CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Raquel brings us Day 1 summary of the iGaming Asia Congress 2016 at the Grand Hyatt Macau.
It was a wet and stormy day and yet it did not stop over 250 movers and shakers from Asia’s sports betting, social casino, mobile gaming, and lottery industry from attending the 8th iGaming Asia Congress 2016 at the Grand Hyatt Macau. The three-day event, which aims to provide the latest innovation, trends and opportunities in the Asian gaming market, enhanced this year’s attendees experience by adding more leverage on the topics that give focus on the mobile gaming industry.
iGa’s moderately quiet hall, packed by mostly men in dark-colored business suits, opened with sessions on Mobile Wagering and Gaming. The day kicked off with Jamison Selby, b Spots vice president of Games, talking about today’s mobile gaming landscape.
CalvinAyre News had the chance to sit down with Selby and ask about his thoughts on staying driven in the saturated mobile gaming market. “You have to move intentionally and very purposely understand that this market is massively competitive, and understand that it is a winner-take-all game,” says Selby.
A first timer at the iGA, Royal Wins Creative Director Myles Blasonato presented a fresh perspective about the game of skill on mobile platforms and ran through the psychology of skill gaming. He describes the psychology of skill gaming as creating social games that resonate to online players.
When asked about the advantage of skill gaming for operators and how it can be of help to their businesses, he shared these:
– It makes you more creative and sky’s the limit when developing games. Keep in mind, though, when creating skill games that cater to your players, it must be fun and engaging.
– Skill Game is flexible. You can put it anywhere – mobile, et al.
– No regulators
– Allows you to have more revenue options.
The afternoon sessions circled around the rise of mobile social games. In one of the sessions, Kevin Li of Inteplay attributed the growth of mobile social games to more functional mobile devices in the market today. He explained how developments in mobile device and internet speed empower the emergence of these mobile social games and the opportunities that go with it for the gaming industry.
In our interview, Li also touched on the subject of social casino. He said it is about building up the relationship between players, noting that operators build up the platform for them to chat and a haven for players to relax. He adds, “Social Casino is all about ‘relax’ rather than winning a lot.”
YG Sun of Rushmo and Jamison Selby sat down in a panel together and discussed exploring the potential for western mobile games in Asia. They emphasized the importance of localizing and doing it effectively. However, Selby explains there are no sure ways of doing it successfully. One of his advice, companies who wanted to break into Asia have to find an effective partner to help localize and build content that relates to the Asian market. He affirms, “content and design are not universal.”
The iGA is also known for its successful networking activities. King Tai of Beacon Events, the organizer of the iGa, stresses the amazing networking opportunities they have prepared for the attendees this year.
He adds, “Tomorrow, all the beer you can handle, sponsored by Betsoft at our Beer Garden. Also, we got poker tournament hosted by PokerStars. And if you want to challenge yourself, we got a former PokerStars champion, Brian Huang, who will be joining us as well. So if you can get by him and everyone else, you will be eligible to win some very cool prizes.”
iGA 2016 runs until 23rd of March with more sessions on regional market strategies, and innovation in sports betting and casino.
