Twitchs prohibition on online casino broadcasting has left many in a difficult position, but success stories will arise from such occurrences. Daniel O’Boyle had a conversation with Chris Scicluna, the head of LiveSpins, and Robin Reed, a significant investor, about how their gambling-focused streaming platform has fared since the announcement.
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Prospects in the Aftermath of the Twitch Ban
As the gambling industry has repeatedly learned, every new set of regulations has its winners.
Therefore, when Twitch, the streaming giant, declared its latest crackdown on gambling broadcasters, it appeared like a setback for the industry. However, many also view this action as a chance for growth.
The most apparent beneficiaries are competing streaming services that specialize in gambling.
One such service is LiveSpins, which provides an integrated streaming client on operator websites. Players can watch their preferred streamers engage in games, but unlike non-gambling-designed products like Twitch, they can also wager alongside the streamers.
LiveSpins CEO Chris Scicluna states that the business owes a debt of gratitude to Twitch for its initial inspiration.
“We are a live entertainment product,” he stated. “We examined Twitch and observed how popular streaming was becoming. In 2021 alone, 280 million hours of slot machine content were consumed.
Theres a robust community here, but supporters can’t engage. We identified a void in the marketplace. You can join, watch their matches. You can converse, you can watch their matches, but you can also wager.
“So when the streamer prevails, everyone triumphs.”
LiveSpins appears primed to capitalize on Twitch’s prohibition.
Robin Reed, chief executive of Happyhour, LiveSpins’ primary investor, highlights that the venture has been drawing considerable attention.
“We possess a very strong pipeline, and it’s expanded since the news emerged,” he stated. “Streamers are approaching us, game developers are approaching us, operators are approaching us to ascertain what we can achieve for them.
“At LiveSpins, we’re observing top-tier interest from both the supply side and the operator side, and we’re currently in discussions with numerous streamers.”
Scicluna emphasizes that game studios are the most enthusiastic. It’s not difficult to comprehend why, considering the opportunity to make games the focal point of the video.
“I believe providers are more interested,” he remarked. “They gained exposure through Twitch, but LiveSpins might be more stable through operators.”
However, Scicluna dismisses the notion that LiveSpins is directly competing with Twitch. Instead, he asserts that the two businesses occupy distinct roles in the gaming environment, at different stages of the customer journey.
Weve never been in competition with Twitch, we’re enhancing Twitch,” he stated. “Twitch is more concentrated on acquisitions. LiveSpins is live broadcasting in the foyer. We have broadcasters, and we work diligently so that operators don’t have to.”
Scicluna mentioned live broadcasting itself has already had a significant effect on the online gambling business.
“I believe the broadcasters are doing an exceptional job,” he said. “They’ve established a new type of entertainment on Twitch. Broadcasters initially just had players playing games, but they recognized to build a community, they needed to do some genuine content creation within the boundaries of what they could do.
“So some of them are conducting bonus hunts. So they begin playing, and when they get a bonus, they halt it, and then they open all the bonuses together. They do bonus purchases, they do slot tournaments – 50 spins each on a slot, the biggest winner wins.
“They’ve brought a level of innovation that was absent in the industry. But everything has a downside. Some broadcasters aren’t doing it in a sustainable and accountable way.”
Unavoidable?
However, Reed pointed out that the crackdown may be unavoidable.
“My initial response was empathy for the businesses affected,” Reed said. “But we weren’t particularly astonished.
“Twitch has already adjusted its policies on casino links, etc. Now, I believe gambling in the mainstream media, both digital and non-digital, is always going to be volatile. You’re always going to be subject to policy changes.”
Thus, we were not particularly astonished.”
In actuality, he believes the final result is somewhat more forgiving than some anticipated. The announcement arrived after intense pressure from several of Twitch’s most well-known video game broadcasters to completely prohibit gambling broadcasts.
“There are actually two sides to this,” he stated. “One is that remotely licensed casinos will be prohibited. They even named a few. However, they also declared that they will permit streams of locally licensed casinos. That’s not necessarily a given.”
“They could have simply completely banned casino games on their platform.”
Indeed, Reed mentioned he cannot be entirely certain that further modifications will not occur on the Amazon-owned platform.
“I believe social media is going to be increasingly regulated, and gambling is going to be increasingly regulated, so you’re definitely going to see changes on these platforms,” he said. “But gambling is a cultural phenomenon that has existed in human society and will continue to exist.”
“I absolutely believe gambling will always be on these platforms, but I anticipate more regulation in the future.”
Sicona was pleased to commend Twitch for building a large audience, but he agreed that Twitch was too inclusive to be the primary platform for gambling streamers.
“I think Twitch itself is a streaming platform and has built a large community around video games, but it’s not truly designed for gambling.”
This is a neutral platform, ideal for fostering a vast community, though industry veterans possess a deeper understanding of sustainable development strategies.
In the end, Reed believes that certain solutions can only arise from within the industry itself.
“I trust that these recent occurrences demonstrate the superior efficacy of industry collaboration in crafting exceptional community products, rather than depending on external entities to meet their requirements.”
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