The Dutch gaming market has somewhat been placed under the spotlight since a landmark day at the turn of October 2021 saw ten licensees become the first brands to take steps into the country’s regulated ecosystem.
A little over one month later and Swintt cemented its own entry courtesy of an alliance with one of this aforementioned collective in Fair Play Casino amid grand ambitions of success.
Despite a strategic global focus being adopted by the group in the years since, and the evolving nature of the country’s igaming space, the Netherlands has remained a region of firm focus for Swintt, noted CEO David Mann.
In conversation with CasinoBeats, he elaborates on the Swintt strategy upon entering a newly regulated region, key trends and obstacles encountered, as well as teasing on what we can expect moving forward both within the Netherlands itself and further afield.
CasinoBeats: It has now been over two years since Swintt made its entry into the Dutch online gaming ecosystem. To cast your mind back, why was it deemed so essential to debut in the region so promptly after the region’s regulatory framework entered into force?
David Mann: Swintt always strives to enter as many regulated markets as we can, but this is even more the case when we already have content that’s specifically localised to players in the region.
Just as they’ve proved in Germany, SwinttPremium slots have been very popular in the Dutch land-based sector for a number of years, so it was a natural progression to take these games into the online market too.
Since launching in the Netherlands, we’ve seen that players know, love and trust these games, with many iconic favourites such as Seven Seven and Extra Win performing outstandingly well there.
As the Dutch market continues to evolve, we’ll look to add more modern twists to these traditional games to help bring them to life and ensure that they resonate with as wide an audience in the country as possible.
CB: Could you just talk us through your strategy in making headway into newly regulated jurisdictions? What challenges does this bring?
DM: To continue from the previous answer, we particularly like to enter new markets where we know the content we offer will have an audience from the start.
Even when our games may not be in the land-based sector of a particular country, we can see local players enjoy titles with similar themes, maths, and mechanics, so we know a market entry should prove fruitful.
Alongside this, we will have engaged with operators prior to entering a market to ensure we hit the ground running off the back of specific interest.
Of course, more markets does mean more to manage, but our compliance team does a fantastic job of keeping track of regional regulatory requirements and making sure we’re ready to go.
CB: What are the key trends you’ve witnessed in the Netherlands and how do you capitalise on these?
DM: As I mentioned previously, Swintt games are already well-known in the Netherlands within the land-based sector, so our Premium range of slots has been performing well there.
While we’re aiming to be a much more data-driven company in 2024, we’re currently operating mainly on market feel, and from what we know from our Dutch players, they’re similar to those in Germany and Poland in terms of having more traditional tastes when it comes to themes and features.
That said, as the market evolves, we expect these trends to evolve with it, so we’ll constantly be looking at ways to modernise our content and will also look to start introducing more innovative SwinttGames to Dutch players as well.
CB: Regarding specific games themselves, are there any themes, mechanics, functions etc that you would say have been particularly well received by Dutch players?
DM: Again, the answer to this goes back to our findings from the land-based sector in the Netherlands, where we’re in a good position to gain insights into players that also have a major bearing on our online strategy as well.
From what we know, traditional fruit machine-style slots and those based around the number seven have a great following in the Netherlands and we’ve seen this borne out in the fact that our Seven Seven series of games has been so popular there.
Some of the modern updates on these games are also being well-received by online players as we seek to build deeper engagement, with Seven Seven Pots and Pearls rejuvenating the original title with an in-game jackpot feature. Our data shows that any time this game is pushed by partners, there’s a tremendous uptake.
CB: Are there any teases that you could offer our readers regarding Swintt’s plans to make further headway into the region following the insights gained thus far?
DM: The biggest recent development for Swintt in the Netherlands has been our launch with Circus.nl and we’ve already seen a big spike in our revenues since we first went live with them.
Based on what we’ve learnt from the market so far, we’re expecting two of our upcoming Christmas releases – Santa’s Pots and Pearls and Seven Seven Xmas – to both be very successful there too.
With both of these games combining the staple themes and mechanics that have previously proved so popular with Dutch players with the extra appeal that comes from a seasonal release, we’re confident that this will prove to be a winning mixture that encourages further engagement from Dutch players in the coming weeks.
CB: What would you highlight as the key obstacles the market must overcome to ensure sustained success?
DM: Whenever a company enters a relatively new market, the key obstacles remain largely the same regardless of where in the world it is. The first thing is obviously to stay on top of the game regarding regulatory changes and ensure you continue to deliver safe content that remains compliant with all the local requirements.
Secondly, you have to make sure that your technology is up-to-date and that you’re capable of handling the influx of new players that will be coming to your platform.
Lastly, in any new market, the trends that you’re looking to jump are yet to be properly established, so you really need to work hard on the data collection and analysis side of things to ensure you get an accurate picture of what players really want.
CB: As we head towards the end of the year, what can we expect from Swintt in 2024 and beyond, either regarding the Dutch market or looking further afield?
DM: As ever, the plan is to enter as many new regulated markets as possible. Right now, we’re specifically looking to launch in the UK and Ontario, with Romania and Greece likely to follow later in the year.
Of those, the UK is a particular focus area and we’ll be providing some highly-localised content for that market by adding two more branded games with Vinnie Jones over the coming months.
In terms of the markets, we’re already live in, we want to continue ensuring that we have a diverse range of content available that caters for customers of all tastes and playing preferences, so we’ll be aiming to expand both our SwinttPremium and SwinttGames line-ups for all our partners in the Netherlands and beyond.
