Interactive ODOBO
01 "History has proved that we pegged the technology correctly, in terms of HTML5, three years ago," says Mr. Lang. "Now the industry is all HTML5, but back then we had to convince our backers that this was the right rationale to follow, as HTML5 had only a modest footprint at the time. Two years ago the market got a little bit bigger, whereas now the sun is setting on Flash and HTML5 is firmly the front- runner technology for this industry. Some operators have even taken the step to stop licensing content that isn't HTML5. Ashley Lang, Odobo CEO.
form, requiring a pre-approval process that Mr. Lang describes as 'necessary without setting too high a bar.' "We're not necessarily looking for real money gaming experience, but rather at interesting ideas that would work in real money gaming. One thing they must have, however, is a professional approach to game production. Discipline through the game development process is essential, as is the provision of sufficient documentation when moving ahead with development to ensure that the game we set out to build is delivered."
Odobo has its own games Green Light Committee, which reviews concepts from game developers, evaluat- ing the process through to the publishing of content via Odobo's pipeline to operators. At different stages of progress, Odobo previews all its game concepts to solicit feedback from operators. "It's not just about how inter- esting an idea is to the operator, but how successful that
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game can be with the customers," says Mr. Lang. "Ultimately we deliver that feedback to the game devel- opers, so that they can adapt their games to suit the demands of the industry. Having said all that, there are some I'd describe purely as 'hunches.' We've gone live with Poker Drop on bet365, another interesting game mechanic, whereby each spin, or play, sees 25 cards drop from a grid to form poker hands. The pay table scores the hand and cards above to trigger the scoring hand. Once you have a win there's a further gamble option, on a double play mechanic, which combines with an interesting art style much like a social game, with backgrounds and sounds changing as you level-up in the game. There's nothing comparable in existing game content that we've seen. It's also performing very well, which would have been hard for someone to pre- dict prior to launching the game."
Odobo has been successful not just in bringing new game developers into the online/mobile gaming space, but in increasing the variety of games available to oper- ators and players. Games like Poker Drop don't fit the typical mould and without Odobo wouldn't have made it past the drawing-board in the traditional, real money gaming development environment. The company has also been successful in attracting developers to a plat- form that offers true multi-channel access through HTML5. At the recent London ICE show, HTML5 was one of the latest buzzwords on stands in which game developers are increasingly looking to switch-out Flash-based development in favour of HTML5. However, that wasn't the case when Odobo put together its development plan.
"History has proved that we pegged the technology cor- rectly, in terms of HTML5, three years ago," says Mr.
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