‘The pandemic caused a need to rethink, revisit and innovate,’ – Helix Partners’ Michael Muscat

As the global iGaming industry goes from strength to strength, stakeholders are facing new challenges every day – we’re talking ever-increasing competition, changing regulatory environments, and shifts in consumer trends following the pandemic’s disruption, to name a few.

In light of these circumstances, iGaming companies around the globe are required to react quickly and remain on the cutting edge in a bid to stay afloat.

Michael Muscat, Partner at Helix Partners and Founder of igamingcolombia.com, sees the shift towards regulation across European countries and the opening up of new markets as key trends in the industry.

“Certain markets in Europe have become saturated and over-regulated, causing operators to have to innovate, not simply from a product angle but also from a jurisdictional one,” Dr Muscat says in the latest issue of iGaming Capital.

“I believe we are going to see the industry become even more international: products will be localised and resources mobilised,” he continues.

Ultimately, however, Dr Muscat believes it is the tech that will continue to shape the future.

Innovation from a product perspective, as well as spinoff products such as gamification tools, data analytics software, and automated compliance platforms, will be major considerations for the industry in the next few years, he says.

“The pandemic has caused a need to rethink, revisit and innovate. We are seeing the preferential shift towards live casino and there have been big developments within the instant win space. I have seen VR being used to merge the land-based and online experience, with players from both the digital and physical worlds interacting,” the igamingcolombia.com Founder notes.

“I have also encountered a software house that has created a poker product that removes the need for poker tables within land-based casinos. In other markets, the current global situation has caused more and more people to embrace digital payments, making operations much easier for iGaming operators across the board,” Dr Muscat concludes.

This forms part of a wider feature carried in the latest edition of iGaming Capital.