CasinoBeats talks to Claire McDaid, VP of bingo at Pragmatic Play, about the provider’s impressive bingo launch and what innovations could be next for the creative supplier.
CasinoBeats: Pragmatic Play’s Bingo offering has gone from strength to strength in the last year – what have been the highlights for you?
Claire McDaid: It’s been a truly sensational year for our bingo vertical. We’ve launched a number of new products, headlined by our Bingo Blast title, while also allowing more players to access our content by growing our network of tier-one operators such as SkillOnNet’s PlayOJO.
We also won two awards at the WhichBingo Awards, highlighting how impressive our bingo products are. It’s been a rollercoaster of a year but one which has been hugely exciting to be on, with some fantastic results for the bingo team.
CB: Bingo Blast brought something completely new to the bingo vertical – what was the inspiration for this?
CM: Equally, mobile players now make up an extraordinarily large proportion of the gaming public, with short, sharp, engaging betting experiences the priority for this segment. Bingo Blast was devised to take the best parts of bingo and condense it into a fast-paced, fun-filled mobile friendly variant that can still attract traditional players.
By ‘blasting’ the first few rounds, players can swiftly go from the start of the game to within one ball away from winning in a short period of time. By maintaining the excitement of being so close to a win without the slow paced traditional build-up one expects from bingo, we’ve managed to marry up the excitement without compromising what the game’s key attributes that so many love.
“It’s important for all verticals that they remain open to innovation”
CB: Tell us more about this upcoming Reels Room concept?
CM: With Pragmatic Play having such a strong catalogue of top performing slot games, we knew that we had the slot content that appeals to both bingo and casino players. It was a ‘no-brainer’ to utilise our own existing portfolio of products to enable our partners to x-sell seamlessly between bingo and slots and expand their player database and increase LTVs.
Bingo games played within our Reels Room are of the popular 90-ball variant and simply pay-out in spins on our featured Pragmatic Play slot game instead of cash. Traditionally the slots and bingo players sit apart as gamblers, but Reels Room is designed to ensure that cross-sell between the two verticals is easier than ever before.
The user experience has been the focal point of the entire concept. A dedicated room is available where the creative sets the room apart, showcasing our Reels Room ‘Slot of the Month’ – the game the user will be awarded the free spins on. The slots games we chose are a mixture of our best performing and new releases which ensures the offering is kept fresh.
The user can claim their spins immediately and as all our slot games are offered in mini-game version, the player does not need to leave the bingo client. There is also the ability to pre-buy for games up to 30 days in advance and user are given all the necessary game information in engaging UI.
It is designed to keep players engaged, create longer sessions and increase acquisition of bingo players for those partners/operators who may be completely new to a bingo product, converting them to hybrid bettors with extended life cycles and a lower rate of churn.
“Mobile players now make up an extraordinarily large proportion of the gaming public”
CB: How important is bringing innovation to the bingo vertical?
CM: It’s important for all verticals that they remain open to innovation, but for a long time bingo was too content with operating in the space it was familiar with. While the bricks and mortar bingo environment will be impossible to replace, different demographics have different requirements, so for the vertical to broaden its appeal it needs to embrace technology and innovation. We’ve achieved this through the development of Bingo Blast and Reels Room and are always looking at new ways to innovate within the sector.
Companies that embrace innovation will always succeed with a product as well-liked and popular in established products such as bingo, as being able to bring something new to an old favourite will always draw attention.
CB: Where can Pragmatic Play’s bingo offering go next?
CM: Global! We’ve already integrated Scandinavian focused operators as well as our current partners expanding their offering outside of the UK too. The focus will be on continuing that growth integrating more operators into our client network from all over the world, from Latin America to and Europe, while we continue to grow our existing partnerships to include our bingo offering alongside slots or live casino.
There’s so much opportunity for our bingo product range to attract new players and give a truly unique experience. There are plenty of exciting opportunities for growth in the near future and look forward to delivering more innovative concepts to the marketplace.