There is a growing library of literature to read about how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. In many cases, the resilient virus accelerated existing trends, especially activities that revolve around people not leaving home, trends that are now irreversible parts of the transformation into an increasingly digital society. The morphing away from a physical world into an online one is a global movement for investors to consider, particularly the emerging markets in Asia.
It’s not hard to rattle off an encyclopedia of statistics demonstrating robust uptake of internet and app usage throughout the world. For instance, Statista reports show a noticeable shift in the frequency of online purchases, including 9% of study respondents in Asia Pacific saying they were buying goods online four to six times per week now, compared to just 4% pre-COVID. In China, Statista compared mobile internet usage the later months of 2019 (before the outbreak began) to a few months into the pandemic, which showed the spike in usage from 5.6 to 7.3 hours per day.
According to App Annie’s State of Mobile industry report, mobile app downloads reached a record 218 billion in 2020, up 7% from 2019, while consumer spending in apps grew 20% to a new high of $143 billion, with Asian markets (namely China and South Korea) as key contributors. App Annie’s site also shows mobile gaming as the most popular form of gaming, with consumer spending across apps stores forecast to have topped $100 billion in 2020.
While U.S. authorities pledge no new lockdowns owing to the delta variant of coronavirus, that’s not true in Asia where spread of the variant has sparked a fresh round of social distancing mandates.
All of these factors contribute to the growth of Royal Wins Corp. (CSE: SKLL), a Canadian-based digital games studio with a strong presence in Asia. The company offers multiple games of skill in its Kash Karnival gaming application for Android and iOS users. The company’s primary innovation and intellectual property center on solving big data problems around skill gaming mechanics, algorithms pertaining to balancing cash jackpots, game difficulty modules, and maintenance of Return-to-Player (RTP) percentages.
More than just another me too app developer, Royal Wins’ name speaks to how it differentiates itself as a designer, developer and operator of real money wagering skill games for adults. In layman terms, Royal Wins is disrupting the generations-old model of players relying on chance and pre-programmed odds to win life-changing jackpots. Through Kash Karnival, players can tilt the odds their way by being better than peers, while adding to their advantage by using Apple Pay in app to buy Kash Coin bundles, which include “booster” cards.
Against the backdrop of the active addressable market, the company, which just came public last month, is taking an aggressive approach to get in front of potential users. In recent weeks, Royal Wins has partnered with Appsflyer to use big data to optimize its product offering to reflect player’s desired user experience. The company has further integrated the popular UserTesting platform into its marketing strategy.
Appsflyer and UserTesting are trusted for their respective services by global juggernauts such as Microsoft, Sony, Minecraft, TikTok and more to help refine their products and understand exactly what consumers want.
Big data is not only beneficial is honing games and understanding customers, it is instrumental in identifying acquisition targets that are natural bolt-ons to Kash Karnival and Royal Wins’ revenue streams. To that point, Royal Wins this month signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire Antics Gaming LLC, a Las Vegas, Nevada based developer of skill-based games for Android and iOS platforms founded by Becky Harris, the former Chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Board. Upon completion of the acquisition, Ms. Harris will stay on as an advisor to Royal Wins, bringing her decades of highly relevant experience to this compelling upstart.
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