Inside Asian Gaming

IAG APR 2020年4月 亞博匯 52 COLUMNISTS are very secure, transparent and virtually instant, taking banks and credit card providers out of the mix which translates to lower costs and, importantly for online operators, no chargebacks. The popularization of digital games has had an enormous effect within the gaming industry. The shrinking gap between producers and players is presenting the industry with a new set of challenges, but also exciting new opportunities. For land-based casinos that means new branding possibilities. Today’s players have come to expect more sophisticated gameplay even from relatively simple games. We are seeing a trend in technology which is pushing games to new platforms and distribution methods, slowly rendering the days of boxed games obsolete. As a result, new models for monetization and engagement are becoming necessary. Gaming companies are quickly coming to this realization, with many looking to understand the technology and many more shifting, or planning to shift, their business models to adapt while looking for potential crossover points where land-based and digital can work together through blockchain technology. The elephant in the room for new branding and monetization strategies is the free-to-play (or F2P) model. F2P games are games which are available at no cost to players. Micro transactions within the game are then used to monetize the game, or in the case of some large properties, loyalty points accrued can be redeemed at the branded property. Players can play for free, but are often encouraged to pay for certain in-game items (like powerful bonuses, levels or costumes) and maintained through frequent updates and patches over long periods of time. In other words, in the F2P era, games are becoming less like a product and more like a service.