Free-to-play games return

The online gambling affiliate space is fiercely competitive, and publishers have to constantly improve their content, products and services to keep pace with their rivals. This must be done in an environment where regulations are always changing and tightening, and where they are constantly under the watchful eye of partners, regulators and watchdogs. It’s a tough game that keeps on getting tougher, especially for smaller publishers that lack the budget and resources of the power players who keep exerting their dominance. As a result, affiliates – whether a one-man band or a flagship site belonging to Catena or XL Media – are always looking for cost effective ways of providing more value to their readers.
Creating content, partnering with streamers, offering exclusive welcome bonuses and developing powerful comparison tools are all good ways of doing this. But there’s another proven way of engaging and entertaining players, but one that was taken away from affiliates targeting the UK market. Back in July 2019, the Gambling Commission took the decision to require operators and affiliates to age verify players before allowing them to access free-to-play games. This was done under the LCCP Social Responsibility Code Provision 1.1.2, which states that free-to-play games cannot be accessed by children and those under the age of 18. The rule led to the majority of affiliates removing free-to-play games from their sites, thus losing an effective point of conversion and driver of revenues, especially for those on CPA deals.
While the reasoning behind the decision is sound, it has dealt a blow to affiliates – especially those lacking funds and resources from which it’s been hard to recover. Some affiliates have tried to implement ways of verifying players with basic age verification tools that are as ineffective as they are damaging to the user experience.An underage player could easily enter a false date of birth to gain access to the games, and legitimate 18+ players are put off by the need to manually entemk,ar their DOB on landing on a site. In such a competitive sector, a poor customer experience is just as bad as the negative impact suffered by having to remove free-to-play games in the first place. What’s more, the risk of an underage player clicking through to an operator site from an affiliate partner is simply not worth the risk from the former’s perspective.
The regulator has made it very clear that operators are ultimately responsible for the activity carried out by their affiliate partners and it’s simply not worth putting their licences at risk. But when you consider that there is no ban on affiliates or operators offering free-to-play games (just the need to age verify players), a solution could and must be found. This is something I’ve been considering for many months now, and believe they key lies in being able to provide affiliates with the right tools to accurately verify players. Of course, this has to be achieved without negatively impacting the user journey and the experience they receive on landing on the affiliate site. This could be packaged up into a simple tool that combines a developer’s remote game server with age and ID verification technology. Affiliates can then embed this into their sites. If the player is successfully verified – this can be done in a matter of seconds with the right age verification technology – they are granted access to the free-to-play games. If they aren’t, then they could be taken to a similar page where there’s a library of footage showing the games being streamed by a popular streamer or something similar. This would provide operators with confidence that their affiliate partners are verifying players using the very same technologies they use as part of their own KYC processes.
For the affiliate, it means they can bring back free-to-play games and leverage the tremendous value they bring in terms of user acquisition and conversion. It also prevents underage players from accessing free-to-play content, which is exactly what the Gambling Commission was seeking to achieve when it initially changed the rules. Of course, this is something affiliates and operators should support but at the same time, they need to be able to run viable businesses in what is an expensive sector in which to compete.
As part of this, the solution I have in mind would be free to use for affiliates as game developers would shoulder the small cost associated with verifying players and using the tool. If I am making it sound like such a product exists, then you wouldn’t be wrong. It’s something we’ve been working on with a number of other stakeholders for many months now. What we’ve come up with is an absolute game-changer for affiliates but also operators and, of course, game developers who need to be able to market games cost effectively as well.
We’ll announce more details about the tool we have developed in the coming weeks, but rest assured that the return of free-to-play games is nigh.

"THE REGULATOR HAS MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT OPERATORS ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIVITY CARRIED OUT BY THEIR AFFILIATE PARTNERS AND IT’S SIMPLY NOT WORTH PUTTING THEIR LICENCES AT RISK. BUT WHEN YOU CONSIDER THAT THERE IS NO BAN ON AFFILIATES OR OPERATORS OFFERING FREE-TO-PLAY GAMES, A SOLUTION COULD AND MUST BE FOUND"