Vegas Hub

Overview

A new in-game experience offering players core features without the need to go back to the lobby including - quick deposit and suggested games.

The Problem

The old game launcher was built in code we no longer wanted to support, it was convoluted to update an existing integration or to add a new one. In addition there was no custom wrapper to display games in, meaning we were blind to what players were doing other than transaction data we received for stakes and wins.

The Approach

For the new implementation we migrated every direct and aggregator integration from the old game launcher to a new one. As the Product Owner, I liaised with every supplier to inform them of our plans and where needed request any additional requirements from them to support the new journey.

• Created the requirements with acceptance criteria for each integration in JIRA 
• Collaborated with UX and UI teams to agree on user journey  
• Ensured the journey was tracked in Google Analytics with the analytics team so we could track user interaction  
• Planned in the requirements with the payments team so we could identify that deposits were initiated in-game as opposed to the lobby 
• Co-ordinated the phased roll-out for studios and aggregators, monitoring each release post-launch to ensure game launch rate was not affected compared to previous implementation  
• Ran regular stakeholder review sessions to align on progress and gather feedback ahead of each release 
• Led a development team to migrate every integration from the old game launcher to the new one and build Vegas Hub

The Solution

Re-engineered the game launch experience with every integration added to a new game launcher and built Vegas Hub, introducing for the first time at William Hill:

• Quick deposit - players no longer needed to leave a game to make a deposit 
• Suggested games - alternative games to launch and play using a personalised recommendation engine 
• Safer gambling controls - allowing a player to timeout, set deposit limits and set gaming timer reminders
• Custom load screen with William Hill branding replacing the studio's own version
• Post message support - for each integration allowing us to do the new game launch experience

Impact

Vegas Hub continues to be used today on William Hill Vegas and is commercially viable. After I launched the product, a review showed various improvements across key metrics:

• Increased deposits - contributing to an increase in revenue 
• Increased gaming session length - as players did not need to return to the lobby
• Increased number of game launches - from suggested games 
• Increased NPS score for Gaming - helping Gaming reach an all-time high score

In addition to these key metrics, I also had player safety in mind. Introducing responsible gambling tools in-game helped in that regard, based on user feedback.