Panelists from Yggdrasil:
Mark McGinley, CGO
Christoffer Melldén, Head of Account Management
Lewis Stephens, Concept Game Designer
Other panelists:
Chris Ash, Founder and Business Development Director, 4ThePlayer
David Newstead, CEO, Jelly Entertainment
Frank McPolin, MD, Bang Bang Games
Gambling Insider was in attendance at an Yggdrasil event in Malta, where a panel of experts spoke to members of the assembled industry about the saturation of content in the marketplace.
On the panel, the three host speakers from Yggdrasil were Mark McGinley, CGO, Christoffer Melldén, Head of Account Management, and Lewis Stephens, Concept Game Designer.
Meanwhile, joining them were Chris Ash, Founder and Business Development Director at 4ThePlayer; David Newstead, CEO of Jelly Entertainment and Frank McPolin, MD of Bang Bang Games.
Forging relationships
As the group sat down, the event began by discussing the challenges that the saturation of content causes. The panel first stated that: “Our challenges are slightly different to the likes of some others because of the amount of content that's out there.
I think we live in a world now where there's a temptation to try to do things cheaply because it looks like you're in a very competitive marketplace and that's a dangerous game
“The way we work best is to forge deep relationships with a few key operators. Obviously, the game needs to be half decent as well. But having good relationships with a few key operators goes a long way.”
Meanwhile, highlighting the task of making a mark for smaller studios, the panel commented: “For a smaller studio like us, you don't have the enormous market budget that some of the big studios like Play’n Go do.
“So, you're very much relying on the quality of your game and the ability to build good relationships with suppliers directly.”
Then, the group moved onto the relationship between the studio and the operator and how important it is to foster a good relationship, while delivering quality products. “I don't think you can underestimate the contact between the studio and the operator, which is a difficult thing to forge.
“Above all else, you have to have quality products, you have to have good quality products. And for sure, there are some businesses out there where their model is quantity over quality.”
Regulatory requirements
On regulation and the requirement for making a game adhere to different countries, the panel added: “Today, when we build games, you also need to look into the regulation. Because when you build one game, so many things can affect the game throughout all markets.
“For example, if you build a game with a five-bonus feature in the UK, if you have looked too heavily at the five-bonus feature and then remove it, the game doesn't work in that area.
“I think the market regulation is something that has changed the dynamic of the landscape in recent years.”
Half of the job is building games and half the job is marketing and content
When creating a gaming product, the panel discussed striking the right balance between making your games standout and sourcing what your players are enjoying; without the game becoming too complex: “You need to strike a balance between innovating and standing out, because you want to demonstrate that you are going to do something different and interesting. But if you do something too different and too interesting every time, you’re going to be out of business.”
Quality over quantity
Speaking of how to stand out in the saturated market, a speaker comments: “We want to build quality games and reinforce the brand, and that's the way to stand out in the saturated market.
“When we're talking about a saturated market, I still think it's not as saturated as we think, because the smaller people don't even get a shot. Like the people who are building four games a year, they don't get a shot because they don't know anyone, but I think that's why you have to build your brand. You have to work hard at your brand so that people think about you.”
The panel continued: “Half the job is building games and half the job is marketing and content. I don't think it's just about building an amazing game. I think there's probably hundreds of amazing games out there that no one's ever seen!”
Above all else, you have to have quality products, you have to have good-quality products. And for sure, there are some businesses out there where their model is quantity over quality
The future is always on the tip of people’s minds, so when discussing industry challenges in the upcoming years, the main subject that arises is regulation. On this topic, the panel stated: “Regulations in 2025 are going to be one of the biggest challenges we face. I think one of the problems we've got is regulation going too far and impacting the market in Germany. Hopefully, we don't see too many more examples of that, where they’ve effectively split the supply base into a lot of people trading on both sides.
“How long will that continue? Let's just say there's a bit more enforcement in certain markets. Then you'll have to choose and that means you've shrunk the market, or the market that you're in, because of the regulations.”
Not cheap... but worth it
However, despite the difficulties of regulations and breaking into other markets, Yggdrasil wants to be on the side of the regulator to provide a safe and positive gaming experience for its players: “Regulation is there to protect the play. We want to be regulated, of course we want to contribute, we want to be aligned with our customers; but it's all market by market. And, of course, everyone wants to have a key market.”
The Yggdrasil panel also highlighted the common phrase: ‘if you buy cheap you buy twice.’ With gaming, when cutting corners, you’re often putting the quality of the product at risk: “I think we live in a world now where there's a temptation to try to do things cheaply because it looks like you're in a very competitive marketplace and that's a dangerous game. At that point, you have got to ask yourself, ‘how long is that going to last for?’
“I think you know you're better off taking twice as long on something that is twice as good, because it will last twice as long or three times longer.”
Understandably, licences aren’t cheap and sometimes they can even be more expensive than the production of the games: “Things like the certification, the requirement to get licensed; they are uncontrollable costs. And, as you know, the cost to put a game through all the jurisdictions that you guys certify in, it's almost as much as it costs to make the game; so that definitely is a real challenge for us."
