Millennials seek social interaction and skill, not risk, and they are going to find it one way or another.
Prominent Gaming CEO Valery Bollier has issued a warning that iGaming is in danger of being colonised, and in so doing he illustrated the contemporary differences between the iGaming and video gaming sectors, which many still tend to clump together.
The Vacuum
During a speech at World Gaming Expo in Monaco in early December, the CEO and Co-founder of award-winning Daily Fantasy Football B2B provider Oulala claimed a gap has arisen between what the industry wants customers to desire and what the customers are actually looking for in their iGaming services and products.
The Allure of Skill
From four years of observation, Bollier claims that millennials, the majority target audience of iGaming, are interested in skill games.
Natural Instinct
Bollier further clarified that millennials have been so conditioned after spending their childhood and teen years playing skill games on their consoles, giving rise in adulthood to a desire to up the stakes with real money, as opposed to any need or compulsion take risks.
Bollier said that older generations who were not playing video games as youths were the ones at risk for addiction from online games of chance, implying that millennials are just following a natural inclination for increased engagement.
The Social Component
More evidence of an inherent connection towards gaming was revealed in Bolliers assertion that millennials seek out social games, meaning they want to enhance their personal interaction with the use of iGaming.
Closing the Gap
The divergence between player preferences and provider hopes arises from according to Bollier an overeagerness of operators to offer social luck games, which he says are easier for operators to create,
Social Bragging Rights
The appeal of social skills games is that they provide a higher level of bragging rights to millennials.
Competitors Fill the Gap
The appetite for skill games can be fulfilled by the video gaming industry, a rival competitor of iGaming when it comes to engaging millennials, a group whom Bollier claims is still to no small extent hesitant to dip their toes into our industry.
Rallying the Troops
The competitive response Bollier calls for the offering of a real money-based experience to the skill-base increasingly social interaction. Bollier called on major iGaming groups and influential casino brands whom have the financial resources to fight this battle and attain a possible leading position in this upcoming market.
The Take-Away
Understanding the nature of the competition amongst video gaming and iGaming should enable operators to specialize their offerings and drive adaptation of gaming experiences, starting with developing more games of skill and increasing integration of social elements to these new games of skill thereof.
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