On February 4, iGaming NEXT published an interview with Evolution Product Director, Todd Haushalter. For more than two hours, they talked with host Pierre Lindh about gambling and other issues. The future of the gambling industry was discussed, in particular, the potential of virtual reality, the company's plans for hybrid games, as well as the benefits and harms of increased regulation.
Todd doesn't see VR as the future of gambling
The host noted that many now consider virtual reality to be the next big breakthrough in gambling. However, the product director of Evolution expressed a practical point of view. In his opinion, it is expected to predict the transition to virtual reality, but this is unlikely, since players will not carry VR helmets with them and wear them in public places. Therefore, the technology will not be able to displace mobile devices.
He sees innovation in the way players play. For example, he named gambling through television or gambling in video games as one of the possible options. When the movement begins in this direction, some companies will lose, others will emerge victorious.
New "hybrid" games from Evolution and only quality slots
2021 will be the year of hybrid games for Evolution. The company will combine the world of live casino and slots. The product director did not go into details of what kind of product it will be, saying only that the first hybrid game will be released in May and it will be very interesting. He sees great opportunities in the direction of such hybrid games.
The host also noted that Evolution is one of the few developers who does not release a huge number of games and focuses primarily on quality. While the NetEnt acquired by them began to lean towards a quantitative approach.
When asked what strategy will be used for NetEnt now, the director replied that NetEnt may have begun to chase the quantity, but he does not like it. He does not think in terms of numbers, and now NetEnt will take the approach that is used in Evolution. They will only create world class games.
According to him, slots and live games have different life cycles. Slots experience the best moments in the first month after the release. And for live games, this period, on the contrary, is the worst. Live games are gradually gaining popularity and remain relevant for a long time. But in the world of slots, there are just a huge number of releases and a short life. But even when the market is oversaturated, great games will break into the top and linger there.
Tight regulation is the bailout from Amazon
When asked about the tightening of industry regulation, he said that of course this slows down innovation. After all, to ensure compliance with many rules, companies spend money that could be invested in product development. But it also holds the industry back from too many new competitors.
He joked that tight regulation keeps Google and Amazon from poking their noses into their field. And that all gambling companies should thank God in prayer every night that their industry is so tightly regulated that it becomes unattractive to Amazon.
Todd said that he is not afraid of big capital startups because live casino is a very difficult field. You can hire people to develop good applications, but there are many other issues that will need to be addressed on the fly. Search and preparation of dealers, ensuring fair work, players involved in card counting, calculating the fall of the ball in roulette.
You need to spot these tricks on live TV, but don't allow too many false accusations because the players just won't want to play. Plus, it is necessary to identify new ways of deception that no one knows about yet.
Evolution in 2020 was bought by NetEnt, which had a live casino department. In the past, they also bought out Ezugi, who specialized in live games. And when they got an idea of how these companies operate, they realized that in a year Evolution spends more on risk assessment than a small live casino provider spends on development.
