News

Twitch bans crypto-casinos, but all other forms are still allowed

Published

5 months ago

October 31, 2022

Crypto-casino streaming has been banned by Twitch, but the platform still enables vast amounts of fiat currency gambling. The industry however should take care with promoting such high levels of gambling to young audiences, says Pavlos Sideris, director of Double Up Media.

The decision by the streaming giant Twitch to ban gambling websites whose content includes “slots, roulette, or dice games that aren’t licensed either in the US or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection” has been described as a clampdown on gambling-related streaming.

It is true that the Amazon-owned group has, at a purely technical level, placed a ban on unlicensed gambling sites that stream players playing their online gambling products, but in reality it only refers to crypto-backed casinos, which make up so much of the casino content that is streamed.

Twitch however hasn’t banned ‘traditional’ online casino, sports betting or poker operators and affiliates that are regulated in the US (or other major markets).

This is no coincidence. It may be stating the obvious, but the reason Twitch decided to ban cryptocurrency-backed casino play from being streamed is because it is not regulated in the US and as a US company it doesn’t want to attract any more controversy than it already has when it comes to this issue.

The fact that crypto-casino is also not regulated in the UK and other European markets also played a part, but the audience levels generated by casino streamers in the US are that much more significant, while many of the biggest (regulated) casino channels have marketing agreements with major US brands and are highly active on the platform.

Streaming exposure

The lack of crypto regulation did not stop the large crypto brands such as Stake.com, Duelbits or Roobet from streaming online casino play and subsidising streamers with major sponsorship contracts to ensure they continue to broadcast to their thousands of followers.

This has given them significant exposure and, one imagines, enabled them to recruit huge amounts of players. These customers will have watched the rap superstar Drake win $12m on a single roulette spin on Stake.com, having lost more than $800k betting on sports a few hours before, and will have been enticed to open accounts with those operators.

In 2021 and as a nod to wanting to protect its audiences from too much gambling exposure, Twitch outlawed referral codes and affiliate links. The measure however will not have prevented thousands of consumers from easily finding the sites online; while the decision by some of the sites to not accept players from the US is easily circumvented by VPNs.

In fact, looking at its decision to ban crypto-casino streaming, one may wonder what has taken Twitch so long to adopt the measure. After all, crypto-backed casinos and sportsbooks have always been unregulated in the US, UK and other major markets.

Of course, the reason Twitch did not ban them earlier is commercial. The streams by celebrities like Drake and sponsored players such as Mizkif, Trainwrecks or Niknam attracted huge audiences and that would have been the only metric Twitch paid attention to.

Reputational concern

Conversely, the most likely factor to influence Twitch into banning crypto casino sites will have been reputational. Cheating scandals or streamers fleecing players out of significant amounts of money to fund their gambling activities have created huge controversies and shone a most unflattering light on Twitch’s ready acceptance of crypto casino play.

The site is owned by the e-commerce giant Amazon, which likely decided that the safest way to avoid further scandals is to ban crypto casinos outright.

The other obvious point to make is that Twitch on the whole appeals to much younger demographics than those that might play on ‘regular’ slot sites. The company’s advertising and media information says “nearly 75% of Twitch viewers are between the ages of 16 and 34”.

The idea that thousands of young Twitch watchers might have been led into opening accounts on sites that were (and still are) unregulated and where they may have spent huge amounts of money while potentially developing gambling problems would be enough to give any public affairs or compliance executive significant worries.

No gambling ban

In an echo of the point made at the start of this article, campaigners and industry observers have been quick to point out that the new measure by Twitch “isn’t an outright ban on gambling” but just “a blow to crypto casinos”.

Indeed, what some campaigners want is a complete ban on the streaming of online slots and other casino games on Twitch, because, they say, “it is objectively harmful to the website and its users” and Twitch’s ban on unregulated operators still means that “luck-based gambling will still be alive and well on the website on October 18th” when the ban on crypto casinos comes in.

A ban is unlikely to happen in the near or medium term at least and a quick scan of the ‘Slots’ homepage on Twitch shows that the crypto casino channels have now been replaced by more ‘traditional’ ones.

In addition, with competing streaming platforms such as DLive more than willing to accept crypto (or other) casino streamers, it seems unlikely that Twitch will broaden its ban to ‘traditional’ casino channels.

Mass availability

Twitch’s rise as a showcase for online slots and other casino games has been steady and long trailed over the past few years.

What the platform also shows is that live casino continues to evolve. From its original and current incarnation as a product aimed mainly at VIPs and ‘whales’ on regular casino websites, to one that, thanks to Twitch, is becoming more focused on online slots and has been made available to a much broader and younger section of the population.

Without wanting to be too alarmist, the fact that younger demographics are exposed to gambling products much earlier than might have been the case in the past should be a cause for concern for all of us as stakeholders.

There have already been a number of addiction or problem gambling stories of young players who became familiar with gambling through Twitch. Criticising the industry for not intervening earlier will be of no use if all gambling streaming eventually gets banned on Twitch.

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News

FAVBET apps receive ‘Lite Mode’ for slower networks

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2023

George Miller

FAVBET apps receive ‘Lite Mode’ for slower networks

The newly revealed ‘Lite Mode’ setting is now available in both the FAVBET’s Android and iOS apps and lets users have quality gaming experience on weaker connections.

The company said that the new mode allows its apps to be used even with minimal internet connectivity during the massive blackouts or power outages.

“We have thoroughly reviewed traffic consumption, turned off everything that wasn’t important for gaming, optimized app performance, and reduced the number of autoloads. That is, we only left the things you need to continue to comfortably use the app and enjoy the game,” the company said in a statement.

‘Lite Mode’ can be activated in the user settings. Once it’s on, the app will not automatically download advertising images and game covers, and will limit the frequency of updates to reduce traffic. That said, the app’s functionality will remain unchanged. Users are also advised to switch to a dark theme for additional charge savings.

According to FAVBET, they continue to work on improving the apps and optimizing the ‘Lite Mode’ for better user experience and comfort.

Affiliate Success

Fiat & Crypto: King Billy players get the best of both worlds

Published

2 weeks ago

March 20, 2023

George Miller

Fiat & Crypto: King Billy players get the best of both worlds

See how the casino players can deposit in crypto and play in fiat.

Since the dawn of e-gaming robust payment systems have been crucial for the success of any online casino, as they are a key factor in creating a positive and satisfying gaming experience. Moreover, the availability of different payment options allows players to choose the method that works best for them, whether it be classical fiat money or cryptocurrency.

But is it possible for an operator to give its players the best of both worlds, fiat and crypto at once? Yes, it is, with the King Billy feature “deposit in crypto, play in fiat”. The concept is simple. A casino player deposits in crypto (choosing among 4 cryptocurrencies King Billy supports). Then, the system automatically shows them their balance in the currency of their choice (among the 14 currencies King Billy supports, used by more than 3 billion people worldwide). When the players withdraw, their transaction takes place back in crypto.

What are the advantages of this system? Ruslan Legenzov, King Billy Casino Head of Affiliates (or “Lord of Affiliates” as the internal etiquette demands) has the answers: “Good things come in threes, and there are certainly 3 very good things about our “deposit in crypto, play in fiat” feature.

First of all, depositing in crypto means less hassle and paperwork for the player and elimination of the dreaded “transaction not coming through” issue. This has been a problem and actually a torment for many of our players in remote areas of the world. As a global casino, we are happy to act in ways that give peace of mind to our players.

Secondly, this system offers a greater player experience to the King Billy Citizens and Nobles, as they can now take advantage of our numerous promotions and offers in fiat. For example, players who deposit in crypto can now participate in our extremely popular fiat-only “Slot of the Month” offer, that’s been a staple of our casino since our launch.

Finally, with “deposit in crypto, play in fiat” our players, especially the not so cryptocurrency-savvy have a much clearer understanding of their wins or losses. I am sure that a player, let’s say from Vietnam, prefers to see, in real time, how much his slot win is worth in the Vietnamese Dong than running in parallel a crypto converter tool to do the math!”

Well said and well done your Majesty.

For those interested in the “deposit in crypto, play in fiat” feature, King Billy Casino accepts the following currencies: Euro (€), US Dollar ($), Canadian Dollar (C$), Australian Dollar (A$), New Zealand Dollar (NZ$), Norwegian Krone (kr), Indian Rupee (₹), South African Rand (R), Vietnamese dong (₫), Indonesian rupiah (Rp), Malaysian ringgit (RM), Thai baht (฿) and the Philippine peso (₱). King Billy also accepts the following cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Tether (USDT).

King Billy Casino is a new-generation online casino, launched on St. Patrick’s Day in 2017. It is available in 4 languages (English, German, French and Finnish) and it has an impressive record in awards with 25 wins, shortlists and other distinctions, and an amazing variety of features and games. King Billy has prioritized the creation of a superb user experience, focusing on the myth of King Billy and his Kingdom and treats all players with the specialness they deserve.

London Affiliate Conference

Records tumble as iGB Affiliate London grows attendance by 40% with delegates travelling from 101 nations

Published

3 weeks ago

March 10, 2023

George Miller

Records tumble as iGB Affiliate London grows attendance by 40% with delegates travelling from 101 nations

The 2023 edition of iGB Affiliate London has broken all records with more attendees travelling from more countries than at any time in the event’s history. The number of unique show visitors attending iGB Affiliate London ’23 totaled 5,763 a 40% uplift on the April 2022 edition (4,116) and 19% ahead of 2020 (4,844) which was the last edition of iGB Affiliate London to take place prior to Covid. The number of visitor days which measures return visits, stands at 7,176.

The brand’s impressive international credentials were once again in evidence with visitors travelling to London from 101 nations – the first time that iGB Affiliate London has broken through the symbolic ‘three figures’ for international representation.

With every show metric in positive territory Portfolio Director Naomi Barton expressed her thanks to the entire iGB Affiliate community for its support and for helping to make the 2023 edition so successful. She stated: “We’ve worked in partnership with colleagues active in the iGaming Affiliate sector to deliver an event that provides what the industry requires across all fronts.

“Our focus was to deliver on our pledge to provide delegates with access to new business strategies, new thinking, new trends, new technologies and new content, in the process keeping the iGB Affiliate London proposition fresh and compelling.”

“This edition of iGB Affiliate London was physically the largest on record and the continued demand for space from both new and existing exhibitors underlines the fact that iGB Affiliate London is regarded by our stakeholders -who are based throughout the world – as being their flagship event.”

“Significantly 24% of attendees were making their first appearance at iGB Affiliate London with 1 in 10 affiliate visitors new to gambling. The ability to bring new people into the igaming affiliate space represents an important attribute of the brand.”

Away from the exhibition show floor a total of 450 sector professionals attended the prestigious iGB Affiliate Awards which recognized the ‘best of the best’ across 19 categories. Better Collective Co-founders, Jesper Søaard (CEO) and Christian Kirk Rasmussen (COO) were awarded with the blue riband ‘Affiliate Idol – Lifetime Achievement Award’ for their successful contributions to the industry.

On receiving the Award Jesper Søgaard, Co-founder and CEO said: “I speak for Christian too, when I say that it is an incredibly humbling feeling to not only have been considered but chosen to receive the Affiliate Idol Award. Christian and I may have laid the foundation for something great but without our dedicated colleagues, Better Collective would not be where it is today. I am very honoured but also trust that with our vision to become the Leading Digital Sports Media Group, ‘the best has yet to come’.”

The Affiliate Awards sponsors comprised V.Partners (Stage Sponsor), Safe Affiliates Programs (Photobooth), YGAM (Safer Gambling) and Trueplay (NFT).