A Handbook on iGaming Software Development For Casino Startups
It is not an easy task to begin an online gambling venture. It takes a lot of planning, preparation, and capital. Don't know how to start? No worries. We've got you covered.
The iGaming industry is one of the most profitable industries to provide a platform for entrepreneurs to initiate and grow a successful business. For investing in iGaming, you need to have a great development plan and invest wisely. Therefore, it is a multi-step decision-making process and it requires complex solutions. In this article, we shall attempt to provide you with some of the best practices and recommendations for launching a successful online casino business, such as Playtech software casinos.
Understand the market
The iGaming market is a wide one, with many niches. Start by doing in-depth research about the top players in the gambling market of your area. There is no harm in knowing the big providers and operators, as well as the potential competition.
Second, try to get acquainted with the current business trends, what businesses are offering in terms of products and services, and what the buyers are looking for.
We highly recommend reading any full industry report that is available to get aware of the current industry figures, statistics, and forecasts. If you are planning on entering the online casino business, there are certain issues to include in your consideration before setting up business.
Legality
Acquiring a license is mandatory when creating an online casino start-up. This paper will make your entity credible and will help secure customers as well as retain their loyalty. Hence, it is necessary to take into consideration whether the start-up will be undertaken in a mature or an emerging market because it will have a gigantic impact on budget planning. The registration and license fees of an iGaming operator vary from one nation to another and you can see here some of the nations with favorable conditions.
Timeframe
Opening an online casino operation involves both an investment of money and time. Although certain parts of the process can be accelerated, others necessarily will take more time. To keep from going broke before going into business, it's best to have a realistic expectation of how long it takes to get the necessary licenses and become operational.
Know your audience
Understand your target market so that you can have a successful online casino business because iGaming products and services appeal to different kinds of individuals. Therefore, you must research prospective clients as well as preferred websites and games. Define your ideal customer based on their purchasing and playing habits, individual traits, location, age, and gender.
This information will help you to design a strategic plan, for instance, identifying target customers, choosing channels of communication, and designing the right set of products.
Set budget
Once you have established the goals, scope, and time frame, it's time to think about the cost. You need to come up with an annual budget, its burn rate and other costs. Also, while developing iGaming software for casino startups, you need to project all the costs, when creating a minimum viable product.
Website development
Your website must be one of the earliest items you include in the budget. Web design plays a significant role in acquiring new players because it will influence whether the customer will play or not. In addition to the web design, user interface, and user experience are also very vital aspects of having a good casino website. Front-end and back-end are also very vital aspects of a successful website. If you lack adequate in-house capabilities, you may want to seek the services of a trusted third party.
Game development
Your casino games offered on your site will be one of the strongest business selling points. Of course, profitability through gaming is a matter of quality. It is for this reason that you need to offer players the type of games they desire and it is a good notion to place emphasis on game features and design. The more visually appealing a game is, the more visibility it gets. Most importantly, the more convenient a game is, the more thrilling it will be for the masses. Regular wins and bonus deals might also make one game more thrilling than the rest.
One initial choice for any casino start-up must be whether or not to develop the games in-house or outsource them to a third-party developer. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a good option for companies that do not or are unable to invest the resources to the development of software and only manage the business side.
Outsourcing companies possess the right IT experts who will turn your business ideas and visions into reality. Their experience and expertise will ensure the custom software development goes smoothly from prototype to final product. Sometimes, it is more useful to hire an external developer or set of developers as they have the necessary experience and knowledge regarding the casino trade and current market trends. That is, they understand the clients' needs.
One additional advantage could be that the team management burden is on the external partner, so you do not have to worry about the day-to-day operations. Second, outsourcing could sometimes be less expensive because hiring an outside team could save you from the cost of new employees and software and hardware costs.
In-house
- In-house platform development is the direction to take when you require total control over the production process.
- The process allows you to have close monitoring of each development phase.
- In-house also allows your teams to communicate more effectively and this is what boosts collaboration.
- Having your team create your product will ensure compliance and quality standards are upheld.
- In-house teams are more invested and motivated with the products they are working on, as this reflects directly on the reputation of the company and the team working on it.
Cost-effectively in-house development may be expensive since firms will be investing in everything from human resources to online and offline infrastructures, software licenses, and anything else in between. Second, giving more work to your developers adds pressure on them and potentially may delay other projects.
When deciding to outsource manufacturing, startups must consider their preparedness and own resources. In other words, it is the best method of deciding on the development process and the next step by considering own strengths and weaknesses.
Hiring
Initiating a brand new business venture calls for thorough planning and systematic budgeting. The recruitment of personnel must be given utmost importance as it is the backbone of your upcoming casino venture. Hence, recruiting the right minds is essential to introduce a successful casino game that caters to the needs of the audience.
Software stack
Game and software creators utilize various instruments to make ideas come alive in the form of fascinating and intense online casino gaming experiences. Each one has a most favored set of programs, but if you're new and don't know where to start, we made a short list of practical tools for online casino creators. Yet, there are several other choices available on the market and we invite software creators to experiment and locate the best solution for their work.
- Visualization – Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Pixelmator, Inkscape
- UI/UX Design – Adobe XD, Figma, Axure RP, InVision
- 3D Modeling – Adobe After Effects, Blender, Autodesk 3ds Max, Cinema 4D
- Game Engines – Unreal Engine, Unity, CryEngine, GameMaker Studio, Godot, Lumberyard, Buildbox
- Programming Languages – Java, JavaScript, C#, C++, Python, HTML5, Lua
- Testing Tools – Unreal Engine Automation System, Unity Automated Testing, Appium