The first time I wrote content for Systemato was to fulfil an urgent order of game descriptions for a remote gaming company. The second and third tasks I was assigned were also on behalf of iGaming clients.
Skip to six years later, and the most recent piece I wrote was a review of a new video slot.
The gaming industry in Malta keeps keyboards clacking at a steady clip. Creative agencies face an unprecedented rise in demand for professional content writing from online casinos and affiliates; copywriters are busy hammering out new articles every week and more people try to join their ranks.
But as the iGaming industry matures and enters the latter phases of its lifecycle, the way we approach content marketing for these clients should also evolve.
With tougher regulations in the UK and Sweden, fiercer competition among operators for the same markets, and smarter customers weighing options more carefully before depositing real money — everything we knew about online gaming has changed dramatically and needs to be re-learned again.
Here are three points that can help copywriters write better gaming content:
Writing ethically
Regulators are starting to crack down on copy that misuses emotional appeals, makes exaggerated claims or gives false assurances of luck to players. Ethical copywriters should steer clear of using FOMO (“you’d be a fool if you miss out”), making sensational promises (“life-changing win”) or presenting gambling as a legitimate way to tackle financial or psychological issues (“brighten up your day!”).
Writing to convey character
Top casino sites carry more or less the same selection of games. When writing a review of a slot game that is offered by operators X, Y and Z, the real job for a writer is to properly convey the different voices of the three brands, such that one cannot simply copy-paste transpose reviews of the same game onto a different brand website without sensing an incongruity.
Writing for a narrower audience
As an industry matures, the corresponding market and legislative framework change too. Besides facing internal pressure to keep innovating in a competitive space, iGaming companies must also deal with external pressures like stricter legislation and a more discerning customer base.
For writers, this means having to create more niche- and jurisdiction-specific messaging that targets a specific category of users playing within the limits of a specific jurisdiction. Finding the sweet spot between these two criteria is how we can start nailing the art of writing gaming content again.
