In the bustling world of iGaming, providers and operators form the backbone of an industry that entertains millions worldwide. Providers, often the unsung heroes behind the scenes, are responsible for developing cutting-edge games and iGaming software, designing immersive platforms, and ensuring seamless user experiences. On the other hand, operators act as the conduits between providers and players, curating diverse portfolios of games, managing platforms, and facilitating transactions.
Currently, the industry is experiencing a period of exponential growth. Driven by factors like increasing internet penetration, growing disposable incomes, and the legalization of online gambling in new markets, the industry is expected to reach a value of $158.9 billion by 2028. For such a fast-growing and competitive market, quality assurance (QA) is becoming increasingly important to help companies stand out from their competitors.
TESTA specializes in crowdtesting services for the iGaming sector, offering testing services for everything that a provider might need. With our pool of QA-trained and iGaming-familiar testers, we offer four key services to help you leave a lasting impression in the minds of players worldwide.
Challenges with developing iGaming software
From ensuring seamless integration of platforms to understanding market dynamics and maintaining optimal performance, iGaming providers face a myriad of hurdles on their path to success. But one common solution exists among them, and that is the fact that testing and iterating is the best way forward.
Crowdtesting is a powerful tool that leverages the power of real people with real devices to identify problems and clarify the circumstances needed to create them. By employing crowdtesting, providers can circumvent many of these hurdles and rest easy knowing that they are offering an objectively superior product against one that hasn’t been thoroughly vetted.
Solution 1: Partner integration testing
For iGaming providers, integrating with partners is the watershed moment—a true test of compatibility where thousands of hours of work come to light. It’s the initial step towards a new market that finally translates excellence in iGaming directly into revenue. But even with meticulous documentation and streamlined processes, integration remains a daunting challenge for many providers.
Integration challenges for iGaming software
- Time zone and language: Working with an operator in a different country often means that communication will take extra time and effort due to time zone differences and language barriers.
- Requirements and configurations: Getting the nitty-gritty of integration down is just time-consuming, even without other obstacles in place.
- Problem resolution: And when problems inevitably arise, providers and operators can be triggered into a finger-pointing match of claiming unfulfilled responsibilities.
Crowdsourced partner integration testing advantages
- Target market testers: TESTA works with testers from the same country as your players and speak the same language. They can effectively identify gameplay and localization issues that your players are likely going to face.
- Tests en masse: Unlike traditional in-lab testing companies, TESTA has its strength in numbers and diversity. We have hundreds of testers that can perform tests under many different network conditions and devices in a way that one team in one location can’t.
- Video recordings: Once our testers identify a problem, they will document the steps they took to create it and submit a video recording of the whole test. This can help providers and their partners come together to resolve problems without the need for time-consuming correspondence. Sometimes, a video is worth a thousand words.
Case study: one week in Germany
- Client problem: A provider that launched their games in Germany started receiving player complaints shortly after launch. Players were experiencing random crashes and delayed payments, all the while core game features like bonuses weren’t working.
- TESTA solution: The provider worked with TESTA to have crowd testers in Germany playtest the game. The crowdtesters were able to find a myriad of causes for each problem and record them. Everything ranging from network issues, software conflicts, to payment integration problems was found.
- Results: The provider was able to fix the most urgent issues in the first week, and continued to update their games for bug fixes and performance improvements thereafter through continuous tester feedback. The operators were impressed with how proactive the provider was, while the players were happily betting along with the first week of rough launch soon behind them.
Solution 2: Market research & benchmarking
Every market is different: players, device performances, network conditions, and more. In order to succeed in a market, providers need to offer the best experience in comparison to their peers. And if you want to know how your own odds are faring against your competitors, TESTA is your man on the ground to turn to.
TESTA has previously conducted market research benchmarks in the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Japan, Ohio and Ontario, where we crowdtested hundreds of games from the top providers in each market to find out how their games performed across the board. For your entry into a new market, TESTA can be an important ally in understanding how you can tailor your games for maximum player engagement.
Identifying market characteristics
- Player preferences: Players in each market have their own thematic preferences and betting behaviors. While anime-themed apps might work in Japan, Brazilian players just seem to have a greater fondness for animals.
- Competitor offerings: What types of iGaming apps are in that market? What’s their game load speed performance? And what do players think about them? If you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors, knowing how your peers operate is the first step.
- Network and device distribution: Optimizing your games for low-end devices and spotty network connections costs time and money. Sometimes you need to, but sometimes you don’t.
Crowdtesting advantages
- Global reach: TESTA’s global network of crowd testers provides comprehensive coverage across diverse markets,
- Real tests: Crowdtesting doesn’t just replicate real-world scenarios, we test in the real-world situations as they are. With real testers using real devices in real locations, TESTA’s crowdtesting approach delivers authentic insights to help providers make data-driven decisions.
- Cost-effective: Crowdtesting offers a cost-effective solution for market research and benchmarking, allowing providers to access valuable insights without the overhead costs associated with traditional testing methods.
Leading providers from each market at a glance
Drawing from our previously conducted market research benchmarks (links are at the beginning of this section), we present the game load speeds of top iGaming providers across six Asian countries: India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Vietnam.
Causes of slow load speeds:
- Limited 4G coverage: Regions with inadequate 4G coverage may experience slower load speeds due to reliance on slower networks or even 3G technologies.
- Network congestion: High levels of network congestion, particularly during peak usage times, can significantly impact load speeds and overall experience.
- Infrastructure challenges: Regions with underdeveloped or outdated network infrastructure may struggle to deliver fast and reliable internet connections.
By analyzing load speed data and identifying underlying factors, iGaming providers can tailor their strategies and optimize game performance to meet the specific needs and challenges of each market. This is needed to enhance user experiences and stay competitive in the highly competitive iGaming industry.
Solution 3: Compatibility testing
With over 75% of all online gaming revenue coming from the mobile sector, optimizing UX on mobile is a must for any provider looking to profit. But mobile compatibility is hard to get right. With so many different devices sporting all sorts of resolutions, screen sizes, and processing power, optimizing for mobile UX can be a headache.
But while mobile complexity might be a challenge, crowdtesting excels through strength in numbers.
iGaming software compatibility challenges
- Accessibility: Games need to be playable and reasonably performant across a plethora of devices to keep players interested.
- Performance variance: For many new iGaming markets, mid-end and low-end phones are prevalent and compatibility needs to take that into account.
- Diversity of scenario: Traditional in-lab testing needs to simulate a large number of scenarios, leading to costly and lengthy test times.
Crowdtesting advantages
- Strength in numbers: With a large team of testers at the ready, crowdtesting can churn through large volumes of tests at speeds that traditional testing can’t compare to.
- Hardware resemblance: Unlike in-lab testers, our crowdtesters test with their own devices. Results collected through their tests will inherently resemble the hardware variance of a market.
- Trained testers: TESTA’s large pool of trained testers are familiar with iGaming norms and kinks. They know where games tend to fail the most and know how to use diagnostic tools to pinpoint the cause.
Case study: a Swedish iGaming software situation
Client problem: A prominent Swedish provider wanted to ensure consistent performance of their games across devices and markets.
Crowdtesting solution: The client partnered with a crowdtesting company with a diverse pool of testers and devices, achieving wider coverage than in-house testing could manage, and identifying compatibility issues across various platforms and browsers.
Final result: Compared to traditional testing methods, crowdtesting proved significantly more cost-effective, freeing up resources for other development tasks. By addressing compatibility issues promptly, they further ensured a smooth and enjoyable live casino experience for players on all devices, boosting player satisfaction and loyalty.
Solution 4: Performance testing
Performance really is a two-pronged issue. There is performance on the player end, and the ability to support player performance on the server end. But for players, they don’t care which end the issue is in, they just perceive poor performance when they feel it. Good performance, like good service, is something players don’t explicitly feel.
Performance challenges
- Performance and user experience play a pivotal role in determining user retention and trust.
- Providers need to ensure their servers can handle surges of players from different locations, connecting to them without infrastructure slowdowns.
- Continuous improvement creates lasting growth, which can be both time-consuming and expensive if not done right.
Crowdtesting advantages for iGaming software
- TESTA crowdtesting can help guarantee optimal performance under varying loads, conditions, and more.
- Crowdtesting can account for varying network conditions, longer distances, infrastructure, game servers, and CDNs.
- TESTA focuses on onboarding, payments, game load speeds, withdrawals, and more. It covers the user experience (UX) of the entire iGaming customer journey.
Case study: Playgon’s entry into a new market
Client problem: Playgon, a leading name in the iGaming industry, had limited experience with streaming providers in the new regions they were entering. Additionally, they needed to ensure their new video technology, webRTC, was compatible in the regions.
Crowdtesting solution: Playgon turned to TESTA, an expert in assessing video performance across markets. TESTA recruited testers in multiple countries to record performance metrics and conducted exploratory testing in those countries to find out how their product was perceived.
Final result: The average response time of the game improved substantially with a significant 43% reduction in average response time. After the project concluded, Playgon continued the partnership to work with TESTA to validate new markets and test integrations.
Crowdtesting and you: is your iGaming software ready?
- Partner integration testing: Fast-track your entry to a new market.
- Market research & benchmark: Know what your players expect so that you can deliver them.
- Compatibility testing: Only a playing user can be a paying user.
- Performance testing: But it takes a happy user to be a spending user.
TESTA’s crowdtesting solutions are designed to help you empower your iGaming software business. Start crowdtesting today and work with players from around the globe to find success wherever you choose to go.
- Contact us: Experience first-hand how TESTA’s crowdtesting can benefit your iGaming operations.
- Find us on LinkedIn: Share the insights you’ve gained from TESTA’s analysis across the industry.
- Read more articles: Stay informed about the latest trends and benchmarks in iGaming.
About the author
Rebecca CHEN
TESTA Marketing coordinator