Gaming industry looks to Asia

(PRESS RELEASE) --With the fallout of the tightened gaming and gambling laws in the US now becoming clear it is with interest that the gaming industry looks further a field for new long term revenue streams with Mobile Gambling set to be a major strategy in the Asia Pac region .

Asia has long since been regarded as a potentially massive market with huge growth potential. However it is not all plain sailing and there are still obstacles to overcome as the major industry stakeholders battle it out to operate both legally, and profitably, in the Asia-Pac market.

Speaking recently to mformobile (organisers of the 2nd annual Mobile Gambling Summit Asia, Hong Kong, Oct 31 – Nov 1) Richard Swann of Victor Chandler highlighted that "Asia Pac is seen as a strong growth area, and the launch of VCBet 88 to specifically target that area this year is affirmation of our belief. The markets in Asia have very strong cultural values and it is necessary to reflect that in local games such as Live Baccarat."

Charles Palmer of Mfuse also held strong beliefs about the future of the mobile gambling market in Asia, identifying critical success factors when working in the region. 'The key things are usability, mobile connectivity through different networks and in different languages, and understanding and working with local network operators. It's essential to test locally as well. You need people working in a hands-on capacity, so you're guaranteed the service is going to work."

He went on to note a word of caution on payment systems in the region; 'Payment systems are also important. In Europe you can put credit into a virtual wallet, but in Asia credit cards are often blocked for betting, so you need have cash-based solutions for that, such as a purchased voucher from an authorised retail outlet, which can then be used to credit your wallet."

Charles Cohen of recent IPO company Probability was equally bullish about the market and noted that the recent US situation should not slow down growth of new markets – "This is a global market, and the problems in America surrounding online and mobile gambling make Asia-Pacific more attractive than ever. In this industry, we need to rid ourselves of our Anglo-centric view, and look as far a field as possible when it comes to investment and expansion opportunities."

With this in mind, mformobile will be running their 2nd Mobile Gambling Summit Asia in Hong Kong next week (Oct 31 – Nov 1) with attendees from China Gloria Lottery, PortlandBet (Australia), Centrebet (Australia), ESPN and many more representatives from the Asia Pac region.