What Businesses Can Learn from iGaming Giant Playtech

Playtech is not the kind of company that could be termed a household name, but there it sits proudly as a constituent member of the FTSE 250 on the London Stock Exchange. It is one of the biggest names in the iGaming industry – basically the online casino industry – and, as such, helps determine the success and growth of online gaming and betting, which is expected to be almost a trillion-dollar industry by the middle of next decade. Playtech is an instantly recognisable brand among casino players, and one that seems to be going from strength to strength.

But what can other businesses not affiliated with gaming learn from Playtech? Lots of things, some of which might surprise you. Below we look at some key areas where Playtech has excelled, and which can be applicable to modern businesses of all kinds:

Branding and Crossover Appeal

Arguably Playtech’s calling card. Have you seen the explosion in popularity of superhero movies over the last decade, and the huge pull of Marvel and DC Comics? Well, Playtech has got on to that, much to the chagrin of its rivals, by signing a massive deal with Warner Bros. to produce DC Superheroes slots. These are big budget titles with an almost video game like quality featuring the likes of Batman, Superman and the rest. The crossover appeal to movie and comic book fans has helped Playtech surge ahead when it comes to what is termed premium branded slots.

Adapting to Modern Audiences

There is a sense that the likes of roulette, blackjack and poker are timeless, and that they will continue to appeal. Indeed, there will always be an appeal people to play live roulette with real dealers, or to try their hand at virtual blackjack. To an extent, that’s always going to be the case. Yet, at the same time casinos have been faced with the problem that younger generations, those who might not have grown up on The Rat Pack or James Bond films, do not look at those games in the same manner. In short, casino games developers have to compete with the video games market.

Companies like Playtech, and others like Evolution and NetEnt, have met this issue head on by creating different experiences with classic games: Live roulette played in the backdrop of Ancient Greek gods and heroes; blackjack with multiple side bets and jackpots. Moreover, the amount of investment in VR by these companies will surely turn heads of millennials as we enter the 2020s.

Economies of Scale

We mentioned the DC Superheroes games earlier, and there are about 20 titles in total. From a technical perspective, what’s interesting about these games is that they are all connected through a shared progressive jackpot game. Put simply, any single spin can trigger the jackpot feature where you are guaranteed to win a progressive prize (the top prize can be millions of dollars). The thing about progressive jackpots is that they are funded by taking a small percentage of each wager, normally less than 1%, so by connecting these games across a network Playtech is creating the conditions for faster-rising and bigger jackpots. A simple, but incredibly effective idea.

Responding to Setbacks

If we were writing this five years ago, we would be talking about Playtech’s range of Marvel casino games – yes, more superheroes. However, because Marvel was purchased by Disney , the media giant wasn’t too keen on seeing its family-friendly products associated with gambling, so they ended the contract with Playtech. As mentioned, Playtech signed a new deal with Warner Bros., but perhaps more importantly, it also created its own franchise from scratch – Age of the Gods – as a direct replacement for Marvel. The two ranges, AOTG and DC Comics slots, are perhaps the most important series of casino games on the planet, and they both grew out of a setback when Disney pulled the plug on the Marvel contract.

We hope you enjoyed this promoted piece as much as we did!