Now, as the founder of Stars Games, he is applying those retail lessons to the digital world of Free-to-Play (F2P) games. His philosophy is simple: technology should not get in the way of the experience.

We sat down with Evans to discuss why "mobile-first" isn't enough for Africa, why VR is a waste of money for 2025, and why the mid-market operator is being ignored by major suppliers.

The Shop Floor Advantage

iGaming Times: You started in betting shops before moving into digital. How does that early experience shape the way you build user journeys today?

Steve Evans: Working on the shop floor teaches you things you will never learn from dashboards. You see how people behave, what frustrates them, what keeps them loyal and what makes them walk away. You also learn how important simplicity is. If something in a shop is confusing, the customer tells you immediately, so you get very good at stripping out anything that gets in the way of a clean experience.

Tech-only leaders often think in features. My background forces me to think about feelings. Does the journey feel natural? Can someone understand it instantly? Does it respect their time? Those lessons from the shop still influence every product we build today.

The Economics of Habit

iGaming Times: How do you turn a Free-to-Play game into a daily habit?

Steve Evans: The most important thing in F2P is rhythm. If you can make the experience predictable, fast and rewarding, players start to build it into their day. We design games so that the first visit is very easy and the second visit feels like progress. Streak rewards, clear daily resets and a sense of building something over time all help.

If I had to choose one thing that gets people back on Day 2, it is a meaningful Day 2 reward. If the player feels that coming back tomorrow is worth something, the habit starts forming immediately.

iGaming Times: You describe Stars Games as a "low-cost acquisition funnel." How does F2P LTV compare with deposit-bonus traffic?

Steve Evans: Smaller operators cannot afford to rely on paid media forever, and deposit bonuses are very expensive. F2P brings in users at a far lower cost because people join willingly rather than through an incentive that costs money.

The value of an F2P-acquired player is stronger because they have already interacted with the brand many times before depositing. They have history with you. They are familiar with the journey and they come back out of interest rather than for a one-off reward. This usually leads to higher conversion and longer retention.

Building for Africa & The Mid-Market

iGaming Times: What challenges did you face building an AFCON version for African markets?

Steve Evans: Africa requires a different approach. Data is expensive, speeds are slower and there is a huge range of devices, including many older models. If you simply design for modern smartphones you will lose a big part of the audience.

We had to make the product extremely light. Images, animations and data calls were reduced as much as possible. Loading had to be instant even on weak connections. Mobile-first is not enough unless the whole product is built with data sensitivity in mind, so that is where we focused most of our effort.

iGaming Times: You describe Stars Games as an "entry level B2B provider." Do you feel the mid-market has been ignored?

Steve Evans: Yes. Most suppliers build for the biggest operators and the contracts, integrations and costs reflect that. A lot of smaller and mid-sized operators want modern engagement tools but cannot justify long and expensive setups.

We positioned Stars Games as an easy starting point. Operators can add gamification quickly, at low cost and with very little technical burden. It gives them a safe way to test engagement products before committing to anything heavy.

Trends & Predictions

iGaming Times: With so many "Super 6" style games in the market, is F2P becoming saturated?

Steve Evans: The market is not saturated, but the ideas often are. Many F2P products look identical. If you take the same format and change the badge, it will not stand out.

Real differentiation comes from progression, personalisation, community features and themed content. The 1st-goals.com site is a good example because it takes a proven model and adapts it just enough to be different but still have a familiar feel. Operators no longer want a clone.

iGaming Times: What will the industry waste money on next year, and what should they focus on instead?

Steve Evans: I think many companies will put money into VR again. It has potential long-term, but most of the investment now will not produce meaningful adoption.

What they should focus on is the simple stuff that works every time: retention. Daily loops, streaks, progression, clear communication and a user journey that encourages repeat visits. These fundamentals consistently outperform the latest trend when it comes to actual revenue.