36 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MAY/JUNE 2025 Digital Lottery and the Player Journey: CONTENT — continued from page 16 we’re proud of. But we didn’t stop there. We took a page from the iGaming playbook and applied the aggregation model to iLottery—making it easy for lotteries to access a whole universe of digital game content, all in one place – the EQL Games iLottery Marketplace. That approach worked better than we could’ve hoped. It led us to expand internationally and build partnerships with some stellar game studios like Fennica Gaming and Random State looking for U.S. market access. These collaborations are a win-win-win: they bring fresh innovation to our clients, introduce new audiences to our partners, and allow EQL to keep evolving as a creative hub. At the heart of it, our mission is simple—connect the most innovative game developers around the world to the ever-expanding universe of iLottery operators. We’re excited to be a part of the evolution of the Lottery gaming space in the U.S. as technology continues to change and new opportunities arise. Alex Green: ZEAL is Germany’s largest online lottery operator. In Andreas’ keynote, you saw some game highlights from our LOTTO24 site—and that was just the tip of the iceberg. We operate a portfolio of over 300 Instant Games, and the range is growing. We have set up our own game development studio not just to bulk up our portfolio, but to raise the entertainment and production value of what we offer. There are a lot of factors that shape the overall digital player experience but ultimately, it’s the games themselves that make the most difference and inspire players to want to come back again and again. My role is to grow our player base—and I come at this from a game development background. I cut my teeth at Camelot UK where I oversaw the game portfolio of the UK National Lottery—peaking at £8.4 billion in annual sales. I’ve seen firsthand just how critical great content is to digital success. The platform matters. The UX matters. But content is king! Frank Suarez: I’m proud to say my iLottery journey kicked off about ten years ago when I was at the North Carolina Lottery along with Randy. We were working side by side trying to get digital e-Instants approved — which can feel a bit like pushing a boulder uphill with a toothpick. Before the finish line was crossed, I got the call to head up the DC Lottery and made the leap. D.C. was already live with e-Instants, so I went from lobbying for digital to living in it. Fast forward to now — I’m CEO of the Connecticut Lottery. We sell draw games online, but e-Instants are still off-limits in Connecticut. Mike Lightman: At Instant Win Gaming, we’ve had a laser focus on one thing: e-Instant games. That’s our singular mission. We’ve been at it for twenty years now, starting with the UK National Lottery, who asked us to digitize one of their instant games. That project set us on a path of nonstop iteration — refining, improving, and pushing the boundaries of what great Digital Instants content can be. And I really appreciate that we’re treating iLottery as two distinct conversations: IT platforms and game content. They’re symbiotic, sure—but they’re also fundamentally different disciplines. The tech needs to work flawlessly, of course, but if the content doesn’t sing, the whole thing falls flat. So I’m all for giving content its own spotlight. Randy Spielman: That really resonates, Mike. Leading up to our Digital Instants launch in North Carolina, I was completely consumed by the nuts and bolts— tech, operations, logistics. In retail, we didn’t think of scratch-offs as “content”. They were tickets. We may have referred to them as “entertainment” but we treated them more like products. The digital world is a whole new mindset. So let’s go there — Frank, what exactly is content, and why do we use that word when we talk about digital games? F. Suarez: When we talk about “content” in the digital space, we’re not just talking about the games themselves. Playing the game may be the main event, but the full player journey is made up of many more steps. Long before a player even clicks “Play,” they’ve seen an ad, maybe read a social post, landed on the website, created an account, scrolled through options, figured out how to play—and that’s all before the game even starts. And after the game? There’s the payout, the exit, maybe a return visit — or maybe not. Every single one of those touchpoints matters. Every second of that experience is “content.” So when we say “content,” we’re reminding ourselves that the game is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. The whole ecosystem — the tutorials, the responsible gaming messages, even the way a page loads or a button lights up—it's all part of what either makes a player come back … or click away. And when you’re dealing with digital, every tiny detail, every second of the player’s time, has an outsized impact. Brad Cummings: I’ve got a game producer with a sense of humor who told me, “You know, ‘content’ comes from the same Latin root as ‘contain’—as in, is everything contained within the game?” And hey, if we really nail it, maybe our content will actually make players feel… content. Wordplay aside, there’s a truth there— content isn’t just what’s in the game, it’s how it feels. Mike Lightman: Exactly. When I hear the word “content,” I don’t just think “game.” I think entertainment. And at its core, lottery is entertainment. Calling it content pushes us to think bigger, broader, and more creatively. It encourages us to consider the whole experience, not just the game mechanics. Like Frank said, content isn’t just about play — it’s about purpose. It’s about brand storytelling, winner promotion, responsible play messaging, beneficiary awareness, tutorials, UX — all of it. Great game content is vital. But it’s just one actor on a much bigger stage. And the beauty of digital is that we can test, tweak, and tailor every aspect of “Yesterday’s performance is today’s conversation. What worked? What didn’t? What did the content do to drive that outcome?”
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