CASINO REPORT Competitive Research and Actionable Product Recommendations - Rackcdn.com
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CASINO REPORT Competitive Research and Actionable Product Recommendations
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IMPACT DRIVER 3
Collection Bingo Mini-Game
Champions Bingo in Scatter Slots
Product Insights
JANUARY
IMPACT ANALYSIS 8
Casino Events by Type
Mini-Game Events Impact Analysis
Scatter Slots Mini-Game Events
MARKET WATCH 12
2021
Breakout Apps
Notable Releases
APPENDIX 17
Liquid & Grit Slots Personas
Premium Partnerships
Casino Mechanics Taxonomy
IMPACT DRIVER
Features and events that boost revenue, retention, or downloads
3
CASINO > EVENTS > COLLECTIONS
Collection Bingo Mini-Game
Champions Bingo in Scatter Slots
4
REVENUE ANALYSIS
After the initial launch of Champions Bingo, Scatter Slots saw revenue +11% WoW with downloads -2%.
Revenue grew to +27% Wo2W following the event's second release.
Scatter Slots
$100K Revenue Downloads 5K
$80K Champions Bingo 4K
Daily Downloads
$60K 3K
Daily Revenue
$40K 2K
$20K 1K
10/20/20 11/3/20 11/17/20 12/1/20 12/15/20 12/29/20 1/12/21
WoW = Week over week.
5
Graph data is iOS, U.S. only.
FEATURE TEARDOWN 1
Players collect cards from base spins and meta-features. Collected cards
daub spaces on a series of progressively larger bingo boards.
Details
• Bingo boards display cards from Scatter Slots' card collection feature (1).
• Players collect packs of cards from spins, challenges, purchases, and gifts (2, 3, and 4).
• Collecting a card shown on the board marks off that space (5 and video).
2
• Completing a row or column on the board awards the indicated prize and unlocks the next board.
• Subsequent boards require greater numbers of cards to complete (6).
Additional Information
• See the Champions Bingo library for more images and videos.
• View all mini-game event impact drivers in the Wiki.
3 4 5 6
6
PRODUCT INSIGHTS
Mini-games that impact core gameplay or features give players a strong reason to play.1 1
Many casino mini-games have players collect items from core gameplay in order to participate, like Bingo Blitz's Feathers &
Dragons Happy 2020!, which led to a +48% 5Do5D revenue increase. However, connections with other features would create
deeper experiences and drive engagement, likely improving mini-games' lackluster 2020 market share impact as shown by
our analysis on page 10.
Champions Bingo both requires and awards collectible cards—a two-way relationship that adds greater meaning to both the
card collection and the mini-game. Huuuge Casino's Masquerade Ball takes a similar approach by incorporating clubs directly
into a slots bonus. For a more expansive example from AAA, see The Witcher 3's trading card mini-game, which has its own
quests, provides an alternative to combat for certain missions, and even spawned a mobile app.2
Offer exclusive rewards to create a motivating endpoint.
A mini-game with strong feature retention forms its own progression that involves short-, medium-, and long-term goals. 2
Unfortunately, many apps leave out the long-term component and only provide larger amounts of the same common rewards.
Instead of the nebulous "great prizes" advertised in Champions Bingo (1), offer enticing final rewards like exclusive cosmetics
or unique boosts to give players context for their goals, which increases feelings of competence and drives retention.3
Familiar systems are good. Familiar systems with a twist are better.
We've mentioned before how familiar mechanics let players easily pick up a mini-game without burdensome tutorials. But
gameplay that's too familiar may quickly turn boring. Champions Bingo's specific prizes for each row and column inject some
novelty, but players don't have any control over which prize they pursue. The two medium-spenders we interviewed affirmed
this lack of depth, with one saying the mini-game was "something new" but not "enough to pull me all the way in."4
In contrast, Bingo Bash's Get Clucky turns reward stages into simple puzzle mini-games, leading to +13% revenue 2Wo2W
following its release (2). And in an exemplary combination of player agency, real-world systems, and novel gameplay, Red
Dead Redemption's poker mini-game allows players to cheat, look for opponents' tells, or pull their guns and fight.5
1 How to Pick a Lock: Creating Intuitive, Immersive Minigames, 3:30 4 Age 40 female, 20–25 hours/week playtime, $50–$75/month spend
2 Gwent | Witcher Wiki Age 19 male, 35 hours/week playtime, $25–$50/month spend
3 The Gamer's Brain, p. 138–142 5 7 great minigames that game developers should study
7
IMPACT ANALYSIS
Investment and revenue trends for feature and event releases
Slots apps: Big Fish Casino, Caesars Slots, Cash Frenzy, Cashman Casino, DoubleDown, DoubleU
Casino, Game of Thrones Slots, Gold Fish Casino, Heart of Vegas, Hit It Rich!, House of Fun, Huuuge
Casino, Jackpot Magic Slots, Jackpot Party, Lightning Link Casino, Lotsa Slots, my KONAMI, myVEGAS,
POP! Slots, Quick Hit Slots, Scatter Slots, Slotomania, and Wizard of Oz: Casino Slots
Bingo apps: Bingo Bash, Bingo Blitz, Bingo Party, Bingo Pop, and Bingo Showdown
Poker apps: Governor of Poker 3, Mega Hit Poker, Poker Heat: Texas Holdem Poker, Pokerist, WSOP, and
Zynga Poker - Texas Holdem
8
CASINO RELEASES MANY MINI-GAMES
In 2020, mini-game events were the fifth most released event type in casino and the fourth most
released in the slots subgenre (not shown).
Casino Events by Type (Past 12 Months)
400
300
Releases
200
100
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9
MINI-GAMES DON'T APPEAR TO BOOST MARKET SHARE
Despite their frequent releases, mini-game events averaged a negative market share impact of -1.0%
WoW in casino apps during the past year—a decline from the +1.1% WoW seen in 2019 (not shown).
Market share impact is the percentage change in an app's revenue market share for a given time period following a new release.
Market Share Impact WoW (2020) Revenue Growth WoW (2020)
Competitions Competitions
Rewards Rewards
Missions Missions
Collections Collections
Quests Quests
Challenges Challenges
Purchases Purchases
Mini-Games Mini-Games
-2% -1% 0% 1% 2% -1.5% 0% 1.5% 3%
Impact models made by Liquid & Grit by combining our data with revenue data from Sensor Tower. 10SCATTER SLOTS MINI-GAME EVENTS SEE VARIABLE IMPACT
Mini-game event performance in Scatter Slots is inconsistent. The table below shows mini-games that
did not coincide with other event or feature releases on the same day, but events with overlapping
releases are just as varied.
Event Release Date Market Share Impact WoW Revenue Growth WoW
Scatter Ladders 8/25/20 +8.2% +10.5%
Snowman's Journey 12/28/20 +7.2% +16.0%
Pirate's Adventure 3/5/20 +5.4% +8.8%
Hellcat Mystery 4/23/20 +2.3% -4.3%
Polar Treasure 12/21/20 -5.3% +11.1%
Veterans' Day Update 11/10/20 -6.7% -5.1%
The 4th of July 7/1/20 -11.8% -9.4%
11MARKET WATCH
New apps and notable releases from established competitors
12BREAKOUT APPS
SpinX Games (formerly Grande Games) released Jackpot Crush and Vegas Friends in late 2020. Both
have similar features to those seen in Cash Frenzy and Lotsa Slots, compared in the table below.
Jackpot Crush Vegas Friends Lotsa Slots Cash Frenzy
Release Date 9/19/20 10/21/20 3/9/18 8/16/18
Daily U.S. $3,634 (first 90 days) $453 (first 90 days)
$2,334 (past 90 days) $603 (past 85 days)
Revenue $80,313 (past 90 days) $154,508 (past 90 days)
Daily U.S. 1,034 (first 90 days) 1,721 (first 90 days)
417 (past 90 days) 182 (past 85 days)
Downloads 1,686 (past 90 days) 2,969 (past 90 days)
Accelerators Purchase and engagement Purchase and engagement Purchase and engagement Purchase and engagement
Banks Spend and level Spend and level Spend and level Spend and level
Bonuses 15 min, 3 hr, 15 hr, daily, and 45 hr 15 min, 1 hr, 5 hr, daily, and 3 days 15 min, 1 hr, 5 hr, daily, and 3 days 15 min, 1 hr, 5 hr, daily, and 45 hr
Clubs None Vegas Clans Lotsa Clans Cash Club
13BREAKOUT APPS (CONT.)
Jackpot Crush Vegas Friends Lotsa Slots Cash Frenzy
Challenges Flame Challenge Mission Rush Mission Blitz Blazing Challenge
Fortune Stamps and Game King Lucky Stamps and Real Estate Star Lucky Stamps and Big City Tycoon Amazing Stamps and Build Your
Collections
(VIP only) (VIP only) (VIP only) Dreams (VIP only)
Stamp Gurus (collection) and Ultra
Competitions None Stamp Gurus (collection) Divisions (event)
League (club)
Lucky Smash, Pachin Coin, and
Mini-Games Pachinko Bonus and Piggy Smash Lucky Lamp Lucky Vault Bonus and Pop Party
Mansion Quest
My Missions, Premium Pass, Golden Pass, My Missions, and Daily Mission, Mission Pass, and
Missions Mission Pass and Daily Mission
Mission Rush, and Clan Missions Clan Missions Club Mission
Purchases Accelerators and stamp card Accelerators and stamp card Accelerators and stamp card Accelerators and stamp card
VIP program and High Rollers VIP program and High Rollers VIP program and Diamond
Rewards VIP program and Winners Lounge
Club Club Lounge
14NOTABLE RELEASES I
1
App Release Description
Bingo Blitz
Bingo Blitz Community • A menu lets players navigate to the app's social media channels (1).
other feature 2
• An in-machine menu contains clickable event icons (2).
Event Display
• Some icons track event progress.
other feature
• Players can expand, collapse, and move the menu (video).
Cash Frenzy
• Collecting five red scratch cards triggers a mini-stepper bonus. 3
Pachin Coin
• Triggering the mini-stepper three days in a row unlocks a pachinko-style bonus for a multiplier
mini-game
prize (video).
feature
• An IAP bundle includes a super version of the pachinko bonus with increased multipliers (3).
• Select players receive an invitation to sign up for early access to a reward program (4).
• Players must enter their email address to enroll. 4
HoF Prime • Enrollment is limited to 10,000 new members per week.
House of Fun
reward event • The reward program includes a one-time bonus, a weekly chest, and bonus coins for
purchases.
• Early-access players receive exclusive timed boosts.
15NOTABLE RELEASES II
1
App Release Description
• Daily missions award medals and crowns.
• Completing all missions for the day unlocks a mastery mission.
2
Vegas Rush • Medals fill a weekly meter for rewards at milestones.
House of Fun
mission feature • Crowns fill a separate rank meter for rewards at milestones (video).
• If players don't reach the next rank within a time limit, the meter resets to the last acquired
rank or checkpoint (1).
• Certain prizes have a chance to award collectible avatars and points.
• A lineup contains three "active" avatars that can be awarded (video).
All-Stars • Exclusive, limited-time avatars do not need to be active to be awarded.
Jackpot Party 3
collection event • Each avatar can be upgraded three times for coin rewards (2).
• Upgrades require a certain number of points and secondary currency.
• Players can use avatars as their profile pictures.
Bellagio Big Boss • Players are assigned to one of four teams.
myVEGAS competition • Big or huge wins award trophies (video).
event • A leaderboard ranks and rewards teams based on trophies earned (3).
• Wins fill a meter that awards wheel spins for a board game when full. 4
Wizard of Oz: Explore a Board • Board game spaces award coin prizes, increase the final prize, and grant mystery rewards.
Casino Slots mini-game event • Reaching the end of the board awards a final coin prize and unlocks the next, larger board (4).
• Each completed board adds coins to a pot that's awarded at the end of the event.
Quickly review all features and machines
Filter the Library Tool by month and year to see all new releases.
16APPENDIX
17LIQUID & GRIT SLOTS PERSONAS
Participants from the U.K. and U.S. (n=1,299) were surveyed about their mobile gaming use. The data
produced five personas with distinct patterns of slots preferences and playing habits.
Demographics
Fame Frank Money Mike Daydreamer Denise Gambler Gail Sensation Serena
Size 21% 22% 27% 19% 11%
% Female 50% 51% 66% 60% 55%
Age 32 mean / 30 median 34 mean / 32 median 35 mean / 34 median 35 mean / 33 median 35 mean / 32 median
Education 3.5 3.3 3.5 3.2 3.3
Money Spent 4.2 4.9 3.5 5.4 5.8
Playtime 5.0 4.5 5.0 4.9 6.5
* The education, money spent, and playtime numbers represent the relative value of each category compared to other player personas.
18PREMIUM PARTNERSHIPS
Liquid & Grit partners with these premier market research and analytics companies to infuse our
reports with the most relevant and detailed gaming personas, data, and statistics available.
Sensor Tower Kinrate Analytics Quadrant Strategies
Mobile App Store Intelligence Player Personas Market Research
Sensor Tower website Kinrate Analytics website Quadrant Strategies website
Sensor Tower is relied upon by financial analysts, Kinrate Analytics offers game developers, Quadrant Strategies is a market research
VCs, and publishers who need to leverage data to consultants, publishers, and cloud gaming consultancy that uses research to help the world's
identify the fastest-growing apps, emerging operators the best cross-platform game most prominent technology, gaming, and
markets, and more. recommendation engine for targeted marketing, as entertainment companies develop strategies for
well as a novel profiling-as-a-service solution for building their user base, increasing user
Clients harness Sensor Tower's suite of app
intelligent market segmentation and social engagement and spend, and strengthening their
intelligence tools to:
networking. marketing and brand plans.
‣ Evaluate app economies and app vitality.
Other services include advanced market prediction We do that using a range of quantitative and
‣ Drive organic growth with the leading App Store analyses for identifying emergent gaming trends qualitative methodologies, including gamer
optimization platform. and access to unique AI-enhanced data of 140 segmentation and persona development, feature
‣ Get the best global download and revenue thousand game titles and 48 million game players. testing, message creation, and loyalty and
estimates for the App Store and Google Play. engagement modeling. The work of our senior
The products of Kinrate Analytics have been
‣ Discover top creatives and better shape user leadership goes back many years, and includes
developed in university-led research projects in
acquisition strategy. long-term engagements for console and gaming-
collaboration with economists, psychologists, game
PC hardware-makers, individual games in a range
scholars, and data scientists.
of genres, and across consoles, PCs, and mobile,
and for some of the top game franchises.
19CASINO MECHANICS TAXONOMY
Family Definition Family Definition
Accelerators Increases the power, impact, or efficiency of play Interactions Any social feature with direct or indirect interaction
Banks Saves a % of spend that can be unlocked later Leaderboards Stand-alone leaderboards
Bonuses Free bonuses given to players, often with time intervals Levels Anything to do with leveling
Challenges Goal-oriented tasks for players to complete Mini-Games Smaller, shorter games within the app (e.g., scratch cards)
A group of players accomplishing goals or competing with
Clubs Missions A linear set of tasks that players must accomplish
other groups
Collections A set of items players collect, often for a completion prize Notices Feature or product announcements
Competitions Players competing against other players Other Miscellaneous features and outliers
Cosmetics Improvements or updates to the app or a feature Profiles A player's setup, profile, settings, and controls
Currencies Changes to currencies, economies, stores, and items Purchases Anything to do with spending money on in-app items
Tasks that advance players along a map or map-like
Expansions Additional rooms, worlds, play modes, VIP lounges, etc. Quests
mechanic
Any reward players receive for engagement or spend (other
Flows Specific flows, like new user flows, ratings, and surveys Rewards
than those in the bonuses family)
20“I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”
— Marie Curie
LiquidandGrit.com
Brett.Nowak@LiquidandGrit.com
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