Over the next week, we are reflecting on the feature series and taking a look at some of the most interesting insights from origin stories of igaming players. 

SlotBeats: What is your favourite game of all time and why?

Eberhard Dürrschmid, CEO at Golden Whale: Elite, which was a game that saw you travel the galaxy in a spaceship, buying goods and selling them on a different planet. You had to use a map to get around the galaxy and work out which planets would give you the best price for whatever it was you bought. 

Sometimes you could buy contraband and the police would chase you – or pirates would try and steal your cargo. It made you feel like Han Solo from Star Wars, and it had a vast world that you could get lost in. It’s one of the best games ever and has captivating 3D effects. 

Connor Blinman, Head of Games at Gaming Corps: Call of Duty 4, the original Modern Warfare. It was an awesome multiplayer experience that I enjoyed for years with my friends. 

The online progression system was something I hadn’t experienced before, and I always wanted to get to the next level. Not only that, but the main game campaign was so captivating. 

I’m praying for the day this game gets made into a TV series.

Slots Temple Marketing Director Suzanne Jiggens-Johnson: My favourite game depends on the situation and who I’m playing with. If I’m playing with my children, then nothing really beats Mario Kart for instilling a bit of fun family rivalry that brings out the competitive spirit in all of us. Once the kids are in bed though, Halo is still an old time favourite, which has stood the test of time for letting off a bit of steam.

Christoffer Andersson, Chief Operating Officer at 500 Casino: It is a close race between Zelda: A Link to the Past and Shenmue so I will pick both.

Zelda: A Link to the Past is the best game of the Zelda series, regardless of how good the latest on Switch is, for its presentation, the storyline and the use of the top-down perspective instead of the side scroller, and of course the innovative gameplay with all the puzzle games and hidden easter eggs.

Shenmue on Sega Dreamcast laid the foundation for a lot of open world adventure games.

You could do more or less what you wanted in that game, from going into a shop and using a vending machine to challenging random people in darts or other games. Regardless of the massive amount of choices, it still managed to keep you on track with the story line, which wasn’t bad either.

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Under the terms of the collaboration, Finnplay-powered brands will be able to access Golden Whale’s proprietary technology, including its Foundation tech layer and LOOPS self-optimisation solutions. 

Eberhard Dürrschmid, Golden Whale CEO, commented: “Over the past couple of years, Golden Whale has been refining its technologies to deliver even more powerful results to customers – and having the opportunity to now do so on such a large scale through our partnership with Finnplay will naturally be of significant value to both businesses.

“By integrating our predictive optimisation tools and next-gen infrastructure across all Finnplay-powered brands, we can help customers gain genuine insights into their data and deliver real-time results that will be of great benefit to their retention and engagement figures. As such, it’s an exciting collaboration that we’re very much looking forward to.”

With the duo planning to integrate into Nordic-based Finnplay’s partners services ‘seamlessly’, Golden Whale’s tech offering will look to ‘boost player engagement’ by allowing the Entain brand’s customers to ‘optimise their retention’. 

Jaako Soininen, Managing Director at Finnplay, added: “As the leading igaming platform provider from the Nordic region, Finnplay is always looking for ways to add value to our offering and provide customers with new tools that can have a tangible impact on the success of their businesses.

“By partnering with Golden Whale, we believe we’ve found the perfect way to give Finnplay-powered brands an edge on the competition. By utilising their advanced data science and machine learning technologies, Finnplay customers will now gain key insights, empowering them to make optimised decisions on how to better engage with players in future.”

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As an industry that has constantly evolved with the never-ending advancements in modern technology, we probed our CasinoBeats 100 Club on the topic by asking: 

What is the next technological step that could sweep across the online casino industry? And why?

Raphael Di Guisto, Founder at Silverback Gaming: The next technological step that could sweep across the online casino industry is the use of generative AI for generating game concepts and design concepts. This advancement has the potential to revolutionise the industry by significantly reducing production times for new games.

One notable example of this technological advancement is showcased by Silverback’s two upcoming games, Banana Blitz Deluxe and Mariachi Wild Fiesta. By utilising generative AI, Silverback has been able to streamline their game development process, cutting production times by six to eight weeks per game. This accelerated timeline allows for faster releases of high-quality games, keeping up with the growing demands of the online casino market.

Generative AI enables the automatic generation of game concepts and design elements based on predefined parameters and patterns. This technology can generate a wide range of innovative ideas, saving developers substantial time and effort in the initial stages of game development. By automating the concept and design generation process, developers can focus more on refining and enhancing the gameplay experience, resulting in more engaging and immersive games for players.

Thomas Kolbabek, CTO at Golden Whale: Forward looking, predictive operations, powered by AI. Shifting customer interaction gradually from past observations to future predictions is the equivalent of inventing the weather forecast. A convenience we take for granted today.

More specifically, predictive operations leverage existing operational platforms and gaming data, which is available in abundance in our industry. When such source data is processed, enriched with industry experience, and prepared to apply machine learning models efficiently, we can predict what players will want and enjoy in the next moment or the near future.

Why does AI excel at this? It finds correlations efficiently and without personal bias in very large data sets beyond what we as human beings can comprehend with reports and charts.

How will we take this to the next level? While AI is improving speed and capabilities of data analysis and predictions, we can focus our energy on testing hypotheses many times faster than with traditional A/B testing processes and devise new and innovative incentives for our players.

So rather than worrying what kind of clothes to pack for tomorrow’s trip we can focus on making the most out of our journey for us and everyone around us.

Max Sevostianov, Chief Operating Officer at Betbazar: I believe there are several major developments that will shortly sweep across the online casino industry. The first is the emergence of improving virtual reality and extended reality technology, which will provide a new layer of immersion and engagement for players. 

Using VR/ER tech, players can – for example – virtually sit across from the dealer at a table and look at their cards, replicating the feeling of being in an actual bricks-and-mortar casino venue and bringing them that much closer to the action.

The second is the wider adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, because both bring an increased level of security and transparency to online casino games. 

Accepting cryptocurrencies allows for secure, anonymous transactions, while the addition of blockchain technology can also be used to create provably fair games where players are able to verify the randomness of outcomes. 

Both of these things lead to increased transparency and – ultimately – a much safer experience for the player. The introduction of AI and machine learning is also a very important step. This technology can help answer questions and provide information really fast, so I think it will play an important role in improving customer service. 

AI and machine learning can also be used to personalise your content as they can analyse player behaviour and create smarter games that are tailored for individual users. All of these points are tied to improvements in the speed and coverage of internet services globally.

In recent years, we’ve seen the percentage of players using mobile increase dramatically, to the point that I now believe it’s vital for operators to offer an app or something that allows them to bet and play wherever they are. Improvements in the 5G network – and whatever the next level of coverage will be – will increase the potential in continents like Africa, where internet penetration is currently very low.

Jean-Pierre Houareau, CEO at Live Solutions: The slots sector is highly competitive but there is only so much that can be done to differentiate products in this area. The game show sector is interesting as more studios develop new concepts for this format. We believe that the live casino sector has the most potential for innovative change.

There is also a perception that live casino means live dealer only. The live dealer model has many challenges. It relies on studios and staff, both of which have to be licensed in regulated jurisdictions and in many cases, studios have to be geographically located within those jurisdictions. 

Studio’s also require a physical infrastructure including tables, casino equipment and premises. Because this setup is costly and time consuming, operators are keen to have as many players as possible on each table at any one time. This impacts on a player’s experience as it’s likely they will have to queue for a table and get very little personal attention.

There is therefore the potential for a new approach to the live casino sector which would really allow players and casinos to properly appreciate one another. This is already happening with products like our own – players, game presenters, casino staff and VIP managers are all able to talk to each other face to face at the tables without ever having to queue. 

We are very happy to be pushing the boundaries of live casino, leading with the player experience, and always interested to see other innovations in this area.

Aleksandra Andrishak, Editor in Chief at Slotsjudge: The metaverse represents a new frontier for online casinos. As VR and AR technologies continue to mature, I anticipate seeing immersive, interactive, casino gaming experiences being developed within the metaverse, creating an environment that replicates the thrill of a physical casino, but with the accessibility of online gaming. 

The integration of blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, AI, and the metaverse can potentially revolutionise the online casino industry, providing an experience that is more engaging, fair, and exciting for players. However, there will be challenges to overcome, primarily regulatory concerns and technological implementation.

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Through this collaboration, the supplier will be assisted by Golden Whale in fully assessing its key data points to recognise and strategize in an attempt to keep Booming Games’ performance as strong as possible. 

“Booming Games is an esteemed slots supplier, known for crafting games of the highest standard,” stated Eberhard Dürrschmid, Golden Whale CEO, commenting on the collaboration. 

“We are very happy to have the opportunity to assist Booming Games in further improving performance through our industry-leading data-driven feeds. We look forward to what I’m sure will be a very successful collaboration.”

Looking into the deal, Golden Whale will utilise a combination of data processing, machine learning and real-time analytics to provide highly-specialised solutions that Booming Games can use to help improve player behaviour and classification, customer retention strategy, game optimisation and more.

Frederik Niehusen, Chief Commercial Officer at Booming Games, added: “Booming Games has firmly established its reputation as a premium, innovative slots supplier.  We are delighted to receive the invaluable data-driven solutions of Golden Whale as we strive to enhance our offerings through an in-depth understanding of our data feeds. 

“This partnership will guarantee the sustenance of our exceptional service to our operators, and we are thrilled to embark on this collaboration with Golden Whale.”

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Golden Whale will assist Greentube in fully assessing its key data points through the deal, recognising and putting strategies into place to keep the supplier’s performance in all areas as strong as possible.  

Thomas Graf, CEO of Greentube, commented: “We welcome the opportunity to work with Golden Whale and utilise its leading data insights. This will allow us to further improve our offering and give us the best possible understanding of where we are performing well and where we can make our offering even stronger.

“I look forward to getting started on this project and what I’m sure will be very positive results from this partnership.”

Golden Whale will use a combination of data processing, machine learning and real-time analytics to provide highly-specialised solutions that can help improve player behaviour and classification, customer retention strategy, game optimisation and more.

Last month, the provider agreed to similar partnership deals with Flows and Hölle Games.

“We are delighted to bring on board one of the most recognisable names in the B2B online gaming industry in Greentube,” noted Eberhard Dürrschmid, CEO of Golden Whale.

“Greentube’s successful performance over a long period, combined with our ability to offer innovative solutions to today’s market problems, makes this an ideal collaboration.”

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Through the collaboration, Hölle Games and its customers will gain a “greater understanding of all its data feeds”, utilising such data to “look for solutions to optimise performance”. 

“We are very pleased to partner with a market-leading data insights provider such as Golden Whale,” commented Robert Lenzhofer, CEO of Hölle Games.

“This will help us gain the best possible understanding of our company data and in turn, make our offering the best it can possibly be. We look forward to cooperating with Golden Whale and putting plans into action.”

Alongside video slots, Hölle Games has a back-office and self-service platform, offering quick integration, comprehensive information and near real-time reporting for operators. It also recently launched a remote gaming server solution called hinterzimmer.io.

Combining data processing, machine learning and real-time analytics, Golden Whale offers “highly-specialised solutions and a unique benefit” to the hinterzimmer.io RGS solution that can help online casino businesses “improve their player behaviour and classification, customer retention strategy, game optimisation and more”. 

Eberhard Dürrschmid, CEO of Golden Whale, added: “Hölle Games is an established and versatile supplier, led by incredibly experienced gaming industry professionals. 

“This makes them an ideal partner for us, and we are delighted to be able to offer them our data-driven services and help Hölle Games become even stronger.”

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Through the collaboration, Flows’ integration and automation technology will be combined with Golden Whale’s advanced data technology, giving customers “easy access” to data-science tools to help them make “better-informed decisions”.

“We are excited to have partnered with Golden Whale; a leader in providing data insights within the igaming sector,” commented James King, CEO of Flows.

“We built Flows to be igaming’s most agnostic solution so that we can truly offer our partners and customers the power of choice of who they work with and how they work by orchestrating seamlessly between systems through Flows.

“Partnering with Golden Whale allows us to instantly provide our customers with easy access to leading data-science technology, allowing them to make better-informed decisions when it comes to improving their customer experience and retention strategy.” 

The partnership will allow online casino and igaming firms to “complement their current CRM’s capabilities and truly optimise their marketing with tailored automations”, removing most of the manual work required to set up effective and highly personalised campaigns.

“As a company that has always prided itself on creating innovative solutions to today’s market problems, we aim for the easiest access to the benefits of these tools and want our customers to be as flexible as possible when choosing implementation routes,” added Eberhard Dürrschmid, CEO at Golden Whale.

“Golden Whale couldn’t have picked a better partner than Flows when it comes to putting our data-driven services into work as quickly and easily as possible. 

“With Flows’ intuitive, no-code automation platform, customers will be able to draw on the power of our advanced machine-learning algorithms to better inform their processes, with this in turn, allowing them to use advanced real-time data and analytics to maximise both their efficiency and their profits.”

Last month, Flows announced a partnership with Ibex.ai to bolster its retention capabilities.

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The necessity of building and maintaining a strong network is a familiar construct among numerous industries, and is certainly one that is not lost in the gaming community.

However, among the multitude of strategies and expert tutorials on how best to achieve such a goal, is the question of: how much do you know about your network? With this in mind, CasinoBeats is aiming to take a look under the hood, if you will, and has tasked the 100 Club to help out.

Eberhard Dürrschmid, CEO of Golden Whale, steps into the hotseat and elaborates on a less than conventional entrance into the gambling arena, a love of computers and consoles, how passion for the industry has ignited once again and if people think products really react to the customer in a smart way?

CasinoBeats: Could you begin by talking us through any past experiences that have been gained outside of the gaming industry?

Eberhard Dürrschmid: My background is actually in biotechnology, which I studied at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna. But because of my other interests, the work I did there as part of my PhD saw me explore biological data with statistical methods and apply neural networks to them.

This might not seem like the necessary experience to start a business in the gaming industry, but that’s what I did as soon as I completed my studies. My first business, Dürrschmid & Reisinger OEG, ultimately transitioned into Greentube Internet Entertainment Solutions and became a major player in the global online gaming industry.

Since exiting the company back in 2016 I have invested in a wide range of start-ups before founding Golden Whale Productions last year. Biotechnology might not be a traditional starting point for someone entering the gaming industry, but my fascination with data and statistical methods has been crucial to the success of the companies I have founded and invested in over the years. 

CB: Could your career have taken any different paths?

ED: There was always the option to stay within the biotech sector and either continue with my academic studies or find work within the industry. For me, however, the potential I could see during the dot.com boom meant I felt compelled to launch an online business and take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Of course, it’s not always been plain sailing. After Greentube was born, the dot.com bubble burst and I found myself at a career crossroads. Ultimately, I felt there was significant long-term potential in the business and the online gaming industry and, along with the incredible team we had built, emerged on the other side much stronger than before. The saying smooth seas never make for a skilled sailor comes to mind when recounting this period in my career. 

CB: What was it that eventually led you into this industry?

ED: I have always loved computer games and gaming and wanted to get my hands on the latest computers and consoles. My passion really did start young – when I was just 13, I wrote my first game on a C64 and have been hooked ever since. Even at that age, I realised there were much better developers and programmers than myself, but I still had this incredible urge to be a part of this industry and to produce well-designed products and technologies.

Over the years, it has been a great privilege to be a part of the phenomenal structural shift that has taken place starting with the dawn of the internet. When I look at where the world, and the gaming industry in particular, is today, it’s been quite a ride that’s for sure. 

CB: How would you assess your progress through the industry to date?

ED: I am satisfied with what I achieved with Greentube which accounts for the majority of the work I have done in, and the contribution I have made to, the industry. When I left the company in 2016, I felt proud of what I had helped to achieve and was happy to be leaving it in such good shape and well-positioned for future growth.

After a short time out, my passion for the sector was once again ignited and that’s what drove me to launch Golden Whale Productions. I have been incredibly lucky to bring with me some of the brilliant people that I have worked with before at Greentube and on other projects – we really do have a fantastic team in place.

The impact of machine learning on the gaming industry has not really been felt to date but with the work we are doing at Golden Whale, we will change the game for operators and suppliers when it comes to leveraging big data and using MI to drive the greatest value from it. I’m really curious to see where we end up with this. 

CB: What would you say have been the major changes during your time working in the industry? Both for the better and worse.

ED: Regulation has been a common theme since I entered the industry and connects that point in the past to today and then on into the future. Back in the early days, regulation was a bit of an afterthought with only a small number of people really understanding what it meant and the value it could bring.

Today, regulation underpins most organisations and allows them to be more transparent and responsible than ever before. In addition to regulation, the advances in technology have been tremendous and I am still amazed almost daily about what is being done and the speed at which progress continues to be made. 

CB: If you could ask the 100 Club any questions, or task them with tackling any issue, what would that be?

ED: Personalisation has been an industry buzzword for some time now but what I’d like to ask is whether people think products really react to the customer in a smart way. Once they’ve considered that question, I’d follow up with another. Do they think that five years from now, a product or experience will be viable without an orchestrated effort by machine-run systems to guide users and ensure their expectations are being met at all times?   

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