Something small about the Southeast Asian iGaming buzz popped up in the Yahoo news. Some outfit has done some quite professional research, at a quite professional price:
The “Southeast Asia iGaming Market Opportunity, Growth Drivers, Industry Trend Analysis, and Forecast 2025-2034” has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.
The chance-based gaming category generated USD 0.66 billion in 2024 and is forecast to grow at an estimated CAGR of 20.7% from 2025 to 2034. These formats tend to attract widespread participation due to ease of play, straightforward mechanics, and immediate engagement, which support high-frequency user interaction and ongoing interest.
The mobile gaming platforms reached USD 0.83 billion in 2024, holding a 65.5% share. Widespread smartphone penetration, enhanced processing power, advanced graphics technology, and rapid network connectivity, including 5G, have greatly improved the mobile gaming environment. As a result, mobile gaming offers accessibility, affordability, and convenience, making it one of the most engaging and monetizable channels within the regional iGaming sector.
Southeast Asia iGaming Market Opportunity, Growth Drivers, Industry Trend Analysis, and Forecast 2025-2034
If even the mobile penetration is 65.5%, there is still plenty of empty space there. The report would certainly be interesting evening reading.
Anyway.
Since people have already been hyping it up to the taxi stands that, according to trackers, player counts are on the rise, I decided, like a tinfoil hat wearer, to verify the matter with some empirical research - i.e., by spending all my extra free time in the Evolution lobby.
There has been a decent amount of people in the lobby, and now as Friday evening sets in, we are heading towards riches with a crowd of 77,000–90,000 players.
Small observations:
- MONOPOLY Big Baller players are on the rise since I last saw; the collaboration with Hasbro would seem somewhat successful, at least based on player numbers. Since the Monopoly bonus game is as long as a year of famine, once you get there with your own money, you hope that stroll with Milburn would last even longer.
Currently, 11,000–15,000 players are grinding the game.
- All-time favorite Crazy Time is being played by 15,000–25,000 players.
The Ice Fishing hype mentioned earlier on the channel is indeed quite nicely present still, with thousands of players playing, all the way up to +7,000 players, when after the release people only talked about a few hundred players. Now there are 5,200 players grinding away.
It is also interesting to follow the player development of the new Red Baron, as this interactive ‘flight simulator’ is still flown by an average of hundreds of players. A fun game, at least in my opinion.
The Baccarat & Sic Bo category was left unexamined without regret; it’s such erotic and stylish action that you shouldn’t play these kinds of games in front of your wife, or otherwise…
I consider myself a damn good gambler, but goddammit, I have to admit that I did lose money here. During the research, I accumulated over a thousand game rounds, with a return percentage (RTP) of 95.6%. Total turnover was worth over €2,000, and losses were ultimately around a hundred euros. Let it be said that if any money had been left over from this adventure, my own shares would have naturally flown to the moon.
So, based on my research period, I could consider the trackers’ data points to be sincere and player numbers to be slightly refreshed, provided this growth also shows up in Evolution’s next report as regional growth percentages, dollars, and euros.
Ps. I am also looking forward with interest to further news on the progress of the Galaxy Gaming merger and Evolution’s attempt to conquer land-based casinos.
