Why Online Casino Providers Use Popular Brands in Games
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The online gaming market is buoyant at the moment, despite a small reported downtown in revenue reported in Q1 2022.
The market shrunk by 1% from Q4 2021 but was still a period in which SBC News reports saw over £1.2bn in revenue.
Q1 did see the average monthly accounts level rise by 5%, although interaction was slightly down. Despite the slowing market, the revenue is still significant, and online casino providers continue to work hard to attract and retain customers. The uptick in online accounts proves that they’re getting it right in attracting new players.
They do this in several ways. One of the most popular is offering signing bonuses for players, such as free spins on a slot machine. The report suggests this could account for the £1.65bn revenue generated in Q1 2021, a record figure. Free spins then lead to additional engagement and, ultimately, higher revenues.
They also diversify and evolve their game offerings, with live casino games one innovative move many have recently made. What is not new is the development of games featuring famous brands, looking to appeal to gamers with a degree of familiarity. This can be seen in the selection of jackpot slots by Cheeky Bingo; they include the title Goonies Return which draws heavily from the 1985 film of the same name. Why are titles like this, and others of a similar ilk, used so heavily by online slot providers? Here are a handful of reasons.
Familiarity
How often have you walked down a Coventry street and eaten in the same place you’ve been ten times before instead of trying somewhere new? The likelihood is you’ve done it often because we’re creatures of habit; we like what we like. Online slot providers hope to leverage that by using branding you recognise to help games feel familiar to you, even if you’ve never played them. Providers have games based on soap operas, films, sports stars and even bands, hoping to use your love of that media to attract you to their online slots.
Retro Appeal Against Cost
In the case of The Goonies and other online slots featuring Top Cat, Naked Gun and the like, online slot providers hope to play on retro appeal. It might be easy to simply put a Top Gun online slot out there, as it is everywhere at the moment, but the license might cost more, outweighing the benefit. Something like Goonies, or Naked Gun, don’t have modern-day remakes, and they appeal to the nostalgia in us. Retro video gaming is big business, as people identify with brands they know from their younger years. You can imagine someone saying ‘I loved that film’ as they click on the Naked Gun game, not having seen the imagery for years.
Great Source Material
Whilst the branding is familiar to us for films such as The Goonies; it also makes developing a game far easier. The Goonies slot we reference earlier has a bonus game where Sloth swings across the screen shouting ‘Hey, you guys’ as he does; it’s an iconic moment from the film and shows how developers can use more than just the brand. The reels have images of the Goonies on them, and the same goes for other branded slots; working with some source material makes the game unique. With more than 1,000 slots on some providers’ sites, it must be nice to be able to create something unique without having to think too deeply about new ideas.
The ‘Games Like’ Factor
Finally, how often do we search for something related to our interests? For instance, searching shows like Game of Thrones will return plenty of hits because Game of Thrones fans yearn for something related to their favourite show after they’ve consumed all they can relate to Westeros. The same goes for The Goonies; it is one of the ideas returned when searching ‘films like Stranger Things’. As we touched upon earlier, licensing current popular shows might be expensive, but finding recognisable material that resonates with popular trends, but is not directly related, can be a great way to attract customers.
