Microgaming Review
Company Information
Microgaming has been around since 1994, making them
the first company developing online gaming software.
They are located in London. Their site focuses on the
product. They lead the pack of casino software developers
through experience, innovation and continuous upgrading
of their products. They have over 100 games on offer
and are constantly offering new software with enhanced
features.
Accountability
They take the utmost care to show their punters they
are playing an honest game. Their payout percentages
have been audited by Pricewaterhouse Coopers. They are
members of the IGC and eCOGRA. Punters can check their
playing history through their PlayCheck™ Online
Audit Technology. They also have CashCheck which shows
all of your financial transactions.
Gaming Software
Microgaming offers both a browser and a download casino.
Both are well designed and have great graphics, sound,
and easy navigation for their medium. Their browser
casino is based on Flash technology which has clearer,
smoother graphics than Java (the traditional browser
casino technology). The download, of course, has better
graphics, etc… as downloading the software allows
for more complicated and heavier programming. One of
the nicest things about their download casino is that
the initial download is extremely fast. The rest of
the download happens while you are playing. This is
great as it leaves less time for a customer to get bored
and decide to do something else (helping customer retention).
You can play for fun or for real in either version.
They offer their casinos in a multitude of languages
and offer help in localizing a casino to its target
market.
In 2003 Microgaming introduced Viper and Prima Poker
gaming software. Viper allows the user to choose expert
mode – a system that improves players' gaming
experience by making the games more enjoyable and enabling
them to play a defined strategy. For example, in Slots
you can choose expert mode and have the game spin as
multiple times with different variables, such as stopping
on a win or stopping once you've lost up to a certain
amount. Viper has also increased the ease of the casinos
usability by offering options like analyze and hints
thus enhancing the gaming environment. The sound and
the menu navigation systems of the casinos have been
improved. You can tell if a casino is using the Viper
software by checking the games, if expert mode and autoplay
is offered you are in Viper. Prima Poker is a multi-player
poker room allowing people from a multitude of poker
rooms around the world to play each other.
They offer a large selection of games, everything from
Poker to Blackjack to Progressive Slots. They offer
all of their games in a range of choices such as French
Roulette, American Roulette, or European Roulette. Microgaming
also boasts the largest Progressive Slot ever won online
at $1,626,184. They offer a massive amount of jackpot
and progressive games. They also are the first online
casino to offer a major brand name game. Tomb Raider
TM has been licensed by Microgaming for their video
slots.
Business Software
Microgaming offers a fully functional intensive backend
system to their casino operators. Operators can see
everything regarding game-play and casino customer activity.
This is integrated with their financial and marketing
modules. In other words, you don't have to send a Poker
promotional email to someone who only plays Slots. Why
waste your customers' valuable time, energy and patience
with information they don't want and/or need? They offer
an advanced age tracking software which is especially
important to make sure that your punters are of legal
age. Included in that is location tracking software
which is essential and necessary to protect the casino
from fraud.
They offer various marketing tools so that the casino
can monitor their ROI (return on investment). Ad Tracker
does as it describes, tracking all advertising activities
from the initial click-through all the way down to the
actual wagers and profits generated from each marketing,
promotion and advertising campaign. Their Promotional
Manager helps the casino operator plan and execute promotions
and the Loyalty Manager facilitates customer retention
by giving the player points and allowing them to win
things by playing. The Affiliate Manager tracks the
casino operators affiliate programs, assuring that they
are maximizing their profit and pulling in players.
Business Model
They are open with their business model. You can download
a company profile brochure by Datamonitor which breaks
down everything Microgaming does. They make their money
from the operators as follows: "Microgamings business
model is based on an up front reservation fee and then
a monthly usage fee of between 15% and 25% of gross
win, depending on casino revenues."
Operators
Microgaming has approximately 38% of the online casino
market. This is the largest percentage held by a software
company (Cryptologic is second at 21%). They have over
70 clients, including several land-based casinos. Online
casinos based on land-based casinos are important as
they add to the reputation and security of online gaming.
Piggs Peak (Swaziland) and Ladbrokes (UK) are two of
the land based casinos that are also Microgaming casinos.
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