Egaming's big bang

Behind all the entries submitted for the eGaming Awards is a long, commendable list of achievements representing an indelible record for online gaming. The fact that online gaming’s library of records is filling up fast with volumes of material is a testament to the industry’s electrifying pace of development.

From obscurity to being a multi-billion dollar industry in little more than a decade, online gaming has exploded on to the world map of commerce and entertainment. Our industrial ‘Big Bang’ has created a galaxy of innovative and technologically-advanced companies, offering great entertainment. Our universe continues to expand and we will need considerably more shelf space to house the archives of our successes in the coming years.

The eGaming Awards are not just about winners, they celebrate the achievements of finalists, first stage entries and others in the industry. Like pioneers venturing into the unknown, egaming is part of the vanguard of e-commerce, developing new frontiers.

So, where is this industry heading? There are intangible but nonetheless real feelings among the industry that the intrepid entrepreneurialism and enthusiasm that drove egaming companies over the past decade shows no sign of waning. I am sure ‘we ain’t seen northing yet’!

Technology has pushed forward all industrial frontiers considerably in the last 25 years, especially so for e-commerce, which has enjoyed an almost unabated rise in activity in the last 10 years. However, just sitting about and waiting around for the next technological development to come onstream before making a move is not what online gaming companies and the industry’s entrepreneurs are about.

Our sector is focused on staking a revenue claim at the shifting frontier of remote technology and the entrepreneurial vision is often way ahead of the assets required to mine prospects; neither vision nor innovation are in short supply in this industry. We can expect a continual stream of great innovations set against a backdrop of more structural change in the industry’s composition and regulatory landscape.

If history teaches us anything about the future it is that all industries have to face up to and embrace perpetual cycles of change, adaptation, innovation, consolidation and a tireless demand for greater quality from the consumer. egaming shares these traits in abundance.

The penetration of broadband around the world in particular is shaping present and future consumer tastes for online gaming; simple slot machines will not suffice, because customers want more and better products. Weak brands will fail and anything less than 100% focus on the customer will see them click away to sites that serve up a menu that whets and satisfies their increasing appetites for fun and entertainment online.

History also teaches us that the pace of regulatory developments in any industry is akin to comparing a 100m race between Usain Bolt, representing companies; and country ramblers, representing governments. The ramblers will always be second to reach their destination and not necessarily in a straight line.

Many of today’s online gaming companies, be they operators, software or games developers are the personification of the consumers’ rightful demands for trust, loyalty, security, fairness and honesty. These are the standards we adhere to, uphold and continue to raise. We may be the Usain Bolt but there is a need for the ramblers to change into their running shoes and at least begin to jog up the same track and put effective regulations in place to ensure a safe and secure gaming environment.

Unfortunately, progress has been slow and only now are administrations beginning to recognise that the best and most pragmatic option is to regulate online gaming.

Pragmatism is when sense and sensibility prevail over protectionism. Any defence of archaic monopolistic practices is flawed and penalises the consumer. The development of a healthy competitive, productive and regulated free market system is the logical way forward. Creating an appropriate regulatory framework has to be the focus for everyone involved in online gaming. We have a duty to protect the consumer and eradicate any maverick behaviour.

The collective sum of everything we face in this industry today, tomorrow and beyond is about change, especially given the speed at which consumer tastes are evolving and these are aptly summed up by paraphrasing Billy Connolly, a very humorous observer of human behaviour: “They will want more tomorrow, and all their demands will be changed then ““ so stay awake!”

– Jim Ryan is chief executive of PartyGaming