With the rapid rise of crash games like Aviator, Spribe CEO David Natroshvili believes that this genre of vertical games will replace slot machines as the darling of online casinos.
To answer the question in the title in one word, yes.
You only need to look at the rapid rise of crash games since Aviator first entered the market in 2019 to see the huge potential of this vertical.
Spribe must defend Aviator’s intellectual property rights on the global market, which also highlights this point.
In a short time, “Crash Bandicoot” has become an independent game category, enjoyed by millions of players worldwide for the thrilling experience it offers.
Just Aviator alone has more than 42 million players per month, with up to 350,000 bets placed per minute across 5,000 casinos offering the game—no other game comes close to these numbers.
Of course, this does not include the numerous pilot-inspired crash games that have flooded the market in recent months and years.
But we still have a way to go before crash games dominate online casino lobbies like slot machines, and to achieve this goal, suppliers and operators must work together to promote this format.
Before discussing how to do this, let me quickly explain why I think crash games are so popular with players.
What makes crash games so popular?
The crash mode offers an experience starkly different from playing online slot machines, which are usually solitary with no real player involvement. You just click “spin” and wait to see if you win.
The difference with crash games is that players can control the outcome—they can decide when to cash out, and many develop strategies to maximize their wins.
As we say in Aviator – you are the pilot, you control everything.
This control over the outcome provides an attractive and tense experience, but because of the social interaction offered by crash games, this experience can be shared with others.
Most games are multiplayer—using Aviator, players can track their scores on a real-time leaderboard, share bets and victories, and it also features a chat function.
This allows players to interact with each other during the game, ultimately helping to form a community around the game and the broader crash format.
Crash games have mass market appeal
We drew inspiration for creating Aviator from the exciting world of crypto casinos, where we saw games like Mines and Hi-Lo becoming increasingly popular.
Therefore, you might think that “Crash Bandicoot” only appeals to the next generation of players—especially Millennials and Generation Z—but our data shows that its audience goes far beyond that.
Operators who have successfully marketed Aviator (and other crash games) to their existing player base find that traditional slot and table game players also enjoy this format.
This means that Crash can be used both as a tool for acquiring players (to attract new players) and as a retention tool (for existing players), with session times beyond imagination.
But how exactly should operators market crash games to players?
How to make the most of crash games
Aviator is still a relatively new game format, so there is still a need to educate players.
For me, the best way to let players understand how crash games work is to let them try Aviator and other games for the first time.
Of course, players are often reluctant to use their own funds to try and learn new games, which is why we created a promotional toolkit that comes with Aviator.
Part of this is free bets, where operators can offer players a certain number of free rounds on Aviator.
Given the game’s innovativeness, just playing a few free games can help them understand how the game works and the excitement it brings.
We also offer players the option to “place” free bets in chat, increasing Aviator’s social interaction.
Lobby positioning is also important for raising the profile of crash games—most of our operators place banners in prominent positions, promoting Aviator and any promotional activities around the game.
For operators who do give the game good positioning and carry out promotional activities, just Aviator alone can achieve a 10% increase in GGR.
Spribe is doing its part
We are also doing our part to raise the profile of Aviator and have signed significant marketing agreements with UFC and Inter Milan.
These unprecedented deals have helped make “Pilot” mainstream and introduced the game to millions of new players worldwide.
These deals also enable us to collaborate with iconic athletes like Alex Pereira and Merab Dvalishvili, as well as superstar streamers like Jully Poca.
This helps to raise global market awareness of Aviator and the crash game format.
Of course, crash games will take time to replace slot games as the king of the gaming hall, but if you look at how fast this format is developing and the numbers it has generated in just a few years, they will soon occupy the top positions in gaming lobbies.
