Building a sustainable iGaming business—whether it’s in software development, or in the provider-operator space—requires steady compliance with local regulations, securing the necessary permits, delivering a secure platform for players, and a whole lot more.
The market is competitive, with new content and new technologies constantly emerging and adapting to the ever-changing market.
With a decade of manual crowdtesting experience in the iGaming industry, Testa’s analysts have an in-depth understanding of the challenges iGaming companies face and the solutions that can give them an edge over the competition.
The ever-growing iGaming industry
The iGaming industry has been experiencing immense growth on a global scale. The iGaming market is valued at around $59 billion, and this trend is expected to continue in the coming years as per Internet Vikings iGaming & Sports Betting Future magazine.
Massive growth
In 2023, the value is forecasted to be at $90 billion. One significant factor driving this growth is mobile devices’ increasing popularity and accessibility worldwide. Consumers are more inclined to engage with online gambling and sports betting, given more accessibility and respective local laws opening in around 80 countries worldwide where online gambling is permitted and regulated. Due to its growing popularity, the industry is subject to strict regulations and laws in each region.
Urgency to comply
There is an urgency for operators complying with local laws and regulations to operate their services in different countries legally. To operate legally in local markets and make the most of opportunities, iGaming websites must have a valid license. A regulating body is responsible for ensuring compliance with standards and laws. Countries or territories can get strict with their rules by blocking resources that try to bypass them or handing out punishments. Operators and providers should diligently obtain the necessary permits, as the penalties vary from region-to-region and state-to-state.
Highly competitive
Aside from this, the market is highly competitive as many international brands are competing for customers. Technically skilled professionals such as web developers and engineers are often needed to create a smooth user experience.
For example, they must use CDN services and VPS servers for live streaming and virtual private servers. They must also integrate operators and service providers into their platforms so that customer transactions remain secure. Another issue facing this industry is security risk due to the digital nature of the operations.
Know your customer
Since financial transactions are conducted online, customer information must be carefully stored to protect them from fraud or identity theft. KYC processes are extremely important for customer verification during banking transactions.
Localization
If operators want to operate internationally, they might face localization problems due to cultural differences between markets, such as language barriers or lack of trust from local users towards international brands. Getting real customer feedback can be challenging since most interactions occur through digital channels instead of face-to-face encounters.
Pain points of the iGaming industry
The iGaming industry has numerous challenges due mainly to its highly regulated nature, intense competition, and technical complexities that require real testing with real-world feedback.
Here are some examples:
- Compliance with local regulations – Online gaming regulations vary widely from country to country. iGaming companies often face challenges in the legal compliance processes to operate within a given region. This is very important to avoid significant penalties. One example is when Britain’s Gambling Commission has imposed a hefty 19.2 million pound penalty on William Hill’s betting group, its biggest fine ever given, in response to their failure to protect customers and prevent money laundering.
- Security Concerns – The industry has witnessed a remarkable increase in hacking attacks and cybersecurity breaches recently. The threat of hacking, phishing, and other cyber-attacks could quickly become a significant issue.
- Payment gateways – Payment regulations vary from country to country. So payment systems are in different currencies and work through various payment channels. Every payment channel has some constraints on it. This also leads to players’ preference for latency. As per Internet Vikings report, anything more than 100ms to 150ms loading time can make them switch to competitors, negatively affecting the brands.
- Technical glitches – Technical malfunctions can strike at any point, potentially causing disruptions in the gaming process. For example, video buffering or slow loading speed can affect the player’s gaming experience, causing frustration and driving customers away to play elsewhere.
- Customer support – Technical issues can be challenging for players to navigate, causing them to get stuck during the game. As a result, access to efficient customer support is crucial to help troubleshoot issues and ensure customer satisfaction. Failure to provide timely support could quickly lead to negative reviews and onboarding customers.
- Language and culture accuracy – can help players feel welcomed by the platform, understand the content, and accurately navigate games based on their region or country. It can also help developers create a gaming experience tailored to their target audience’s specific needs and interests. Language and cultural awareness can also impact user engagement, as unfamiliar or unclear content may lead players to disengage from games altogether.
These factors, among others, contribute to iGaming’s technical support’s pain points. The industry’s growth and success heavily depend on efficient technical and customer support to provide an optimum gaming experience, handle compliance issues, and ensure cyber-attack security.
Crowdtesting and iGaming industry
Crowdtesting is an effective solution for the problems faced by the online gaming industry. Through this, operational and technical risks can be significantly reduced due to the vast network of testers. Furthermore, crowdtesting allows companies to get manual testing feedback from various users in different countries. This helps them identify potential bugs or issues quickly and efficiently. Payment testing can also be conducted effectively with crowdtesting as it offers a secure environment for sensitive configurations.
Moreover, with crowdtesting, companies can test their iGaming software on various devices and platforms across operating systems such as iOS, Android, Windows, etc., ensuring compatibility with multiple devices and seamless performance at multiple user levels. Due to numerous integrations needed between operators and service providers like payment processors and game providers, crowdtesting can help verify that all integrations are working correctly and securely before launching a platform or any new updates.
Crowdtesting benefits to iGaming industry
Crowdtesting brings many benefits to the iGaming industry. Manual crowdtesting allows companies to get feedback from various users in different countries, enabling them to detect bugs and other technical issues quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, qualified testers can provide deeper insights into specific problems, while non-tech testers can offer insight into how similar potential players experience the game.
In addition, crowdtesting can help provide feedback before a new game or update is launched, allowing companies to address any potential issues or flaws to improve user experience. Moreover, localization solutions offered by crowdtesting can attract more players as localized content helps customers feel more comfortable and familiar with a product.
Payment testing is another benefit of crowdtesting as it helps ensure that payments are conducted securely for actual and cryptocurrency transactions. Regarding device compatibility, crowdtesting helps verify that software works properly across different devices and platforms such as iOS, Android, Windows, etc., increasing ROI due to better customer satisfaction and local marketing opportunities.
Conclusion
Given the iGaming industry’s continuous growth, operators must ensure compliance with local laws and regulations, obtain necessary permits, and create a secure platform for customers. In this highly competitive market, it’s vital for successful iGaming operators to practice real user testing through crowdtesting to provide users with a seamless experience.
With 10 years of manual crowdtesting experience in the iGaming field, Testa analysts have deep knowledge of the unique challenges that iGaming companies face. To know more about how crowdtesting can help you, please leave a message and a Testa analyst will be in touch within 1 business day.
About the author
Rebecca CHEN
TESTA Marketing coordinator