Tier-2/3 markets: why localised content outperforms global products
Global iGaming providers tend to focus on mature Tier-1 markets, leaving emerging markets such as Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Balkans without tailored content. SpinJoy Games, founded by a team with more than 20 years of game development experience, has built its business around that very gap. In an exclusive interview with SiGMA News, company CEO Alex Lytvynenko explains in detail why a global product loses to localised ones on Tier-2/3 markets.
The core difference between Tier-1 and Tier-2/3 markets
Mature markets look attractive until you examine the details, Lytvynenko says. In Germany, GGR tax reaches 25 per cent at the upper thresholds; in the United Kingdom, the Buy Bonus feature has been prohibited since 2019. Operators work on thin margins while providers compete fiercely for placement in major platform lobbies.
“Operators work on thin margins because regulation eats a significant share of revenue,” Lytvynenko explains. “Players here are sophisticated: they compare RTP figures, they read reviews. It is a war of resources.”
Tier-2/3 markets operate differently. Many operators are still in the early stages of formation, frequently without established product teams. Lytvynenko believes that, for these operators, a few dozen effective titles are far more valuable than catalogues containing hundreds of games. Player priorities also differ in terms of loading speed, intuitive interfaces and local visual style.
That market difference is what SpinJoy was built around. “We built the company around one idea: not ‘making games’, but ‘making games that generate revenue in a specific market’,” Lytvynenko says.
The Baltics and the Balkans: why geographic proximity is misleading
The Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – have a combined population of under six million, yet they record some of the highest average revenue per user (ARPU) figures in Europe. In Lithuania, ARPU reaches €2,230 per year. Regulatory conditions across the three countries, however, are radically different: Estonia’s online operator tax rate is 5.5 per cent; Latvia’s is 22 per cent of GGR. Lithuania combines a 20 per cent tax with a 2025 casino advertising ban and an age threshold of 21.
“In Lithuania, you cannot attract players through aggressive advertising,” Lytvynenko says. “That means the product itself has to retain the audience. You need games with deep mechanics, high replayability and strong visual execution.”
Estonian players respond better to high-volatility slots with a Buy Bonus feature; in Latvia, the focus is on optimising GGR per round. One region, three completely different market logics.
The Balkan countries, Serbia, North Macedonia and Bosnia, present a different picture. Lytvynenko points to the prevalence of grey market traffic in the region. As a result, local operators prioritise speed of integration and flexibility over certification from independent testing laboratories such as GLI. Book-style and fruit-themed slots remain the most popular formats.
“Localisation is not only language, but it also is currency support, an understanding of preferred game mechanics… and a provider’s willingness to work with less formalised business processes,” Lytvynenko says. SpinJoy, accordingly, does not produce a single product for all of Eastern Europe.
Africa: engineering, not compromise
Continuing on the subject of Tier-2/3 markets, Lytvynenko turns to Africa. In Kenya, 88 per cent of bets are placed on mobile devices. In Nigeria, 60 million players use smartphones priced at $80-120, on an unstable 4G connection. Global providers tend to describe adapting to these conditions as making “technical compromises.” Lytvynenko disagrees.
“If you call optimising for real-world conditions a ‘compromise’, you have already lost that market.”
A lightweight client under 3 MB, adaptive textures for low-spec devices, progress preservation during connection interruptions, and optimised visuals are the key technical solutions for launching online casino games in African markets. They lower the barrier to entry in markets with limited bandwidth and high mobile usage.
Lytvynenko supports the impact of these technical decisions with data: a first-spin speed of 2.5 seconds on a 4G connection can deliver a conversion rate of 60 per cent, against 30 per cent at slower load times. One of the provider’s clients recorded a 9.2x increase in bets following optimisation along these parameters.
CIS case study: how a localised game beats a global brand
Lytvynenko gives a further example from CIS markets. One operator replaced a well-known Pragmatic Play slot with a localised SpinJoy title in a book-themed slot, carrying an RTP of 95.5 per cent and medium-high volatility. After seven days, CTR had fallen by 12 per cent, but rounds per player were up 34 per cent, average session length up 22 per cent, GGR per player up 19 per cent, and D7 retention up 8 per cent.
Lytvynenko commented on the result:
“A global brand attracts the click but does not retain the player. A localised game loses on the first click but wins on everything that follows.”
Partnership models and time to monetisation on Tier-2/3
For Tier-2/3 markets, Lytvynenko advocates a GGR-based revenue-sharing model with no fixed fees. “We only earn when the operator earns,” he says. Time-to-Monetisation (TTM) through a standard integration runs at two to four weeks.
“On Tier-2/3, ‘faster’ is the difference between ‘started generating revenue’ and ‘closed before the first paycheque,” Lytvynenko concludes.
Looking ahead
While global providers continue competing for lobby space on mature platforms, Tier-2/3 markets remain an undervalued growth opportunity. Lytvynenko’s position is that operators in Africa, the CIS and the Balkans do not need a localised version of a global product; they need a product built for their market from the outset. The CIS case study supports the idea that CTR is not the only metric that matters, and often not the most important one.
For Tier-2/3 operators selecting a games provider in 2026, the question is not “how well-known is the brand”, it is “how well does the game perform in this market.”
This article was first published in Russian on 8 May 2026.
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