Ahead of exhibiting at G2E next week, Greentube’s Director of Global Sales and Marketing Markus Antl outlines how the suppliers’ content strategy is localized for North American jurisdictions and explains what it takes to stand out in the limited and saturated markets.
North America is an incredibly exciting market from an economic perspective. How do you size up the opportunities in North America, with nine different jurisdictions across the US and Canada having online casino regulation?
North America’s regulatory picture is a patchwork rather than a single market, which differs from how we would approach an established regulatory bloc elsewhere. Operating across states like New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and reaching players in Canada through the competitive market in Ontario and now Alberta, along with provincial platforms in British Columbia and Quebec, means tailoring content and go-to-market by state and province.
Each jurisdiction has its own player base, competitive set and regulatory details, so the opportunity must be sized by market rather than as one combined total. However, with the U.S. and Canada sharing the same language and player preferences being quite similar it helps to scale tailored game launches across states.
Alberta was the latest market to open up. How have the opening few months been in that province, and how does that align with your pre-entry expectations?
Alberta has reinforced rather than changed the North American strategy. There was already a strong foundation in Ontario, so entering Alberta meant extending a proven portfolio and partnerships rather than testing something completely new.
We are still analyzing activity of the first few months to get a picture of what makes players tick in Alberta. As with any new market, it will take a while for it to settle and we expect to see changes as it evolves and matures.
How does Greentube’s game development process differ between North American markets compared to the games designed for European audiences? How important is it to be attuned to those nuances?
In North America, the focus has shifted from simply adapting titles that worked well in Europe to building games specifically for North American players. Being attuned to those nuances matters because North American players often enter online casinos through the same operators and apps that brought them into sports betting, or through land-based brands they already trust. Brand familiarity and app-based convenience carry real weight there. Getting the mechanics right is only part of the job. Getting the presentation and context right for that audience matters just as much.
Markets like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ontario are incredibly competitive and saturated markets. How do you ensure that Greentube games stand out in the casino lobbies across those markets?
In markets like these, differentiation has become one of the biggest factors in success given how competitive and saturated the lobbies now are. The approach is to keep building distinctive game families and strategically developed one-off titles, so players build recognition and loyalty across multiple releases and trust new releases. Raising the quality bar on every release and developing content specifically for these markets, rather than simply porting titles over, is central to standing out through 2027.
How important is it to have really strong partnerships with operators in North America, and are there any examples of relationships that you would highlight?
Strong operator partnerships are as important in North America as anywhere else, because trust and long-term collaboration are what let a supplier introduce new content into competitive lobbies. We have seen success leveraging operator partnerships already established in other markets, which can remove much of the groundwork required for a brand-new relationship, but strategic growth demands both approaches.
A strong collaboration with our partners is crucial not only to get our content in front of players however, but also for the data and analysis they can provide to ensure we can deliver more relevant and localised experiences for their customers in the future.
What is your advice for operators looking for growth in the US when the TAM remains small? How do you grow strongly within a state?
Even where the addressable market in a single state is limited, there’s still real room to grow by focusing on player retention and lifetime value rather than only new player acquisition. That means offering enough game variety to keep existing players engaged for longer, and working closely with operators on how content is promoted and merchandised within the lobby, since visibility often matters as much as the game itself in a capped market.
What is your outlook for the US and Canada markets in the next 12 months and how does the Greentube roadmap best position you for growth in that region?
The outlook for the next 12 months is positive. Beyond Alberta, states such as Maine look close to moving forward with iGaming, and others, including Illinois, New York, Maryland, and Louisiana, remain likely candidates given their existing gaming or sports betting markets. The region’s roadmap is built around the same principles that have worked so far: developing games specifically for North American audiences, deepening existing partnerships, and being ready to move quickly as new jurisdictions regulate.
