Although European jurisdictions have dominated the online casino industry over the past decade, the Americas continue to present lucrative opportunities that could soon see countries like the US, Brazil and Canada overtake them.
One studio taking a strategic approach to entering both North and South America is Greentube, which took to the exhibition floor at ICE London to showcase its latest Diamond Link slot release, Athena Goddess of War.
In and amongst unveiling the new money-recycling and enhanced hit frequency features within the title, Jelena Popovic, Greentube’s Regional Manager for the US, spoke with CasinoBeats about the cross-continental differences facing studios looking to make a name for themselves across the pond.
When considering current trends in both the US and Europe, Popovic explained that the markets are “very different” from one another.
“The stage of the US online market has a different level of ripeness,” she said. “Some things we are already copying from Europe and giving it to the US market, but the main difference is how the players are accepting this. US players are way faster at picking them up as they’ve already seen what they looked like in Europe.
“The main focus for us and other suppliers is to find the definite uniqueness in a game that will bring people to play it over and over again. That’s what we have seen with our Diamond Link family [of games].
“Diamond Link is the original family for Greentube, we’ve seen a lot of VIPs and high-rollers playing them but we’ve also seen a lot of people that are completely new to igaming pick up the titles, and keep on playing them.
“This is something that we will focus on for this year, we have way more games coming into this family.”
When questioned on whether a lack of US states considering online casino regulation can spur innovation in the currently regulated states, Popovic replied: “For me, the US means innovation. Just because they came a bit later to the game doesn’t mean that they’re not going to bring something completely new.”
She continued: “Now, with more and more states opening up, and with the few that are open already, what I see is more control from regulators in how they’re going to manage the players and keep them secure.
“After COVID, there wasn’t the option to visit the casinos, so they found a way to have players sit at their computer or on the subway on their phone to play online casino games and be very happy about it.”
Besides the US, Ontario continues to make strides in the online casino space, with Popovic claiming that the importance for studios to have a strong presence in the Canadian province is “huge”.
She said: “It’s definitely huge. I do believe that it’s going to maybe be even more important than some other US states, we’re going to wait and see. I’m looking forward to it, I really like good competition and I think healthy competition is something that is bringing a fighting spirit and I’m here for it.
“I think if operators, especially US operators, decide to enter Ontario then we’re going to see a big run, as there are already European operators in there and they’re slowly building up the momentum.”
In terms of regulation, Popovic suggested that up-and-coming US markets can gain a lot of insight from Ontario and the way its online casino sector is regulated.
She commented: “Since we had the grey market in Ontario before and now with so many operators live, I think US markets can pick things up because, with regulation, you need to find bits and pieces and compile it together to discover that ‘this works’ or ‘this doesn’t work’.
“There is a lot of knowledge out there, and I do believe that Canada, in general, can offer a lot. The whole of North America, I hope, and I think I know, will be even bigger than Europe.”
Moving into the Southern hemisphere, Brazil’s inbound online casino regulation has sent suppliers into a frenzy to take advantage of one of the world’s most populous countries opening its doors to igaming.
Appearing at ICE London to talk about all things Latin America was Julia Schagerl, Greentube’s Regional Manager for Germany, Latin America and Scandinavia.
Detailing the opportunities Brazil can offer to the online casino industry, Schagerl explained that Brazil is “definitely a target” for the slot supplier.
“We’re already present in Latin America,” she explained. “Brazil has been basically the biggest market there and is definitely one of our focus markets for, not only this year but for upcoming years.
“We have tried to target it with not just the land-based content that we already have present in the region, but we also have a games studio based in the US working on producing content just for Brazil.”
To see why Popovic and Schagerl believe a localised approach is key on both sides of the Americas as well as an exclusive look at the studio’s new Athena Goddess of War slot, click here.
