Too many games, not enough interest? Dominator Play on standing out in a crowded market

In this article, game studio Dominator Play examines why having more titles than ever no longer guarantees success in iGaming, as studios must now focus on visibility, player retention, and smarter innovation to stand out in a saturated market.

Studios today are facing a paradox: more titles than ever, yet fewer are hitting the top gaming charts. The competition stopped being about who ships faster and began about those who want to matter longer.

To unpack this, we spoke with Dominator Play’s CEO, Ivan Kalashniuk, and CPO, Constantin Molodtov – two voices at the forefront of rethinking game design.

Are players entering the ‘Netflix scroll’ era of iGaming? With endless options, but still struggling to find something worthy of engaging with.

Ivan Kalashniuk (IK): The market is oversaturated because game studios naturally try to outperform each other. Ultra-detailed visuals aiming to reach the level of AAA games, “frankensteined” hybrid mechanics, unexpected features – you name it. But this still doesn’t guarantee the title will be among players’ favorites.

I have conversations with dozens of partners every week. The problem they communicate to me follows the same pattern: “Ivan, I’ve got 2,000 games in my lobby, but only a few perform.” You probably won’t rewatch the same Netflix show for the 10th time. But that’s exactly what’s happening in the iGaming industry. Players have their top picks and come back to them.

Constantin Molodtov (CM): Whether we like it or not, the iGaming market isn’t static. It keeps branching out: new genres, themes, and mechanics constantly appear. What’s hot today can change to invisible tomorrow. Those titles that really leave a mark with the player audience aren’t necessarily the ones that shout loudest. Players filter games via sampling. At Dominator Play, we believe that the decision to stay or leave is subconscious. If the core loop isn’t clear, if the first interaction is heavy, or if the value isn’t obvious, players bounce – get back to scrolling.

What are the core reasons why some games simply don’t resonate with players?

IK: Sometimes it’s not about the game itself, it’s about visibility. In iGaming, the real battleground is the operators’ lobby. You can build the flashiest slots, the cleverest mechanics, or the juiciest bonus features, but if your game isn’t front and center in the lobby, most players will never see it.

Bad marketing is another reason why players churn. Let’s imagine a title’s marketing campaign sets a specific promise. Let’s say it’s a peculiar style of play. Players enter the game anticipating something special, do 20 spins, nothing happens, and it doesn’t catch their interest. Will they continue exploring the game? I’m 100% sure they won’t.

CM: Some titles fail to resonate because they ignore the bigger picture. Current iGaming market trends highlight that success relies on tracking market movements and understanding trends and audiences. Games that connect give players what they haven’t imagined yet but already desire.

Does it mean that products like classic slots dominate the iGaming landscape?

IK: Players often come back to the old classics, and nothing is surprising about this. Like first love, their first gaming experience sticks with them. A game provider has to be equipped to engage this audience. I mean, you’ve got to have the portfolio that lines up the games they’re used to.

But here’s the part not to miss: more and more players have their first-ever experience not with classic fruit slots, but with Plinko, staged crash mechanics, and other instant-style games.

CM: To build on that from a CPO point of view: it’s the best time to stop “the battle for the classics.” This audience knows what they like, there’s no sense in forcing them into something they don’t. But it doesn’t mean that there isn’t any “wiggle room.” Game devs and producers can’t be static because the market is full of unexplored genres, and classic games fans aren’t the only player segment. 

In a sea of similar mechanics and themes, how can game studios create titles that catch players’ interest?

CM: There are two ways to deal with the overcrowded offer. First, developers can go against the stream and create entirely new genres and mechanics that have never existed before. It’s a competition against the entire iGaming content supply. But this approach comes with a different kind of challenge. You’re no longer just fighting with similar titles for attention, you carve out space where there’s none yet. It’s a higher risk, but if it works, it’s how breakout categories are born.

In the second scenario, developers follow the stream, but do it in a smart way. They can identify emerging trends and capture them early. You improve your existing games by analyzing weak points and refining them. It’s the classic “copy-paste the trend” play. 

These are basic methods that 90% of the market relies on. The smaller group, around 9%, prefers to cross the current. They choose an ambitious route, but a far more punishing one. It demands a strong, battle-tested team, deep domain experience, and, most importantly, the patience (and resources) to operate for years without clear results.

The smartest move, which less than 1% of the market actually makes, is rethinking what already exists. Because, honestly, most successful solutions out there are just reimagined old ideas that drive iGaming growth.