Dutch market exclusivity with Greentube and Light & Wonder – European Gaming Industry News

Live now for almost a year, the Netherlands has the potential to be an extremely popular market for regulated casinos. We caught up with Reg Das of Greentube, Managing Director of Greentube Netherlands, and Enrique Boedo of Light & Wonder, new Chief Commercial Officer, to get the latest from two of the market’s favorite players. This one is not to be missed!

Tell us about your first few months in the regulated market – what resonates with gamers?

(EB) Enrique Boedo – New Business Manager at Light & Wonder: When it comes to our first-party content, our presence in the land-based casino sphere has paid off extremely well and we’ve seen players actively seek out our cross-platform titles such as 88 Fortunes, Jin Ji Bao Xi and Dancing. Drums, all of which have proven particularly popular both on land and online.

In terms of aggregation, we have 38 live studios in the Netherlands. One studio that particularly impressed us is ELK Studios, a recent acquisition. They have a tournament feature that works incredibly well in the Netherlands, which showed us that Dutch players appreciate that social element and like to be engaged by the operator.

(DR) Reg Das, Managing Director of Greentube Netherlands: What we find is that our so-called “classic slots” are particularly popular. These are online versions of the (once) popular Dutch Fruit Machines from Earth Space. Several companies that manufacture these Dutch fruit machines are part of our parent company NOVOMATIC, and Greentube Netherlands develops an online version of these machines.

Famous game titles belonging to NOVOMATIC such as Random Runner, Simply Wild and Club 2000 are also attracting the attention of online gamers. Simply Wild is a machine that can also be found in thousands of bars across the Netherlands. Alongside these classic slots, NOVOMATIC blue chip games such as Book of Ra are also very popular. These games can also be found in machines in arcades and casinos across the country, indicating that content that is already familiar to gamers resonates best in the marketplace.

Given the unique Dutch land heritage through arcades and such – to what extent do you think this gives Dutch gamers a unique type of player profile compared to the likes of the UK and Scandinavia?

(RD): What stands out is that Dutch players like the “classics” a lot, much more than in other European countries. This is not something new though, and before the online market was regulated, it was already the case. The reason why Dutch gamers love these classics so much could be because we still have a lot of “analogue machines” on the land market. These electromechanical reel machines have disappeared from almost all European markets but in the Netherlands they are still popular and can be found in every bar. As a rule, these slot machines have a specific game structure adapted to the Dutch machine regulations. Over the years, many gamers have come to love this type of game, and it can now be seen online.

(EB): The Dutch market seems to have a very nice balance. Players tend to stick with their land-based favorites, but they’ve also shown an appetite for new content with unique mechanics. Scandi-like content is also doing well in the Netherlands, with a growing presence through brands like ELK.

When it comes to player profiles, although every market is different, I see more similarities between the Dutch market and the Scandinavian market compared to the Dutch and UK market.

In terms of regulations, how much has there been to navigate against restrictions in other European markets during commissioning? Does this mean a significant change in strategy?

(RD): While we focus on developing slots, it hasn’t been much. Fortunately, the rules that apply to slot machines are standard and general and they leave us enough room to be able to build attractive games. The only restriction that stands out is that autoplay is prohibited. However, the slot games we create require regular player interaction as choices have to be made, so it’s different from standard casino slots.

(EB): Compared to other jurisdictions, I think the Dutch regulations are not at all unreasonable or difficult. Regulatory requirements and restrictions on games have not been an issue for us, which means we have been able to focus on providing gamers with a wide variety of content in a safe and secure environment almost from the start. first day of the implementation of the new regulations. This helped cement Light & Wonder as a leading global cross-platform games company renowned for creating new worlds of play.

Finally, what is your hottest vertical that readers should watch out for this summer?

(RD): I’m very excited about a new line of games we’re producing that combine the familiarity of our popular brands with trendy mechanics. For example, we have combined our Random Runner brand with the now very popular Hold & Spin mechanic and players can expect more from these combinations. We have already seen that new versions of these original games are appreciated by players, provided they are done well. I am therefore convinced that this new range will appeal to the public of players who prefer the classics.

(EB): We’re really excited about our localized content roadmaps, which create games that target specific markets. For example, targeting the European market, this summer we will be launching our own new game mechanic Accumul8 which will see players win when eight matching symbols appear, even if they are not connected.

We also have some great content to roll out from Playzido, a company we recently acquired. Their advanced game development technology, considered one of the best in the iGaming industry, allows Light & Wonder to provide operators with custom games for key customers, which is a fantastic way for their players. to discover unique and distinctive content.

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