The online gambling industry has seen monumental growth over the past decade. As more countries regulate and open their markets to licensed operators, demand from players around the world continues to rise rapidly. A key factor that has enabled and will continue to drive this global expansion is the ability for providers to offer multilingual gambling platforms that cater to diverse demographics and cultures.
Launch of Multilingual Platforms to Tap Into New Markets
Gambling firms have leveraged multilingual capabilities to successfully enter and thrive in regulated markets across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. By translating sites, like 21bitCasino, and apps into the dominant languages spoken, they have been able to attract a significant user base from day one of launch. For instance, when operators received licenses for the newly regulated Swedish market in 2019, having a Swedish language site was critical to compete effectively with the former monopoly incumbent Svenska Spel. Similar demands emerged in the opening of the Dutch market in 2021, where native Dutch language content and customer support were vital.
The importance of language localization applies just as much to new markets in developing regions. When global operator Betway launched its betting site in Colombia in 2021, it ensured the platform and odds were available entirely in Spanish. This has been a key driver of its impressive growth in Latin America so far. Similarly, the Russian-licensed BK Leon betting site expanded into Mexico in 2020 with a dedicated Mexican Spanish site. After achieving remarkable success in Europe and Australia, dynamic casino game developer Push Gaming also tapped South America for further growth by releasing a LatAm Spanish version of its site.
Asian Player Preferences
In Asia, which offers immense potential for gambling firms due to its huge population and increasing middle-class disposable incomes, multilingual capabilities are proving invaluable to expansion plans. The continent’s two largest markets, China and India, still prohibit most forms of real money gambling. However countries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines have established regulated online gambling industries that foreign companies are targeting. For instance, after building up its Japanese user numbers since 2016, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair achieved an impressive 29% of total revenues from the country by 2021 through its locally-focused and Japanese language-enabled site. The demand for native languages extends across South East Asia’s emerging markets too; when Casino de Genting opened its online casino site in Thailand in 2020, it incorporated Thai and English language options.
Another key driver of success in Asian markets is not just linguistic localization, but also culturalization. Operators must cater their gaming content to local player preferences. This means offering popular regional table games, tweaking the user experience for local tastes and enabling preferred Asian payment methods. Evolution Gaming, the leading live dealer games provider across Europe, has put huge focus on expanding in Asia recently. A key part of this strategy is developing dedicated tables for the top Asian table games like Sic Bo, Dragon Tiger, Andar Bahar and Baccarat through native Asian dealers and hosts.
Rise of New Multilingual Markets
Looking ahead, various jurisdictions in Africa, Latin America and Central/Eastern Europe have enacted legislation over the past few years to regulate online gambling, or are in the process of doing so. As these markets open up, the ability to offer multilingual platforms will be crucial for providers seeking to gain market share.
Colombia presents a key growth market in Latin America. With 50 million people and Spanish as the official language, it has already attracted some of the largest global operators. However, many visitors also speak indigenous languages. As such, the firms that enable their sites in minority languages like Wayuunaiki in addition to Spanish could gain an edge over competitors.
In Africa, Madagascar legislated to regulate online gambling in 2019 with full implementation expected by 2023. With an estimated 28 million population and official languages of Malagasy and French, it offers exciting potential. Providers like Betway Group have already expanded across multiple African jurisdictions by offering English, French and Portuguese language sites. Adding other languages like Malagasy, Swahili or Afrikaans to their portfolio could enable deeper penetration of the continent’s burgeoning digital market.
Table: Projected Online Gambling Revenue Growth in Selected Emerging Markets, 2024 vs. 2028
| Country | Projected Online Gambling Revenue (US$ million) | Revenue Growth, 2024 – 2028 |
| Colombia | 865 | 42% |
| Lithuania | 176 | 22% |
| Kenya | 103 | 67% |
| Madagascar | 63 | 51% |
| Peru | 487 | 38% |
Market Saturation in Mature Countries
While emerging jurisdictions offer exciting expansion potential for gambling firms, opportunities in mature regulated markets are becoming saturated. However, even in these established markets, offering multilingual products can enable providers to access untapped demographic segments. For instance, in the long-established German sports betting sector, market leader Tipico has bolstered its growth by offering dedicated Turkish, Russian and Polish language sites to appeal to Germany’s largest minority communities.
Another interesting case study is the Canadian province of Quebec. Despite Canada’s gambling market being well-developed, Quebec was seen as underserved mostly because few sites catered sufficiently to French speakers. However the launch of locally-focused French operator Betingo.ca in late 2022 promises to unlock more of the province’s potential by making online gambling more accessible to French speakers.
Language Capabilities Crucial for Firms’ Global Ambitions
As the rush for regulated market access intensifies globally, those gambling providers that focus efforts on multilingual capabilities stand to benefit most. By lowering barriers to key demographics through translated platforms and tailored content, they can rapidly acquire customers, build loyalty and sustain long-term growth. With the ability to efficiently localize products already in place, they will also hold a competitive advantage when targeting newly opening jurisdictions across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Ultimately the future winners of the global gambling industry will be decided by language.