It’s almost a year since Slots Temple broke the mould in the affiliate sector by offering real-money slots and cash-prize slot tournaments. We decided to check in with them to quiz them about their journey over the past 12 months.
Going real money was a brave move. How did it come about?
“Originally, Slots Temple was about playing free demo games and slots tournaments, and we built this really strong base of players who love slots. In 2022, we received a UKGC license, initially because we wanted to offer free-to-play tournaments with cash prizes as this allowed us to build up a super-engaged, sticky customer base that we could send to partner casinos.
“Paid-for tournaments was the natural next step because it allowed us to offer even bigger prize pools to our UK tournament players. Our brand mission is to offer players extensive choice, and this led us to launch a selection of real-money slots. But real money is really just one aspect of what we do. It hasn’t replaced the free tournament model, which is still very critical to our business and our players. We’re still developing the tournaments, coming up with new formats all the time – turbo tournaments, risk tournaments, and so on. We want to offer choice. Do you want to play for free, play 1p tournaments or real-money slots? It’s up to you.”
What kind of stakes can you play for?
“We offer small bet sizes for those who want them – we even have tournaments for 1p entry! This has helped us to create a really strong, engaged player base that trusts us and is comfortable with us. Many have been playing the free tournaments and demo games for a long time and have been on this journey with us. We now have so many different ways to play both the games and the tournaments, a multitude of formats and price points so everyone can play the way they want to.”
With all the games you offer, is education still an important part of your role as an affiliate?
“Very much so. Ultimately, we always want to be on the side of the player. We’re doing a lot of work educating people about the games we have on site. For example, we clearly display the RTP and volatility of the game customers are about to play before they are able to access the game.
“We also have a volatility guide which gives clear explanations of how volatility can affect gameplay. This came out of our Trust Pilot reviews where you get people saying, “I played this slot for X spins and didn’t win.” That’s usually because they’re playing high-volatility games. What we’re trying to do is help the players understand the mathematical models in slots so they can make better decisions about what they want to play.”
How important is it to dare to be different in the affiliate sector?
“We didn’t want to be the kind of affiliate site where it’s just “bonus, bonus, bonus, bonus” and there’s nothing else to engage with. We’ve got this pot of people who love playing tournaments and love playing slots, whether it be UK or internationally, and the affiliate business is almost just the next step for them. We don’t pay for external advertising, so people find us because they want to play the games.
“We’re a safe place for players. We will always choose the games with the highest return to player, for example. We’re not just chasing profits at the expense of everything else. That’s not why we do what we do, and it wouldn’t work with our business model.”
Has Slots Temple made inroads into new markets over the last 12 months?
“Yes, we now offer free tournaments (for age-verified customers) in territories like New Zealand, US, Canada, Germany, and Spain, with Amazon vouchers for winners, and we’re also very much concentrating on US expansion. This can be slow because it’s state-by-state, and we’re very focused on regulatory compliance.
“We may not have real-money gaming licenses outside of the UK, but we still ensure we comply with regulations in all the markets we operate in.
“So, it’s about where we can expand while ensuring we maintain the quality and continue complying with all the local regulations. We put responsible gaming and regulatory compliance at the heart of everything.”
What’s next on the horizon?
“We’re always looking to create new types of games and tournaments, and there’s lots in the pipeline. Social has always been a huge element of what we do, but we’re also currently developing solo tournaments, where you don’t play against anyone else, and the number of points determines what prize you get straight away.”
