EZUGI DEV DIARY
Developer Diary: Ezugi E
From original vision through to integration and beyond… Ezugi COO Anton Bargel talks about the development of the company’s social offering.
zugi believes that providing social activity is key to driving player satisfaction and retention, as well as
being another monetisation opportunity for the operators. We offer players the ability to share and connect with each other socially. The Ezugi system is extremely flexible and customisable and there are unlimited abilities to connect to any social network that fit market needs the best. Currently we support Facebook posting, inviting friends and chat, sharing updates on Facebook and Twitter, video chat, news and advertising services, as well as cross-product marketing and betting. We are also providing the ability to watch additional video feeds with picture- in-picture mode, so if the operator supports it, players can watch their soccer match or favourite television series on the screen, or check out what’s happening on the other casino tables.
Original Vision
When we first started to look at what our social offering would be, our idea was to create a single space where players could spend their time playing and interacting with the digital world in the way they’re used to - everything from a single screen. The ‘never leave the table’ motto clearly describes that idea – one space for everything that players can enjoy.
The ability to combine the social interactivity tools with the live video and the ability to combine different video feeds in one game widow, we believe, are pretty innovative. Another innovative feature is related to the functionality. By making the game more social we are offering operators direct social advertising in a real-time mode, plus the ability to track the social activities of the players and their preferences, which helps with targeting new audiences. Besides the pure social factor, the combination of multiple gaming options in one screen in addition to the actual game - mini-slot games, sports betting, plus more - are providing the operator with additional monetisation options.
Integration
Developing the interactivity layers and integrating them into the product with the live broadcasted video was a complex task. The main issues are
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changing the API/application parameters that we need to maintain. The only way is to monitor the changes and to have our team always ready to implement them. We were fortunate not to have to drop anything, however, and were able to implement everything that was in our original plan. The only
thing that we needed to do was to reschedule some of the developments, which required more time or effort than was initially forecasted, but this is to be expected and happens in any development project. The video conversation feature during game play is
definitely one of the most attractive tools, following the Facebook communication in all the different ways that we provide. That is pretty much what was expected as people are becoming more and more virtually social nowadays and the ability to share their luck without wasting a moment is what players are looking for. On the other hand, bringing the online gaming experience closer to a real, land-based casino experience, by providing the ability to see your neighbouring players at the table, is a different kind of feature, making the game more social, closer to real life experience.
Next phase Ezugi is considering different steps. Of course it
will keep integrating the social aspects to its live dealer product - more networks and more options (such as listening to the radio) mean more fun and player satisfaction. We are also considering the market customisation of the functionality providing the exact solutions requested by the market and the players. We might also consider direct targeting of the social audience with the new social gaming products or combining the social gaming and gambling in one package. But this is a commercial secret for now!
At the moment, the thing that most excites us about the social gaming market is the audience. People all over the world are getting more and more virtually social every day. The overall audience is growing hourly and even if the migration between the different resources that is taking place saw Facebook lose its number one status tomorrow, the market in general will keep growing, providing the new development and business abilities. Finally, the socialising of the mobile space is bringing a lot of opportunities where innovation is concerned.
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