Global Trends: SciPlay CEO Josh Wilson on the growth of hybrid monetisation and why market trends "can flip overnight"

Keeping up with industry trends is key to staying ahead in the games industry and ensuring you don't fall behind.

At Pocket Gamer Connects, we regularly run our 'Global Trends' track, providing an expansive view of the sector's latest ttrends, facts, figures and insights from around the world.

In this new regular series, we've reached out top industry leaders to share their insights and expectations on the state of play and how they see the next few years shaping up.

Kicking things off, we speak with Josh Wilson CEO at social casino publisher SciPlay. The company ranked 37th in our Top 50 Mobile Game Makers 2024 list and picked up an honourable mention for best publisher at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2024.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about SciPlay and what are you currently working on? 

Josh Wilson: 2024 has been a busy year for SciPlay. Our games continue to grow in popularity – Quick Hit is the fastest growing social casino game, and Jackpot Party continues to dominate the charts.

We have been hard at work delivering new and exciting content to our players. These include more features, events, more live ops, and new slots – such as Huff n Puff and Hot Hot Blazing Lock (which is also a social first slot).

We launched a new advertising campaign starring Joel McHale for Jackpot Party, sponsored the broadcast of the Olympics in Israel, became a leading sponsor of the Austin FC, launched more than 50 new slots across our portfolio, hired more than 70 new employees, spoken at 10+ conferences and won multiple awards.

And since Light & Wonder’s acquisition of SciPlay in Q4 last year, we are hyper focused on executing our cross-platform strategy.  

How have the last 12 months been for you? 

The past year has been a remarkable period of sustained growth and achievement at SciPlay. We've consistently outperformed the industry, delivering year-over-year growth.

This success is a direct result of our team's unwavering dedication, our innovative approach to mobile game development, operations and marketing, and our ability to stay ahead of industry trends.

While we are proud of what we’ve already accomplished, the most exciting question isn't about what we've achieved, but about what the future holds. Our focus is on continued innovation, pushing the boundaries, and delivering unforgettable experiences to our players.  

As we continue to evolve, we're excited to see where our passion and innovation will take us. 

What do you think the biggest trends in the industry have been over the last 12 months? 

In this rapidly evolving landscape, agility, adaptability, and innovation are paramount. The demise of IDFA continues to push the industry to innovate, particularly in user acquisition practices.

Furthermore, evolving monetisation models are essential to adapt to changing consumer behaviours.  2024 has presented a vastly different landscape compared to previous years, influenced heavily by geopolitical factors, inflation, and various global events. 

Successful monetisation strategies must now account for these shifts, whether through in-app purchases, in-app advertising, subscription models or alternative revenue streams.  

At SciPlay, we’re staying ahead of curve and have been exploring hybrid monetisation models.   

It's interesting to note that AppFlyer’s recent report highlights that games are increasingly blending monetisation strategies to find new revenue streams. Those with in-app purchases are adding ads, while ad-based games are integrating IAPs. The share of hybrid monetisation games grew from 36% in Q2 2023 to 43% in Q1 2024, while ad-only and IAP-only games decreased. 

Lastly, as we all know - AI is revolutionising the world. The challenge lies in effectively incorporating AI to enhance operational efficiency, content delivery, and user experience. 

What do you think are the key trends, challenges and opportunities for the next year, and how will you be taking them on? 

The mobile games industry will continue to grow driven by several factors. These include the proliferation of smartphones, the free-to-play model (along with evolving monetisation strategies), tech advancements (quality and UX), and social gaming features that foster community.

Still, it is a challenging industry, and the games market is highly competitive, requiring constant innovation, agility, and adaptation. Another major challenge remains finding and retaining the top talent that is also the right cultural fit.  

We see major opportunities with our cross-platform strategy in social casino as we seamlessly integrate slot games and content across land-based, social gaming and i-gaming.

There are also multiple new growth opportunities in audiences, emerging markets, channels, distribution methods, and app stores. As the market continually evolves, SciPlay is proactively addressing these trends, challenges, and opportunities.

We do this by fostering innovation, prioritising talent acquisition, nurturing our supportive work culture, collaborating closely with Light & Wonder on our cross-platform strategy, and consistently applying a data-driven approach throughout our business.

SciPlay's agility allows us to rapidly adapt and seize opportunities while mitigating challenges. 

What do you think is most important to a mobile game’s success in 2024? 

The games industry is so dynamic, and we constantly need to innovate. A mobile game's success is influenced by a myriad of elements, including design, UX/UI, responsiveness, QA, marketing, user acquisition, and retention, economy, and monetisation strategies.

It is an absolute necessity to innovate in all these areas. You can never stand still in our industry, even when you are the fastest growing company. You still need to think about what you can do to be better and to be different, especially with the horde of copycats abounding.

Budgets can shift on a dime, market trends can flip overnight, player expectations are always rising. We must innovate and avoid complacency. Every decision, from marketing strategies to game development, must be scrutinised, optimised and ready to pivot at a moment's notice.

And knowing that the cornerstone of a game’s triumph – and the company's success - lies in its people and the talent driving innovation, development, maintenance, and execution. Their skills and decisions are the catalysts behind all our successes.  

Have you moved onto platforms outside of mobile?

SciPlay has been making games for 25 years – we have evolved from CDROMs to social and then to mobile, but we believe there is still so much to explore and innovate in this world and will continue to evolve.