For better or for worse, it is undeniable that we live in an age of mobile computers. Most of us carry at least one smart device with them at all times, and those who don’t and prefer to stick with an old-school mobile phone that’s not a smartphone are being looked at as if they’re the outcasts of society, the equivalent of the lonely, bearded hermits living in huts in the forest. In the digital age, it’s all connected – I can use my phone to buy a game and set it to download on my PS4 for when I come home from work, I can watch TV or Netflix wherever I am, and with certain setups I can even do stuff like control the temperature of my house. It seems like there’s nothing those tiny devices aren’t capable of, and considering the fact that the overwhelming majority of us carry one literally everywhere, it didn’t take long for developers to start pushing their software in new and exciting directions.
Two of these directions are mobile gaming and mobile gambling – two words that sound very similar, but are, in fact, completely different. Mobile gaming refers to any interactive videogame that you can play on your phone. Sometimes you pay for the game outright and then play it in its entirety like any other, but this business model is much rarer compared to the so-called “free to play” one, where you get the game for free and then pay for additional features, such as characters, lives or faster progression. Free to play has been an immensely popular business model, to the point where even some non-mobile games, such as “Dota 2” on PC, “Let it Die” on PS4 and “Killer Instinct” on Xbox One have adopted it. The concept of trying the game out for free before paying for in-game stuff has been so utterly successful that it has actually elevated mobile gaming to one of the most successful industries in the world, with it grossing more than $40 billion last year alone.
Mobile gambling, on the other hand, refers to a model that is very similar to “free to play” – you get the game for free, and you can play it for free as much as you want. However, if you choose to bet some real money on it, you have the chance to win real money back! That’s amazing, isn’t it? I mean, that’s much better than just playing an endless moneysink, which is what many mobile games are – here when you pay you can actually win real money! This concept should be primed for success… Except it’s not. Back in 2015, every single online casino was launching a mobile counterpart and heavily pushing it with promotions, bonuses and exclusive games, while today you’ll barely even get a mention on most sites that such a thing exists. Mobile gambling, despite its potential, ultimately didn’t amount to much and was but a footnote in casino history rather than the gamechanger it was supposed to be. But why?
Well, a big problem with it was marketing. The thing is, almost no businesses or new ventures are financially successful when they first launch no matter how much potential they have to turn in profit down the line. Quick, what’s the most successful music streaming app you can think of? Most people would immediately answer with “Spotify”, and they wouldn’t be wrong at all, but the truth is that Spotify has still not turned in a profit after years of being a market leader. Mobile casino, similarly, didn’t turn in a profit immediately, which is completely understandable. It was a new concept which required some warming up to, especially since its primary demographic were not mobile gamers but rather casino players who wanted to take their games on the go (which, again, may have been a mistake). When faced with loss and difficulty, online casinos should have taken a lesson from their players and went all in, heavily advertising their mobile gambling services and taking the loss on them for a while until they became profitable. Because there’s potential in the idea, as well as the market to cash in on that potential. All that’s needed is a CEO willing to go for it.