Robin Harrison and Ed Birkin are pleased to welcome Jack Crabtree, Head of Sales at GameCheck, to the latest episode. Jack joins the pair to explain the GameCheck business and discuss the impact fake games have on the industry.
How GameCheck works and who it serves
Jack explains how GameCheck detects fake or manipulated slot games running on unlicensed or grey market sites, sometimes with altered RTPs.
For operators offering genuine games, GameCheck offers the SEAL, an independent certification badge that signals authenticity. According to Jack, the seal sees particularly strong uptake in less regulated markets like Turkey.
As Robin previously reported, Brazil has become the biggest hotspot GameCheck monitors, with over 6,800 fake games detected in the market alone. Jack unpacks why Brazil's rapid growth has made it such fertile ground for rogue operators.
The business works with both operators and suppliers, but it has recently shifted from a pure revenue protection model for suppliers to something more sustainable. Tune in to find out what that looks like.
Revenue leakage for suppliers
GameCheck and H2 Gambling Capital data puts the number of detected fake games globally at 8,500, though Jack suggests the real figure is likely higher.
The issue is most prevalent in grey or unregulated markets, and one particularly striking finding came from research with BetBlocker: most sites not listed on its blocklist turned out to be operating fakes.
So how much revenue is actually leaking out of the industry because of this? Jack has a figure in mind, but you will need to listen in to hear it.
Jack also references comments from Evolution's CEO, who has flagged game cloning as one of the single biggest sources of revenue leakage for the company, effectively reducing its RTP to zero on every cloned instance since it earns nothing from the activity.
With studios already under pressure from tightening margins and an oversaturated content pipeline, is this the next issue they cannot afford to ignore?
Before wrapping up, listen out for the unfiltered chat that almost did not make the final cut. A hint: one of the hosts prefers Thundercats to He-Man.
Chapters
- (00:00:12) - Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire
- (00:01:49) - Jack Crabtree on Game Check Podcast
- (00:02:50) - Are Fake Games Even Legitimate?
- (00:04:47) - Fake Poker: How Big Is the Problem?
- (00:07:55) - GameCheck: How many, how many fake games have we detected
- (00:13:27) - How Much Contact Do You Have With Regulators?
- (00:15:07) - Chemical suppliers vs operators
- (00:15:58) - James Jackson
- (00:18:16) - On the Certification Mark,
- (00:22:50) - Have We Seen Any Revenue Leakage From Studios?
- (00:24:21) - Are Pirated Games Being Accredited?
- (00:25:36) - Can it be used the other way around by regulators to enforce against
- (00:30:42) - Talking to players on the phone
- (00:32:34) - He Man vs Thundercats
- (00:34:51) - The Dissection Of The Podcast
