Download research report here.
San Francisco 28 March 2013 – ‘Opportunities for Game Developers in Regulated Real-Money Online Gambling’, a new report commissioned by Odobo and researched by H2 Gambling Capital outlines the size of the global regulated online gambling market and provides new data to expose the scale of the opportunity for games development studios to tap into the most lucrative sector in games monetization.
Regulated real-money online gambling (RMG), excluding lottery and skill-based games, already generates almost $30bn in gross win internationally, with the UK and Europe accounting for 54% of the market. Recent legislation passed in several US states supports licensing for online gambling and, according to H2, means that by 2017 the US may already represent up to 30% of the global online gaming market and generate gross win just over $7.4bn, this will continue to grow annually.
Revenues in real-money online gambling are driven by player activity on digital games content with the developers of the games earning royalties of 7-15% of the gaming revenue generated by play of their games. Unlike social and casual gaming (where revenues are generated from a small subset of players), the vast majority of customers of RMG operators are paying revenue-generating players. This royalty alone results in Average Revenues Per User (ARPUs) for the game developer of 30-40 times higher than social gaming.
When game developers are also active in marketing their games and referring new players to the regulated online casino operators they gain access to additional revenues in the form of affiliate commissions of 25-30% of the player lifetime value. With Odobo, developers earn this additional income not only when referred player play the developer’s game(s), but on all gaming activity for the lifetime of the player. This amounts to an additional $350-$500 in developer revenue per player on top of game-play royalties. The combination of the game royalties and affiliate commissions can push the monthly ARPUs in excess of $35 per player.
H2 Gambling Capital also estimates the pace of convergence between real-money gambling and social casino gambling which, when combined, generated just over $30bn in 2012 and are forecast to grow to over $40bn by 2015. For social casino game developers and operators, additional revenues from RMG can fuel multi-channel marketing strategies providing a lift to all forms of monetization and helping the developers active in RMG to have an economical competitive advantage over other developers who are not active in this sector.
Odobo has streamlined the process by which games content for the RMG industry is created, licensed, distributed, marketed and monetized through a growing network of the largest established regulated gambling operators and their millions of funded-account customers. The Odobo Developer Program provides the GDK framework for the production of compliant and certified HTML5 games content and the Odobo Marketplace simplifies distribution of the games content to the industry. The consumer-facing Odobo Play portal provides an optimized marketing channel for the game developer to take an active role in marketing the availability of RMG versions of their games with participating operators in regulated markets.
The new revenue opportunity in online real-money gambling is too big for companies in the games business to overlook. The H2 Gambling Capital report is free from Odobo.
Please click here to download the PDF or email press@odobo.com for your copy.
View a video of The Legend of Olympus in HTML5 on to the Odobo Platform.
Vienna December 5 2012 - RABCAT, one of Europe’s most experienced production houses announces partnership with Odobo, the new HTML5 game development platform and marketplace for the regulated gambling industry.
Rabcat is a highly-accredited development studio that specialises in high-end art and animation production for the international videogame industry and the manufacture of premium applications for the global gambling industry.
The developer’s client base is a testament to its pedigree and includes Microsoft Games Studios, bwin, Rockstar Games, Atari, Disney Interactive, and the Austrian Lotteries. The company is already a leading supplier of games to the regulated gambling industry and is praised for its focus on creating premium gambling productions favored by casino operators and players alike.
Previously publishing its games in Flash, Rabcat had not yet found an avenue to bring them to a wider market through HTML5.
Florian Schmid, head of production at Rabcat, said: “Joining the Odobo Game Developer Program (GDP) and being able to leverage its Game Development Kit (GDK) has allowed us to create dynamic HTML5 games for a great experience on any device.”
The company’s first production on the Odobo platform will be the award winning The Legend of Olympus, a game awarded the title of “2011 Game of the Year” by the Austrian Lottery, operator of Win2day. It will appear as one of the first of many games for the Odobo marketplace, a B2B ‘app store’ innovation from Odobo to simplify the procurement of games content by licensed online casino operators.
Odobo CEO, Ashley Lang, commented: “The team at Rabcat was quick to recognise the migration of players from desktops to mobile devices for their entertainment and that HTML5 was key to reaching the widest segment of the gaming market. It has been a pleasure to work with Rabcat to bring Legend of Olympus to market in HTML5 on Odobo.”
Schmid added: “We are very excited to be working with Odobo to introduce The Legend of Olympus to more players, in more markets. We aim to have many more Odobo-ready games in the New Year, including the epic Castle Builder and Forsaken Kingdom.”
In early 2013, Odobo will launch Odobo Play, the consumer-facing side of the marketplace, which will bring together the greatest games, the developers that produce them and the licensed and regulated online casinos that support their play in a discovery-friendly format for players worldwide.
The Odobo developer program is accepting applications from game studios, producers and developers wishing to leverage the multi-million pound technology behind the Odobo GDK to produce new HTML5 gambling games.
Ashley Lang concluded: “Since launching Odobo last week, the response and interest from developers and casino operators has exceeded our expectations. Expect additional partnership announcements in the coming weeks.”
To view more about The Legend of Olympus HTML5 production including a video side-by-side comparison of the Flash version of the game to the Odobo HTML5 version as displayed across desktop, tablet and smartphones, please visit http://odobo.tumblr.com/.
For more information on the Odobo game development program and content marketplace visit www.odobo.com.
Below are some concept sketches through to production for the main characters of the game.
Some of the most popular casino games today are centuries old. Blackjack, for example, is believed to have originated in 17th century Spain, where it was known as ventiuna (twenty-one). Roulette wasn’t far behind when it emerged in France in the 18th century. Craps, baccarat, and keno also have European and Asian histories that have evolved into their modern formats, which players enjoy in land-based and online casinos worldwide.
Today’s global gambling industry generates sales exceeding USD $110bn per annum; this is more than sporting events, the music industry, and tourism. Of that, USD $35bn is online, where players can access this form of entertainment on their desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Despite the incredible growth of the regulated online gambling industry and leaps in personal computing and telecommunication advancements, blackjack and roulette still dominate casino earnings – games conceived hundreds of years ago.
One could say that familiarity, simplicity, and tradition all have their roles to play. That’s true. A lot of people play blackjack because it’s simple and familiar. We need to remind ourselves, however, that the technology available at those points in history was different. They used dice, wheels, and cards to create statistical randomness because there was no digital alternative. Those physical representations, however, have now been digitised and look much the same as they always have; a blackjack table is the same as it is in the casino as it is on your modern smartphone device.
But is it necessary for traditional gambling games to always look and play the same?
There is room for creativity to be applied to gambling game design both from a mechanics and UI perspective. There are opportunities to take the games with which we are familiar, learn from current casual, social, and mainstream game design trends, and offer these concepts in completely new, fun, and interesting ways. Just because there is a slot engine powering a game doesn’t mean it necessarily needs to look like a traditional slot you’d find on a casino floor. The same is true for blackjack - ultimately, the mechanic is to reach as close to “21” using a scoring system; does that need to be reflected as cards in the visuals?
Interactively, there is plenty of room for improvement. Devices created in the last decade have brought unparalleled computing power to include sophisticated touch gestures, location handling, and multimedia capabilities we only used to dream about. The Internet is changing gaming and modern web-enabled devices offer players the opportunity to partake in gambling entertainment in different ways.
We believe the modern online gambling games that will be featured in the history books has yet to be invented. There is opportunity to expand upon 17th century creativity and produce incredible experiences for today’s players.
Until today, there has been a chasm between the development community, where the creativity to conceive such a game sits, and the regulated gambling industry, where the infrastructure and licensing exists to deliver the game to the player. Odobo was built to bridge this gap and enable both sides to reap the corresponding rewards.
Odobo is the games development program and marketplace for the regulated online gambling industry. We provide the tools, resources, and guidance you need to produce games that meet strict regulatory standards. We then provide you a marketing, distribution and monetisation platform to connect you with the industry and their players. By doing the heavy lifting, we unlock you to focus on creativity, to help speed up your time to market, and reduce your associated costs.
We’d love to hear your ideas and work with you. Let’s talk and explore how we can help you realise a new business opportunity to bring regulated games into the 21st century.
We look forward to working with you.
Gibraltar 27 November 2012 10:00am – Odobo, the new HTML5 games development program and platform for the regulated online gambling industry, has launched today.
Odobo is accepting applications to its Game Developer Program from game studios and producers. This presents a new opportunity for game developers to capitalise on the high-value players in the online gambling industry via distribution through licensed casino operators worldwide.
Founder and CEO Ashley Lang, who brings Odobo 12 years of senior management experience in the international gambling industry, said: “It’s very likely that the blockbuster game that will help take online casino gambling mainstream has not been invented yet. We thought, ‘how would any developer with that great game idea overcome all the hurdles in today’s industry?’ Something needed to change.”
Average revenues per user are 20 times higher than social and casual gaming, and tens of millions of active players are forecast to generate revenues in excess of USD $32bn by 2015. Odobo enables developers and operators to work together to realise the true potential of this high-growth industry.
Lang said: “Casino operators invest millions in marketing and are actively seeking new and high-quality content from a wider variety of developers to engage existing players and attract tomorrow’s new ones. We saw a big opportunity to revisit the way content is created, distributed, marketed and monetised to the benefit of all stakeholders.”
The Odobo Games Development Kit (GDK) supports HTML5 game production based upon engines and random number generators that are certified by industry-accredited third-party testing facilities. Odobo looks after localisation and makes all approved games available in multiple currencies and languages.
Games built within the framework of the Odobo Developer Program are unique in that they rival top-quality Flash games on the desktop while also supporting the rapid shift towards tablets and smartphones. All approved games are available to casino operators via the Odobo marketplace - a B2B content “app store” for the industry - launching in early 2013.
The consumer-facing Odobo Play portal launches in first quarter of 2013. Every game, developer and casino operator will have their own profile page, acting as a new marketing channel and allowing anyone to promote Odobo games, the studios that produce them, and the casinos that support their play.
There is a lot of excitement over the convergence of social and regulated gaming. We have designed the Odobo platform to enable and support innovation, while operating within a regulatory framework where responsible gaming and fair-play measures are in place to protect the players,” added Lang.
The Odobo platform, GDK and marketplace are the result of over 18 months of development by a team of over 40 industry engineers, architects, designers, and developers. Odobo has invested millions into building a sophisticated, high-volume platform that supports a vast number of players. The company is based in Gibraltar, a globally-recognised regulatory jurisdiction and the home of the largest online casino operators.
For developers requiring assistance with HTML5 game production, Odobo offers access to an in-house HTML5 game development team. Once a developer’s game is live, they can use a comprehensive analytics platform for unparalleled real-time gameplay visibility and historic reporting. This gives developers unique insights into the key metrics driving their game’s success.
For more information, visit www.odobo.com.
