When I mention branded IP content, not everyone might know exactly what I’m referring to. But, if I give you some examples like Google, Coca Cola, Nike’s Swoosh logo, the golden McDonald’s arches etc, things become more clear. Branded IP content simply means anything that falls under the copyright and trademark laws.
What the hell does all this have to do with slots and casinos? It’s a fair question but stay with me and I will explain it all in this article.
Gonzo is a legend
Why Branded IP is Taking Over the Gambling Industry
Branded content is far from something new in the casino world. Some of the most well known slots are Elvis Frog, Gonzo’s Quest and Book of Dead for example. External IPs on the other hand are always brought into the casinos through various partnerships, which is what I will be focusing on today.
NetEnt Rocks Tour
How Branded Content is Shaping Online Gambling
One of the biggest and most memorable cases of using branded content took place in 2016. This was the year NetEnt celebrated 20 years in the business and wanted to celebrate in style with its players.
Guns ‘N Roses
They decided to do so by treating us to not one, not two, but 3 blockbusting rock legends slots.
- Guns ‘N Roses
- Jimi Hendrix
- Motörhead
To this day, the Guns ‘N Roses slot remains one of my absolute favorite games to play. If you for whatever reason have missed out on rockin´ the reels with Axl, Slash and the rest, you can find the game at: BitStarz, Metaspins and Bets.io.
Even Gordon Ramsey got his own slot
Nothing New for NetEnt
Besides the trio of rock, NetEnt has been able to bring in content via collaborations with Colombia Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Universal to name a few. In other words, branded content is nothing new for NetEnt.
Another example of this is Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen that came out in 2021.
An Effective Strategy to Connect With an Audience
Turning to familiar content isn’t in any way unique to the gambling industry as it’s an effective strategy in any field. The reason being the fact that it speeds up the process of an audience connecting with a new product. Sure, you might not be used to playing slots but you’ll recognize the brand.
Were you a part of this craziness?
The Pokémon Go Craze
I don’t know a lot of people interested in Pokémon for example but I remember the world going absolute bananas when Pokémon Go was introduced as a mobile game in 2016.
People of all ages and demographics ran around town like crazy trying to catch one. If I’m not mistaken, several people even died from having their head buried in their phones while navigating.
Once again, the advantage of using a well-known IP will boost your product by attracting an established audience.
It’s important to know that mobile games and other types of gaming do have the upper hand against gambling in this case. This is because playing slots is rarely at the top of the list of people’s interests, while gaming often is.
Narcos Mexico by Red Tiger
Narcos Mexico
Another popular TV-show that managed to capture a massive world wide audience is of course Narcos. I don’t know about you but I wasn’t surprised when Red Tiger released a themed slot in 2022.
WWE is coming to a screen near you
WWE Brings the SmackDown to Games Global
It’s not everyday we get to see WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) as a slot. Thanks to Games Global, your favorite bare chested, spandex wearing, chair tossing American loudmouths will soon be available at multiple crypto casinos in WWE Bonus Rumble: Gold Blitz.
UFC Gold Blitz Extreme
Conor McGregor in UFC Gold Blitz Extreme
Actually, the WWE partnership isn’t the only connection to sports by Games Global. Earlier this year, they announced a deal with perhaps an even bigger combat association, the UFC.
With the UFC Gold Blitz Extreme, you’ll soon be able to watch legendary fighters like Conor McGregor, Jon Jones and Amanda Nunes helping you land winning combinations.
I’m a huge sports fan but unfortunately I haven’t really found ANY good sports slot out there. Can Games Global change things with these new releases? Fingers crossed!
Game of Thrones Power Stacks
Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon
As one of the biggest TV shows of all time, Game of Thrones ended with a controversial finale in 2019. That didn’t stop providers from doing their best to ride the GOT success wave and we saw a few releases hit the market, one of them being Game of Thrones Power Stacks, which you can find at:
Since the ending caused such an uproar among the fans, at least some of them were happy with the House of the Dragon series. Recently there have been news about slots being developed as well but as for now, you’d have to visit a land based casino in order to give it a go. Sooner or later though I’m sure they will make the transition to online as well.
Branded IP: The Future of Slots and Online Casinos
The branded slots that have been released over the years automatically get a bit of extra attention, at least initially. After that it’s up to the provider to make sure the game delivers, which is not always the case at all.
So, clearly we’re seeing a new wave of IP games coming out but what is the reason behind it? Well, some of it has to do with the fact that there’s a fresh new audience finding their way to our casinos. Who am I talking about? Generation Z players ofc.
Not all branded IP games will connect with all players. Games like Hell’s Kitchen and Jumanji for example are popular among Millenials. Baby Boomers connect perfectly with the Guns ‘N Roses slot I mentioned earlier.
Friends who?
Generation Z can’t relate to either of those eras, which is why they need games of their own. If you don’t believe me, ask any of them if they know who Ross and Rachel are?
Making sure there’s something available that they recognize helps when casinos are trying to recruit them as players. Once again, this strategy is not in any way unique to our industry and I’m sure you’ve seen collaborations between clothing brands etc before that seem surprising. Now you know why they happen.
Relying on Already Existing Brand Loyalty
Casinos are relying on the already existing brand loyalty and taking a chance on it being strong enough for the customer to cross over into gambling.
This is why it makes sense that we see more of this type of branded content in gambling right now because, like I said, each new generation of players needs its own brand of games that they already resonate with.
We all know how big of an impact certain brands or shows have on people’s identity so trust me when I say that we’ll be seeing more of this type of marketing strategy.
What would you like to see as a branded slot?
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