The iGaming industry could hardly have stressed the importance of localisation any louder. Ensuring that the content an operator is serving to each market is relevant and engaging to the audience is crucial.
More often than not this involves going into more niche themes. But it doesn’t always have to.
Air Dice, a provider of iGaming content since the early 2000s known for its Dice Placement games, has ramped up its slot game development in recent years owing to its international ambitions. Primarily found in the Benelux region offering dice games, the company has global ambitions and is going to more popular verticals such as slots and bingo to widen its appeal.
“If you’re expanding into international markets beyond Belgium, you really need a broad portfolio,” said Christine Jinks, Managing Director of Air Dice, in conversation with iGaming Expert. “Slots are the bread and butter when it comes to volume of play in different jurisdictions, particularly in the UK and other key markets we are targeting.
“We have over 100 slot games now and we’re bringing out new games every month. We have three world class studios each with different backgrounds, resulting in a rich mix of themes, visual styles and game mechanics. As a business we really are driven by a genuine passion for creativity and innovation and avoid re-skinning games, giving our partners a distinctive portfolio. We also work with our partners to gather feedback which helps drive our development and roadmap”
The provider is aiming to expand across European and global markets and is rolling out its portfolio of slots as part of this endeavour. Some of its most popular slot titles include Wild Cash Spins, Star Shine, Fruit Drop, Fruit Shifter and Random Reels.
Interestingly, these titles share classic slot themes and are consistently top performers across markets.
“Markets all have their own niches, to a certain extent, but there are definitely a number of games that work across all markets and are very consistent.” Jinks added.
“I think that’s based on the 80/20 rule, a lot of play can come from a small percentage of the player base, and there are many players that still like a very classic slot.”
Jinks recently joined Air Dice permanently as Managing Director for the UK and Malta offices, fueling its continued growth across European markets. Following plenty of experience in the gaming industry, including at Rank Group, Scientific Games and what is now Light & Wonder, Jinks is tasked with growing the business both in terms of geographies and partners.
She explained: “We’ve spent recent years acquiring licenses and moving into regulated markets and other jurisdictions, driving awareness through our presence at exhibitions, LatAm in particular, and securing new partnerships and Integrations. My role is to maximise our investments in those licenses and integrations and deliver ‘scale’ and growth for our partners and ourselves.
“It’s a great time to join. Air Dice has been around for quite a while now, which means we have already heavily invested in our products and technology, but are still new to many markets so there is plenty of scope for growth.”
Jinks added: “I believe the fact we have multiple game studios producing fresh, innovative content combined with a rich history in offline gaming and bingo, via sister company Boomerang Digital, makes us a trusted partner who can offer broad appeal & performance across multiple markets. We need to retain the focus on that and make sure that our content continues to be innovative and a point of difference.”
It isn’t just in Europe though that Air Dice has ambition. Jinks walked iGaming Expert through a whistle stop tour of the Atlas where the company had ambition. These markets include Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Ontario and the UK.
Jinks was initially brought in to focus on the firm’s UK entry and will continue to focus on the strategy to grow that part of the business.
“It’s really about building on what we’ve got now and making sure that we’ve got the right content mix. We’re always looking to tailor what we’ve got in our portfolio by working closely with our partners in different jurisdictions, and the UK would definitely be one of those.
“We’re working with some exciting tier one partners about how we introduce our more niche games like dice games and our Shifter slots into the UK and the best place to put them in the lobby. We have to think how to introduce them to players, because they’re a very different style of game. The plan is to continue to work closely with partners on future developments and support with a regular and quality roadmap of content.”
With all of this global expansion, there are significant challenges, not least the regulatory and compliance aspect. A lot of these markets – Belgium, Netherlands, the UK, Brazil and Ontario – have complex and evolving regulations. This evolution and complexity certainly provides a challenge.
As Jinks outlined: “The regulations can be so different, not just in obtaining a license but also when certifying the games, we work with a number of test labs to get the games certified for regulated markets. But when those markets are changing the regulations on a regular basis, then the test labs are learning, they’re under pressure as much as we are”
She added: “We’re having to go through different processes to get the games out every month, the costs, work effort and timelines associated with that can be cumbersome especially when working to deadlines. It can be a bit frustrating but we are committed to delivering quality games to our partners and not letting them down.
Nevertheless, regulation will not get in the way of Air Dice’s ambition as it remains compliant and provides engaging content to global players.
The remainder of 2025 and next year seems to be a busy period for the company, which is ready to announce a new batch of integrations and partners imminently. It remains on track to deliver a new game each month, including slots, dice, shifters, and other verticals such as bingo variant games.
As Jinks closed her conversation with iGaming Expert, she offered a glimpse into what is coming in store for Air Dice in the coming months.
“There’s always new partnerships coming through and content going live across new jurisdictions and sites” she noted. “This month we’ve got four or five different integrations that will go live and a number of tier one partners going live internationally and in the UK.
“In the UK look out for Fire Chilli and Our Nord Legends themed game Shape Shifter which allows player involvement and an element of choice using our trademarked ‘shifter’ mechanic and has amazing graphics. Internationally, we’ve got a reel mix with Grand Treasure, Bounty Reef, Coins of Goddess and CapyCabana going live that got great reviews when previewed at the recent shows.”
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