In 2004, Tomb Raider was released by the Microgaming provider under the management of Roger Raatgever. This is the first branded slot. The protagonist in a familiar guise has attracted a new audience to the bets. The new trend was supported by other major providers. There are over 440 such slot machines in 2021. Heroes of Marvel and DC Comics, popular TV series and films migrated to the gambling industry.
What Are Branded Slots
When developing a game, a provider faces an important question – to create a new intellectual property or use ready-made content. In the first case, the company has to come up with characters, history, and other nuances. In the second one, buy the rights to use intellectual property.
Branded slots include all games featuring famous characters, characters, or celebrities. A striking example is the Game of Thrones slot machine, released by Microgaming in 2015. This approach not only makes development partly easier but also allows you to attract the attention of fans of the series. You can find branded machines in online casinos presented on the Wintermoolah platform.
A similar approach is used in other areas. In movies, it’s easier to promote familiar images. People go to Batman and Spider-Man movies because they know what they are getting in return. For this reason, viewers receive an outrageous number of remakes and sequels.
Why Providers Use Branded Content
Famous images and characters do not guarantee product success. Quite a few companies have tried to implement off-the-shelf content, but their attempts have failed. In addition, the provider has to give a part of the profit – the deductions are 3-15% of the revenue.
Most often, branded content is accessed for several reasons:
- Increasing awareness. About 450 slots appear on the market every month. Gaming operators are not ready to add all new items to the site – a familiar brand will increase the chances. In addition, such slots usually stay in
- Reputation building. Audience confidence in a young company will increase if it works with a well-known brand like Disney. Such partnerships have a more serious impact on players than regulatory approval.
Movies and TV Topics Are Out of Competition
There are quite well-known companies on the market from various fields of activity. In December 2021 the most branded slots are in the following genres:
- Movies – 170.
- TV – 121.
- Board games – 48.
- Music – 31.
- Sports – 27.
- Celebrities – 21.
- Computer games – 8.
- Other – 20.
For small studios, licensed content is one of the few opportunities to break into the big leagues. However, they do not always manage to gain brand support. For example, Gordon Ramsay is unlikely to want to work with an indie studio and will prefer a large provider with an impressive portfolio of successful slots.