Multiplayer madness: how changing demographics are leading to content shifts

Connectivity to communities of like-minded individuals has become more important than ever during the challenging times we are living in.

Whether it is Zoom quizzes with friends or battling against fellow gamers in online tournaments, being connected to your community has provided positive moments for many of us. I fully expect this shift to continue across a variety of sectors aimed at gen Y and gen Z audiences, with real-money gaming the next to benefit.

In live casino, we have already seen a rapid increase in the popularity of new gameshow-style, community-driven, active decision-based gambling games. We have also witnessed the huge growth of multiplayer content in the crypto space such as ‘Crash’ style games. Like live casino, these are community-driven with added interactive features, decision-based with players choosing when to ‘cash out’ before you crash out, and played by thousands of concurrent, like-minded users.

Community is the backbone of multiplayer games and a major factor behind their meteoric growth. You only need to look at the mass market online gaming world and see how many people are playing the likes of Fortnite, or more recently, Among Us. In September last year this was estimated to be a staggering 60 million people per day. Imagine if that was our sector.

Several disruptive companies in real-money gaming are focusing on multiplayer content that builds on its foundations of community and socialising, with players’ activity on view, both in real-time and historically, and with added features allowing them to express themselves through chat or emojis, for example.

The other key ingredient in the secret sauce to multiplayer games success is simplicity. The most successful multiplayer games are all based on concepts which are simple but engaging, without the need for complex visuals or mechanics to keep players interested. This is vital for gen Y or gen Z audiences.

Hungry for change

Our experience in crypto has been essential to this process and we have learned that the next generation of real-money players are hungry for change – a different style of casino game – and rather than enjoying the solitary pursuit of slots, they are increasingly turning to multiplayer, single outcome content where they can immerse themselves, engage with one another, and share experiences.

These types of products offer a very different experience to standard single-player games such as slots, or live casino. Based on our research there is a huge appetite from 18 to 35-year-old casino players who are looking for new experiences and who want to play social, strategic games.

Equally, there is a high demand within the gaming industry for this type of content, with several big-name operators interested in making the most of this opportunity and tapping into a trend which is only going to grow.

Slots will naturally always have their place, however, the move to multiplayer within real-money gaming has arrived quicker than many anticipated. Its growth has arisen through a new generation who are constantly connected, enjoy simple, social concepts they can share and who we believe will take this form of gaming to a global scale.

With operators looking for novel ways to engage new audiences, I firmly believe multiplayer games will make a big impact in 2021 and beyond, giving global brands the opportunity to deliver highly differentiated content to next generation players who we risk losing if we fail to look outside of our comfort zone.