments. First of all, technological advancements in the last few years have taken live streaming quality and reliability to the same as digital TV and is now accessible to anyone with a half-decent internet connection.
Secondly, as with any form of online gambling, smartphone penetration worldwide now means that nearly everyone has a high-speed, super-powerful casino in their pocket that is easily accessible all of the time.
Another global megatrend is online video; a recent CISCO study published in Forbes magazine suggests that online video will make up 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022, that’s 15 times more than in 2017.
Finally, just as TikTok and Instagram are blurring the lines between social media and entertainment, live casino is going the same way where gambling and entertainment is morphing into one.
Instant gratification, easy to understand and entertaining games are being launched left right and center. These games don’t necessarily appeal to traditional gamblers, but they are massively expanding the player base in that they are competing for a much bigger audience. They are competing for the 6 hours and 48 minutes of time that the average person spends watching online videos every week.
Q: How big a part is customization playing in Authentic Gaming’s product line and how far can it go?
Live casino has evolved into one of the most important revenue streams for operators. A few years ago, the vertical might have been 10-15% of an operator’s overall GGR but for some operators today, it is as much as 40-50% of their online casino business.
Given this shift in player behavior and preference, operators are now putting much more resources behind their live casino offering. A big part of many operators’ live casino strategy is to give their players a unique experience, setting them apart from the competition to create player loyalty.
All of the key elements that make up the live casino player experience lend themselves really well to customization. The studio design and general ambience, the way that the dealers/presenters represent the operator brand, how the dealers engage with the players and overall game execution is all customizable and, if done right, can create a highly unique and constantly evolving player experience that not only drives revenue growth from existing players but that also becomes a power tool in new player acquisition.
Part of Authentic’s beauty and strength is that we are not a giant (for now!). We are super agile and eager to experiment. Our live platform is completely legacy free and built with customization and scalability as its cornerstones.
Indeed, the Cricket Roulette Studio that we developed and operate for Betway is a prime example of how far we go in offering our customers complete flexibility in customizing all elements of the player experience!
Q; Are we going to see more, tweaked versions of XL Roulette in the future?
Our original strategy was to lead the way in live roulette. To date, we only have live roulette and no other games. We now feel that we have the best live roulette offering on the market and although there is plenty of scope to continue improving the roulette experience, our strategy now is to expand our product mix and scale up operations.
The focus now is to launch blackjack and baccarat in Q3 and take Authentic from a single game provider to a full-service live casino supplier covering all the classic table games.
Having said that, we have some great customized roulette experiences being launched exclusively for individual operator clients over the next few months as well as a completely new live roulette format that set to go live across our network in Q3.