Opinion: Turning the tables

Players are drawn to live dealer games for two reasons, they offer the most immersive gambling experience outside of a real-world casino, as well as skill and competition. Slots simply can’t compete with the authenticity and rawness of live dealer; the human interaction, the sound of cards being swept across the felt, the glitzy atmosphere that brings it all to life. Operators have spent years obsessing over their desktop products to ensure they deliver an incredible experience to the end user, but those looking to take their proposition to the next level are now firmly focused on mobile and tablet.

But porting live dealer games onto mobile platforms is a huge undertaking and has left many scratching their heads as to how best to do it. The challenges are obvious enough – including screen sizes that are much smaller than on desktop and games that are consumed on the go while hooked up to intermittent 4G/3G mobile networks. These hurdles need to be cleared, however, in order to offer players the multi-channel experience they are seeking. It’s something we have been focusing on for some time, and have been working closely with our partners in order to finally crack the code.

From the outset

We recently bolstered our offering by launching NetEnt Live for both desktop and mobile. This adds to our current game portfolio provided by Evolution Gaming but, more importantly, allows us to deliver a truly mobile experience to our players for the first time. This is all part of Codeta’s mission to kick-start a live table game revolution, a product we feel is being neglected by the vast majority of operators. The focus for a long-time has been on slots and casino games, as they are seen to be the main driver of revenues. The result, however, is a glut of “me too” sites that offer the same games, bonuses, and rewards. Very few operators are prepared to stand out from the crowd with a unique proposition and brand; to take a fresh approach and offer players a truly engaging and entertaining experience, both on desktop and mobile.

Table game champion

We see it as a gap in the market, and have positioned ourselves as the champion of live table games. But in order to fully capitalise on the potential, it’s not good enough simply to offer the best experience on desktop and mobile, you have to dare to be different. For that, we have looked to change the game via something called dual play. This is where live games are streamed from the floors of casinos all over the world, featuring real tables, dealers and, most importantly, players. It puts our users right at the heart of the action. We are also adding different live dealer products for our different player types – studio players have different preferences to those who enjoy dual-play.

Some may see our decision to focus on live table games as something of a risk; they could point at our product and say we are swimming firmly against the tide. And they would be right. But prior to launch we conducted a number of focus groups and in-depth market research; the results that came back gave us the confidence to take our idea to market and invest in a site we feel passionate about and, ultimately, are very proud of. In this regard, we are no different to our competitors. But, again, by taking a unique approach and consciously pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation, we are ahead of the curve and an industry leader. Mobile will continue to shape the live dealer industry, and as the platforms improve and the products are tweaked with the same obsessive attention to detail that desktop has enjoyed over the years, we believe we can bring table games back to where they belong. And that is firmly in the mainstream.