The Rainbow to Riches
Why launching a new slot studio has never been harder
With over 10,000 new slots released each year, standing out takes more than a great game. For new studios, visibility now comes at a price — from paid placements to costly
promotions — making today’s iGaming market tougher than ever to break into, says Steven Valentine, Chief Commercial Officer, Comtrade Gaming.
Tink of a slot title that has really stood out over the last 20 years — not one with short-term success because of a heavy marketing budget, but games that players really sought out and wanted to play. For me, there are perhaps five: Rainbow Riches, Gonzo’s Quest, Book of RA, Sweet Bonanza, and Mega Moolah. If you’ve been in the industry for more than five minutes, then these are titles where you immediately know which company made them and why they matter.
It’s estimated that there are now over 10,000 new slot games released every year, and yet only a tiny fraction break through the noise. Creating a high-quality game is just the beginning; with 1000’s of game vendors, the real battle now lies in convincing operators to feature your content.
OPERATORS HOLD THE POWER Even if a studio does build a solid game, operators often wield the ultimate power when it comes to exposure. Getting featured on a casino homepage or in a “Top Picks” section can make or break a game launch. But these prime positions have to be negotiated, and typically at a significant cost.
Studios are frequently asked to: u
u Offer steep discounts u
Fund large-scale free spin promotions, often thousands of spins per operator, per game
Agree to exclusivity periods in return for limited visibility Tese marketing demands might be manageable for an established provider with a back catalogue of top-performers. But for new entrants operating on thin margins, they can be unsustainable. Worse, there’s no
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guarantee these promotions will translate into long-term success. Many of the players brought in by free spins or incentives churn quickly, especially in bonus-hunting markets.
PAGE POSITION IS PAY-TO-PLAY Te reality is, many operators now treat page position as a monetised commodity. If you want your game to be seen, you’re often expected to pay for it — either directly or through value-added incentives. Some casinos go so far as to set internal “rate cards” for homepage positions or tournament inclusion. For a new provider trying to get off the ground, this means a tough decision: do you spend your limited capital on development, or on buying visibility?
If the answer is both, and you are a fairly new studio, the likelihood is that you are running at a loss.
THE REGULATORY GAUNTLET As if commercial pressure wasn’t enough, the regulatory environment adds another layer of difficulty. Tese processes take time and money, and they’re non-negotiable. Without market access, even the best- designed game can’t generate revenue. But securing these licenses before you’ve even made a name for yourself can easily burn through a lot of cash.
TOO MANY GAMES, NOT ENOUGH SHELF SPACE If you walk around any of the 100’s of gaming shows it’s easy to see that iGaming market is not slowing down and every show reveals many new game vendors. But while more games are being released than ever, fewer are making a lasting impact. Te explosion in aggregation
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