In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Raquel, Jamison Selby of Bspot shares his advice on how to stay on top of the mobile gaming business amid stiff competition.
In order to survive a tough but very saturated market, Jamison Selby of Bspot gives mobile gaming operators a simple Darwinian advice – strive to be on top of the business chain or be swallowed alive by competition.
Selby told CalvinAyre.com that there’s no such thing as a golden template that will ensure the success of a business, especially in a market that is massively competitive and challenging such as Asia.
What mobile gaming operators need to thrive in a very challenging business environment, according to Selby, is to have a winner’s mindset.
“You either have an incredibly good content, you own the market you are going in to or you will fail. There is no such thing as second place in the mobile market. You’re either first, that’s about it or else you’ll be acquired, collapse and be a memory,” Selby pointed out. “You have to move intentionally and purposely. Understand that this market is massively competitive. And understand that it is a winner take all game.”
Aside from aiming to be on top of the business chain, Selby believes that Western companies trying to break into the Asian market need luck more than anything else, noting that many international operators “succeeded mostly by chance, by happenstance.”
“Most companies who have attempted to bring the content from the west to the east have failed miserably and those that have succeeded have kind of done so by accident. There’s no real plan,” Selby said. “You can look at the big successes and if you try to find a rhyme or reason to how they succeeded, then good luck.”
For mobile gaming operators seeking higher yields, Selby said that the Asian market is the place to go despite the fact that it has become much saturated. He particularly expressed optimism in the Korean and Japan market, where he expects to see positive developments in terms of gaming policies.
Selby also noted the infrastructures being developed in the Asian market, such as the payment processing advances and the establishment of land base casinos in Japan in the near future.
“One thing that has changed [in Asia] is that the market exists at all. Literally seven years ago, we had the iPhone appear, then the App Store one year later. Things started to trend in Asia with the years following that. So prior to that the market was feature phones, which, kind of a early online market, which really only appealed to an incredibly dedicated small group of players. The adoption of smart phones across the different markets in Asia have allowed this market to exist. So the fact that it exists at all, is sort of a new thing,” he said.
“And now the fact billions of dollars and hundreds of companies are pouring into the market looking to capitalize on the player base that exist in the countries, that created a gold rush, a land rush for players,” he added.
