2 mins read Like clockwork, FunFair Technologies, the platform provider of Guaranteed Fair casinos including CasinoFair, has released its Q3 update to its community, updating those interested on what they've achieved in the year to date, the challenges they've faced and what's lined up in the coming months.
It's always refreshing to see blockchain casino projects focus on the detail, bringing transparency to a sector that sometimes hides in the shadows, despite the likely interrogation and accountability that comes with doing so. In the team's latest, extensive update, they've certainly set some ambitious goals for the coming weeks and months, but having delivered on H1 objectives, it's hard to say they're not realistic.
Successful H1 not without challenges
Stefan Kovach, CEO, kicks off the document by highlighting some of the biggest tasks completed in the first half of 2020. The highlights include an improved onboarding journey, better KYC, improved integration of payment solutions, and the abstraction of gas from game sessions.
However, it's clear that not everything has gone as smoothly as the team would have hoped. The main areas of concern include KYC partner issues and bonus abuse by certain player cohorts, on which Kovach states:
“…is not only time consuming but also very frustrating, especially whilst we are trying to simplify and improve the onboarding process for genuine customers. I am confident we have now gotten over the worst of this.”
And an issue which we've seen across the whole of the Ethereum network, high gas prices, has also impacted FunFair's casino network. The teams sets itself high standards of service, with Kovach arguing that “as a top tier casino we need to deliver universal uptime to our players”, and unfortunately, gas prices have meant that the network has had to be pulled at various times. However, he goes on to note that they have outlined steps to combat this, and considering how the team have worked around pioneering wallet and state channel solutions in the past, we're probably set for something equally as impressive here.
Marketing drive continues
Tom Leadbetter, FunFair's B2C marketing lead, follows the introduction by championing the project's recent promotions, with MoonRacer 8 seeing an almost threefold jump in wagering on its second most successful campaign. On the retention side, CPA rates have fallen by half in H1, while the team have also doubled the number of acquisition partners which has led to an impressive 340% hike in users wagering between the first and second quarters of 2020.
Looking forward, Leadbetter is excited about a new martech stack by Adobe which is to be integrated soon. He claims this will:
“…provide the team with further insight to power marketing decisions. This allows for improvements to acquisition, retention, reporting, and automation.”
On top of this, the team are set to further tweak acquisition processes, refresh database cohorts and communications, while also introducing an “always-on” promotional element, which will see players have access to round-the-clock promotions.
All the above will also contribute to an improved restart to CasinoFair's Japanese brand after KYC issues have hit the initial launch. Display opportunities are ready to switch on when some minor issues are fixed and a much-improved onboarding journey should equal better acquisition rates.
Development driving marketing arm
FunFair's CPO Fred Kessler talks initially about the priority of the Adobe stack which is to be built in by the dev team first, before being configured by marketing, and then goes on to throw the community a few bones in the way of player profiles and leaderboard news. The long-awaited social elements are set for this quarter, with the community having clamoured for them for some time, and Kessler is confident that the two will:
“…will add a beneficial social element to the platform which should engage players more and boost retention in the long run.”
Other improvements to the platform will come in the form of a better FairChecker tool to improve the wider ‘Guaranteed Fair' experience, as well as more dynamic functionality covering game tiles, live exchange information and real-time wagering statistics.
On the game front, a ninja-themed game based on ‘rock, paper, scissors' is set to be released in “the next couple of weeks”, while the third-party game developer program is a step closer to going live with documentation to be released soon.
Looking at the wallet from a development perspective, Kessler highlights a ‘wallet connect' functionality is to be added, along with a new KYC provider and various tweaks to the UI and help features, ensuring an even easier, seamless dapp experience across partner casino brands.
Games for web2.0
Initially, Lloyd Purser, COO, notes that the recent COVID-19 pandemic has hit various networking pushes at the likes of SIGMA in Manila, which has meant leads in the region have been more of a struggle to come by. However, with the trade show environment and global travel returning to normal, the team is well set for a renewed push with an improved product set.
He goes onto talk about how the recent white-label FunFair Wallet announcement “significantly benefits the platform through the potential for better supplier relationships” and that a more focused sales push will go ahead in Q4 2020 and beyond.
One of the major takeouts from this update is arguably the fact that FunFair will now be pushing its own games through content aggregators' remote gaming servers. Purser states that:
“…we’ve often been approached by web 2.0 operators and content distributors with regards to licensing our content, which as you know, we think is world-class.”
Doing so requires “very limited licensing and technology overheads” on the team, and will bring additional revenue that, in theory, will extend FunFair's runway.
Financially, the group's financial controller, Michael O'Connor provides a succinct, confident statement that “our treasury position remains strong after crypto markets rebounded from the COVID-19 outbreak”. He also notes that the team have not renewed their London office space, and as the current social distancing climate plays out, the team will consider new working environment options later in the year.
New opportunities, new markets
FunFair's latest update provides unrivalled detail into the workings of the team and progress on the platform development. We've seen the strides that FunFair has made in simplifying innovative blockchain gambling technology for use by a mass market, and it's clear that this remains their priority going forward.
Should they overcome the challenges faced by KYC and gas prices, and continue improving the efficacy of their marketing efforts, FunFair Technologies will further cement its position as one of the leading lights in blockchain gaming. But as this update claims, the team now has a broader vision, with its games set for a web 2.0 audience and its wallet set to deliver better usability to other Ethereum dapps. How these are received by new audiences remains to be seen, but FunFair has delivered to date, and it'd be no surprise if this trend continues.
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