“Sports betting has been the key driver of mobile gaming growth to date”

TST, a GLI company, now known as GLI Interactive, was the first lab that tested iGaming and it also was the first that arrived to the Isle of Man. How has iGaming grown since then?

When the first regulated iGaming jurisdictions opened up in the early part of this century, it was unclear how the industry would develop, given the trepidation with which some governments viewed online gaming, although obviously we saw great potential in this segment of the gaming industry. Our decision to provide independent testing services to the newly emerging iGaming industry has been vindicated by the growth of the iGaming market from almost nothing to a multi-billion dollar industry which now spans the globe, in some of the most respected first-tier regulated jurisdictions internationally. In addition the market has matured to a level where the largest stakeholders in the traditional land-based gaming industry have thrown their hats into the ring given traditional iGaming suppliers and operators a real run for their money and resources.

What does GLI’s iGaming testing services consist of?
GLI provides a complete range of compliance testing and consultancy services for all regulated jurisdictions permitting internet, mobile and interactive TV-based gaming. This includes (but is not limited to) testing for Random Number Generator (RNG)s, platforms, games and information systems security. GLI also provides testing to facilitate continuous compliance such as periodic reviews and update testing, math analysis, live game payout calculation and reporting and live RNG data analysis and reporting. 

As a result of the expertise gained through the delivery of these services, GLI is also routinely called upon to provide regulatory consultancy and Technical Standards Document (TSD) development services.

What are the latest developments in this area of the global gaming industry?

As an independent testing laboratory which provides technical testing capability to gaming regulators, we generally see two separate types of changes driving the iGaming industry: regulation and technical innovation.

In terms of regulation, the regulatory acceptance of online gaming in Western Europe and the first steps towards the acceptance of some forms of online gaming in the USA represent significant developments in establishing iGaming as an integral part of the global gaming industry. With Italy, France, Spain and Denmark joining the UK in regulating online gaming, the top five European gambling markets representing approximately 75 percent of all the gambling in Europe will have fully regulated online gambling offered. This year has also seen the state of Nevada legalize online poker, a development which may be emulated by other US states as the reality of online gaming becomes more accepted in the USA. Each of the abovementioned new jurisdictions have introduced their own regulations and accreditation requirements for independent testing laboratories. GLI is committed to maintaining its standing as the gold standard in independent iGaming testing in these and other new jurisdictions.

In terms of technical innovation, some of the most important developments have been the expansion of the mobile market reflecting smartphone penetration with the deployment of high speed mobile networks, and the integration of the gaming platforms of independent suppliers to those of portal operators. The porting of successful iGaming products to mobile devices will likely continue to be a driving force in the industry for several years. The integration of independent supplier gaming platforms is driven by the need for portal operators to provide the best range of high quality and appealing products, a complete gaming experience and the need to control the development costs of large scale gaming applications.

From a testing point of view, GLI has expanded its iGaming testing staff to meet the unique needs of each newly emerging jurisdiction. The other area of development has been the need to expand our security assessment and consultancy practice. The security of player data and gambling transaction information is of critical importance to the iGaming industry and the new European and Nevada jurisdictions have imposed strict security requirements on operators. GLI has invested in a number of trained security auditors on its staff, has appointed a full-time Information Systems Security Manager and continues to develop its security practice to meet the growing needs of regulators and valued clients internationally.

What does the new regulated Spanish market represent for GLI? What are your plans for this country?

With a population of approximately 35 million, Spain represents a large European market, and GLI has invested significant resources to provide testing services to iGaming operators wishing to enter this market. GLI España has recently opened in Barcelona and has been accredited by Spanish gaming authorities as an independent testing laboratory for both B2B iGaming platform suppliers and B2C online gaming operators, and an independent auditor of Information Systems Security (ISS). Both certifications are required by the Spanish gaming authorities before iGaming operators can provide services.

Recently, GLI has been approved as an iGaming test lab for Loto-Québec. What does this mean for GLI’s business?

GLI has provided gaming equipment testing services to Loto-Quèbec for their Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) program for several years, and we are proud to see the approval by Loto-Quèbec of our iGaming testing services as an extension of an existing relationship. As Loto-Quèbec adds further gaming opportunities to the espacejeux.com site, GLI will be responsible to test internet systems, games and other products to ensure compliance with all laws and regulations in effect in Québec. We are absolutely thrilled to have achieved this approval and remain confident that Loto-Québec will be pleased with our ability, capacity, and integrity.

How have iPhone, Blackberry and all smartphones in general influenced in online gaming in the last years?

In general, the mobile gaming market has broadly tracked smartphone penetration in regions where online gaming has been legal. In the most advanced country in this regard, the Japanese mobile gaming segment represents approximately 50% of all online gaming; a market penetration which has yet to be achieved in other jurisdictions.

It is still unclear whether the expansion of mobile gaming in the regulated markets of developed economies comes at the expense of other forms of online gaming or represents a new market segment. The belief is that it will be the latter; however, as developing countries deploy high speed mobile networks in preference to wired broadband the mobile segment represents the main opportunity for new growth in iGaming in these markets.

Sports betting has been the key driver of mobile gaming growth to date especially in Europe, and currently represents more than approximately 75 pecent of the global mobile gaming market; however, future growth in this segment will most likely come from traditional iGaming products. Established iGaming companies are porting successful games from their current online platforms to mobile platforms, and this will likely continue with the graphical sophistication of mobile games marching lockstep with the processing power of smartphones and the increased network speeds available on 4G and LTE networks. 

How do you think that online gaming will evolve facing the future?

I think that two processes will generally govern the future evolution of online gaming in the foreseeable future: convergence and consolidation.

Convergence between the various gaming delivery channels of casinos, online gaming and mobile gaming will occur because players will be looking for a seamless environment of gaming opportunities, and will expect to be able to play their favorite games at the casino, online or on their mobile devices. All these forms of gaming will be expected to be available on demand. The technologies employed to provide gaming experiences through all three channels are similar and enable porting of successful products from one channel to another.

Consolidation will likely be driven by the convergence of technologies and by the steeper entry costs and capital requirements faced by operators in regulated markets. This has already occurred with larger land-based and online gaming suppliers and operators either purchasing online gaming suppliers, establishing significant partnerships with one another, or going at it alone to develop distributable products in both bricks-and-mortar venues or electronically.