This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2011 Slots SKYBET Platform for success


SkyBet’s head of gaming John Parsonage discusses the different platforms his firm is running slot games on.


H


ave slot games successfully transferred to mobiles now?


Slot games are in the process of being successfully mi- grated to mobile. This is despite a number of unknowns with regards to the technology. Firstly, it is still unclear as to whether slot games will be ‘allowed’ in the Apple app store. We are about to submit one to the app store in the next couple of weeks and this will be the only way to find out whether Apple will accept real money gambling slots. In the meantime, we are pressing ahead developing games in HTML5 which is a web browser technology that works on the majority of handsets. The downside being that the technology is still in its infancy and limited by what you can do with it. The other downside being that these browser based games don’t get the benefit of pro- motion within the mobile apps stores.


Are the people who plays slots online, via the TV and on mo- bile the same demographic?


Mobile and online seem to show similar patterns of demo-


graphics where- as interactive TV attracted an older and


more affluent type of player. However, the difference be- tween the player groups is gradually reducing.


Rainbow Riches has been one of the success stories on in- teractive TV - what made this so popular? Rainbow Riches was successful on iTV and online - we think there are two key reasons for this; one is that it is a very good game, with good game mathematics and fantas- tic gameplay. Secondly, it has a well established land based following in the UK.


How popular are the linked ‘community games’ proving? The community games are proving very popular and very profitable. However, this is just the first stage of commu- nity gaming and there is so much more we can and will be doing in the coming months to make these games even more popular.


How important are slots to the product mix? Slots account for just over 60 per cent of our business these days and this is increasing. We are launching on av- erage one new slot every week these days and with each new launch comes a new brand or game innovation prov- ing very attractive to potential and existing players.


VIRGIN GAMES Red hot branding


Ollie Wilson, casino acquisition manager at Virgin Games, contemplates what makes a good licence for a slot?





The best licences are for games associated with well- known and well liked brands. These games will grab the attention of potential players and are very useful from an ac- quisition perspective.


Brand-wise I would categorise the non-gambling brands


that are likely to work as ‘entertainment’ brands. For exam- ple, video game and movie brands are popular such as Call Of Duty, Hitman, Spiderman, Tomb Raider, Lord Of The Rings, Star Trek etc. These brands provide a head start if the potential player already has a popular association with the brand outside of gambling.


That said, plenty of ‘slots brands’ are the strongest per- formers we have because they can build up a reputation, for example, land based slots such as ‘Da Vinci Diamonds’ and ‘Cleopatra’, which are the biggest slot machines in Las Vegas, and ‘Rainbow Riches’ which is the most popular slot machine in the UK. In the online world, ‘Thunderstruck’ is an example of a game that has built up huge popularity over the years and has become a strong brand in its own right. In ad- dition, these games attract more experienced and discern- ing gamers. In summary, it’s important to offer a mix of slots to appeal to differing types of players.”


B2B 15


sales@chartwellgames.com


www.chartwellgames.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32