If you are in the online casino business, providing the most popular games for your target audience is crucial. This may not be as straightforward as you first imagine, either, because online casino gaming is a truly global industry that opens you up to a variety of target audiences all around the world – and the top games in each market can vary.
Failing to provide the most in-demand games in any target market significantly reduces your chances with players in that region – so how do you pinpoint the most popular online casino games for each audience?
Start with the classics and expand from there
Before you choose which casino games to provide, you need to know exactly who your target audiences are and list them in priority. There is a good chance your largest markets are going to be a mix of English, Chinese, Spanish and/or French speakers, but you don’t want to get carried away with only focusing on the largest markets.
For example, Japan has a population of more than 126 million people and providing online casino games that are truly designed and localised for specific markets like these can often get better results than broadly trying to crack large markets, such as every Spanish-speaking nation.
Before you choose your games, pinpoint your target audiences, list them in terms of priority and make sure you have the budget available for expert casino translation and localisation for each game you are going to release.
Once you have pinpointed these factors, researching the most important games to your brand becomes much easier. For English-speaking and general international online casinos, your list of games might look like the following:
- Baccarat
- Blackjack
- Craps
- Poker
- Keno
- Roulette
- Slots
With the classics covered, you might want to focus on specific markets and add games for specific audiences, such as Bingo for British users and French Roulette for our friends across the channel.
Expanding your games for international markets
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that the list of most popular games in other markets will vary from the ones you are used to, but you also need to consider how the casino classics are interpreted differently around the world.
For example, Baccarat is hugely popular in China and several other Asian markets and many experts put this down to the cultural importance of luck, fortune and destiny in various parts of the continent.
Baccarat is a simple, fast-paced card game that is all about luck and nothing to do with skill – perfect for anyone who feels luck or fate is on their side.
Other popular games in East Asia include:
- Mahjong
- Pachinko
- Sic Bo
- Pai Gow Poker
- Keno
Providing popular games for each of your target markets is important and you also want to understand which international casino games are most popular among them, too – something else that can vary from one market to another.
There is no simple answer to the question of which online casino games are the most popular because it all depends on who you are targeting with your platform. To get this answer, you need to be specific about the markets and target audiences you are aiming for and do the research it takes to pinpoint which games will really keep them coming back to your website and/or app.
Likewise, simply publishing the games people want to play most is not going to guarantee results. You need to make sure the quality is there and the desire to keep playing is within touching distance – starting with flawless translation and game localisation.