Greentube US CEO Ben Sutherland lifts the lid on the online casino supplier’s strategy in the U.S, outlining why the firm has chosen the states to launch in and why it has opted to take a localized approach in each of these markets.
SBC Americas: The U.S. presents an exciting opportunity for Greentube and you are pursuing it through the Present Creative (Greentube US) acquisition. How will you realize these U.S. ambitions and how important was it to establish Greentube US in order to grow?
Ben Sutherland: The U.S. has been a key focus for us for some time, highlighted by the creation of Greentube US and the continued expansion of our team in the states. We did this specifically to bolster our U.S. focused content development for the markets of today and tomorrow.
Additionally, we have some joint ventures like our collaborations with Flamingocatz, for example, which expands the range of our game designs and gives us greater diversity in the portfolio of products we will be bringing to market.
We’ve focused on making sure we have a range of products for this U.S. market. Our previous hits are translating well, but the U.S. market is growing fast in its size and tastes, and we are making sure we cater to that growth.
With any new market entry, it is imperative to have boots on the ground and utilize local knowledge and relationships – it can’t be done effectively from thousands of miles away, so the base here is a key part of our strategy capturing the huge potential that the U.S has to offer.
SBC: You are preparing to take your content live in two new states: Pennsylvania and Connecticut. What is it about these two markets that are attracting attention and why is it so important for Greentube to be live there?
BS: Several states are at differing stages of development, and each presents the opportunity for growth for suppliers. We have done our diligence in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and they are markets that have much to offer, aligning with our overall growth strategy for North America.
We’re working hard on both entries and there’s still much to do with integrations and establishing our service centers there. Despite the scope of work being a challenge, as new market entries invariably are, we’re hopeful to complete a Q2 launch and replicate the success we have elsewhere across North America in these two new markets.
SBC: How do you choose which regulated states to enter in the U.S., given there are so few legalized online casino states? Which ones offer the best growth opportunities and why?
BS: Eventually we will be in all regulated markets in North America, so the choice really comes to where to focus first. For that prioritization we take into account market size, the predicted deployment timeline based on technological and regulatory factors, expected return, and even whether the existing games portfolio is a match for the local appetite.
The team has done a fantastic job producing incredibly detailed research which has helped guide these decisions right down to which game we predict will resonate the best in each state. This data feeds back into our game production roadmap where we make sure we are executing on the trends of today and hopefully inventing the trends of tomorrow.
SBC: Greentube is notably taking a localized approach to the U.S. online casino space but what type of content resonates with the U.S. playerbase?
BS: Preferences for different game types are beginning to show signs of evolution with some trends significantly expanding. But that isn’t to say that all the top games of this year are innovations or new U.S. soil. In fact, more often than not the usual suspects are the ones that are dominating the charts in the U.S.
Our focus on local content has helped position us across North America, with Diamond Cash: Mighty Buffalo taking the first spot in the ‘New Top Game Ranks’ in Eilers & Krejcik Gaming’s U.S. Online Game Performance Report – January 2024, while A Christmas Full of Wilds came in third, further proving the appeal of our content in the region.
Greentube games that are live in North America feature mechanics that have proven popular in local markets, such as Hold N Spin. Market-specific content like Diamond Cash has also been developed, to cater to the preferences of the local audience.
On a more subtle level, some of our most successful mechanics have been adapted with slight tweaks to better suit U.S. players when it comes to volatility, user Interfaces, and even theme choices all catering to local tastes and intuitions.
SBC: There has been an increase in the number of licensed casino content in recent years in the U.S. – is this something that Greentube would potentially look into producing?
BS: We are always open to adapting the types of games we produce and insist on staying as far ahead of the curve as possible. Licensed games come with their pros and cons but like everything else, we keep an open mind and perform our due diligence in each and every market that we are active in.
We’ve had success with licensed content in the past and we know that the right IP resonates extremely well with U.S. audiences, so we’ll continue to listen to market forces and opportunities and move forward accordingly.
SBC: While the number of legalized online casino markets remains small, one vertical that the U.S. offers is iLottery. How is Greentube using the iLottery opportunity and what type of products are lottery partners looking for?
BS: The acquisition of Present Creative, now Greentube US, has allowed us to significantly improve our developmental capabilities across North America and offers us a proven track record of creating content for the iLottery sector.
We leveraged that experience with Drop the Ball in 2023, with an initially exclusive launch for the Washington D.C. Lottery. It combines pinball, pachinko and bagatelle for a highly unique experience. The game has performed well with local players and offers an insight into what is to come from us in the sector. It’s an interesting vertical in its differences and similarities to iGaming. We are right around the corner from a few more launches in the iLottery sector in different regions as well as with some exciting new content we predict matches the iLottery audiences craving for innovation and quality. It should be an exciting Q2 and Q3 for iLottery.
SBC: What do Greentube’s U.S. plans look like for the rest of 2024?
BS: As always, we’re hard at work on our content roadmap. Each new market we target and enter brings its own exciting challenges for our development teams. We’ve proven more than capable of delivering content that can resonate with a local audience.
The key to doing this has always been to listen to players and operators, learning what works for them and why… and build that into our products. With the resources available to us and the broad, relatively blank canvas of new markets ahead, we have exciting times on the horizon.
