One of the fasted-growing economies in the world is Southeast Asia. It is also one of the fastest growing areas for online gambling. There are legal issues with online gaming in some areas but this has been the norm since the industry’s existence. As a result, online gaming providers are targeting Asian customers to increase their market share of this location. There are different approaches being taken by different companies to target this demographic.
Many gaming companies are taking the direct approach by launching online casinos that cater specifically to that market. For instance, Bodog has done an excellent job of this by partnering with Manila-based betting firm, Haydock Sports to launch Bodog88.com. Haydock has been in the industry since 2006 and is aware of what Asian players want. For example, the culture is more receptive to live dealers as opposed to RNG’s.
Other gaming companies are keeping the casino, the games and betting structure the same but continue to cater to local requirements through multi-lingual customer support and many currencies available. Their software was created in many languages including Japanese and Chinese with deposit and withdrawal options in the currency of that country.
Despite Asian players preferring a live dealer, with many games this is not feasible. To balance this, other games native to that specific area are offered. Almost all online gaming developers offer Pai Gow Poker and Sic Bo. Playtech has taken this a step further by offering an Asian games category that includes Mahjong and Pachinko. Microgaming has recently followed suit.
The subtlest method of attracting Asian customers is by developing online slot games in an Asian theme. These include:
click here to see most Popular Pages- Samurai and Geisha culture from Japan
- Ancient royalty from India
- Arabian Nights from the Middle East
- Chinese cuisine
Realtime Gaming has found other subtle methods of appealing to the Southeast Asian market. For example, since the number ‘8’ is lucky in the Chinese culture, some of its slot games give payouts ending in 8’s.
The most popular games in this region include, Eastern Dragon by Cryptologic, Cherry Blossoms created by Vegas Technology and Lady of the Orient by Microgaming. These continually attract new customers while retaining the old. Attracting the Asian market should not be an arduous task with many in the region beginning to have disposable income. Online gaming companies simply need to appeal to the tastes of each individual culture.
