In business, it’s a matter of trust…
According to various global surveys measuring corporate trust, many business leaders claim that their firms are reputable. However, many customers do not share this sentiment. One such survey, the Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, revealed that brand trust is the second most significant factor, after cost, that drives customers and businesses to purchase products. Within the realm of iGaming, this translates to the level of comfort players have with playing slots from certain game providers.
Over time, brand trust has become increasingly vital as consumers demand more accountability, ethics, and trustworthiness from the brands they patronize. It is no secret that the public’s trust in the gambling industry is relatively low, given the industry’s association with a lack of transparency, money laundering, cheating, and exploitation of customers. Although regulation has made some improvements, it has also led to a thriving grey market.
At Bigwinboard, trust, honesty, and fairness are fundamental principles that have always been of paramount importance. Our goal since inception has been to improve the industry and to ensure that these values are clearly evident to all. Additionally, we believe that it is the industry’s responsibility to provide trustworthy platforms for players who gamble their hard-earned money. We have even gone as far as blacklisting providers and unlisting casinos that do not meet our standards.
As a game-reviewing site, our focus is primarily on game providers. To motivate them to maintain ethical standards, we do not hesitate to call them out when necessary. Additionally, we periodically conduct polls and surveys to gauge player opinions on trustworthiness.
Regrettably, 2022 was not a banner year for game provider trustworthiness, particularly due to the questionable marketing tactics employed by companies such as Stake.com. Fake money streaming remains a prevalent problem in the industry, and the results of our 2022 Game Provider Trust Poll indicate that players are taking notice.
The methodology for our 2022 trust poll was straightforward. Using Poll Maker, we surveyed our followers and members on which game providers they had the least trust in (voters were permitted to select multiple options). 15 of the largest and most established providers were listed, and the votes were restricted by IP and cache, closely monitored for duplicate entries. With 892 votes, the results are as follows.
Results: ranking from LEAST trusted
- Pragmatic Play (15% of votes)
- Hacksaw Gaming (12% of votes)
- Stakelogic (8% of votes)
- ELK Studios (8% of votes)
- Play’n GO (8% of votes)
- Red Tiger (7% of votes)
- Nolimit City (7% of votes)
- Yggdrasil Gaming (6% of votes)
- Push Gaming (5% of votes)
- iSoftbet (5% of votes)
- Big Time Gaming (5% of votes)
- Thunderkick (4% of votes)
- Quickspin (4% of votes)
- Relax Gaming (2% of votes)
- NetEnt (2% of votes)
As evidenced, Big Time Gaming did not fare as well as they did in the previous year’s poll, potentially as a result of the Evolution Gaming acquisition (as inferred by some of the comments on social media and on our site). The same can be said for Nolimit City, which has dropped from being the second most reputable brand in 2021 to now being the 9th most reputable on the list. Relax Gaming, however, has remained consistent, indicating that they are doing something correctly. It is likely that their solid RTP, exceptional math models, and a strong positive presence on Bigwinboard have contributed to their image.
In the previous year, Pragmatic Play had occupied the last place, with only 1.39% of voters selecting them as the most reputable brand, whereas Big Time Gaming had secured first place (14.06%), followed by Nolimit City (12.67%), Push Gaming (9.31%), and Relax Gaming (8.12%). There is no doubt that players in our community perceive a link between Pragmatic Play/Hacksaw Gaming and the Stake streamers as problematic, though other factors could also be at play.
In conclusion, some game providers will be pleased with these results, while others may not be. It is important to remember that these are not our opinions but the opinions of the players – and that is what matters the most.
