Edward Ihre is the Co-Founder and Chairman of live-focused online operator Codeta. Here, Ihre talks to Affiverse about the firm’s launch of Skill Score, the ever-evolving affiliate space, and Codeta’s wider goals for the remainder of 2018.
Affiverse: Firstly, for those who are uninitiated, can you briefly introduce Codeta as a company and outline the significance of the newly-launched Skill Score
Edward Ihre: Codeta is founded on the insight that the big operators are neglecting the more serious players. The players are there to have a good time and feel that they continue to improve their skills. A lot of them have invested great amount of time to get where they are today and there should be a respect for them and the games. In opposite are they often met by an unserious environment. There is a player quote that really stuck with me: “The online casino-world is all about shallow and childish slots, cluttered with promotions thrown in my face. There are thousands of distractions that prevent me from focusing on my game.” It’s my belief that Codeta can be a force for change in this.
AI: How do you feel the affiliate space is chaining at the minute?
EI: I see several changes happening within the affiliate space:
- We see further consolidation taking place, where the bigger ones are buying small ones. Now also with bigger pockets as those bigger companies, such as Better Collective and Raketech, are now looking to list themselves on the stock exchange and hence will get access to more capital as a result of it
- We also see that affiliates are increasingly diversifying their business, both in terms of geo-markets as well as products to generate leads for
- Another tendency is that since further pressure on margins affects operators, affiliates cannot charge the same price for leads as before
- Compliance has now started to affect affiliates as well as pressure on them promoting brands falls now also under their responsibility whilst prior operators were the ones taking the pressure and cost for this
AI: How will this product impact acquisition?
EI: The power of the Skill Score lays in its simplicity. It is simple enough to compare between players no matter betting sizes or preference for different live games. Yet, it’s advanced enough to capture the two most important components of gaming in the ability to win big and win over & over. The goal has been to create something for advanced players that also can help new players. Players in our community often express a desire to either challenge themselves & keep track of their own improvements or compare their skill against others. The Skill ScoreTM enables both desires. And the prices in the leaderboard makes sure to keep it real.
AI: What targets have been set for Skill Score for the near future?
EI: Despite being the first of its kind and unique among live operators, we remain humble about the fact that the Skill Score is not our desired endstate. I would rather view it as an important stepping stone & concrete manifestation that we do all we can to become the first choice for the serious players. Playing at Codeta should not be the same as everywhere else and we have a whole pipeline of additional features that will help us continue distinguish from other operators.
The goals are therefore not set solely on Skill score but on the combination of several initiatives.
The goals are a combination of more quantitative goals in terms of recruiting new players, increased playing time & site visits on the Skill-sites, but also qualitative in terms of player satisfaction, how well they perceive us to fulfil our position and excitement around the specific new features.
AI: And what wider goals have Codeta set for the remainder of 2018?
EI: 2018 is the expected year when Codeta fully captures the potential in our personal-performance oriented leading live casino position.
These are bold words but you need to get the fundamentals in place before you can elevate the pace.
We have a lot of interesting initiatives coming up where the Skill Score is the first piece of the roadmap. I don’t want to ruin the surprise effects by being too specific but what is closest is additional modules within the Skill Score.
People will be able to compare themselves in other time spans and within specific games. They will also receive richer data explaining the performance. The idea to start there is to create a more solid understanding about your skill history. Next step will be to provide tools and data that helps you develop your game going forward and thereafter integrate the social aspect of the experience. It might sound like these features are laying far into the future but you will be surprised.
Ensure to continuously log on since there will be happening a lot on the codeta platform.
