Focus 3RD-PARTY GAME DEV


expensive. Today, many content providers are learning that they may have overpaid or overcommitted to the title owners. Furthermore, if the brand overpowers the game itself, it will have a short shelf life. We believe in strategic partnerships with our brand suppliers and of course, we focus on developing a game with solid math that will carry the player’s interest, long-term.”


Peter Causley - Lightening Box: “A lot of it is not worth it. When game licenses are targeted with a game in mind they have a much better chance of success, otherwise the hit rate is no better than non-licensed games.”


Jaydeep Chakravartty - Cozy Games: “Working with a reputed licensed gaming product certainly has its advantages if there is no conflict of interest. The operator then has to only concentrate on the marketing the games, isolating them with the technical and product issues. Any company planning to go with a licensed gaming product needs to ensure the credibility of the provider and the package being offered. Key to it is the Product offering, technical support and options of customization combined with the reputation of changing to environmental conditions like legislation and adaptability to new platforms.”


Are you more creative as a third-party developer? And is it more creatively fulfilling working independently?


Ramiro Atucha - Leander Games: “Certainly. Any internal team is tied to their company's demographic market, product approach and politics. Third party developers can use different hats all the time. One day we are integrating a slot game for a bingo oriented audience, then one in Asia, or building one for the latino market. The interaction with each Casino Manager and responding to their needs is a constant learning experience.”


Jaydeep Chakravartty - Cozy Games: “Working as third-party developer is certainly more rewarding in terms of the innovation we can bring to the games. Many of our premier products come from our in-house game development studio, like 3D Slots. Currently, we are working on a very interesting Community Slot scheduled to release in Q3 2011.”


Scott Smith - Next Gen Gaming: “We believe our independent nature and focus on core game development allows a greater level of creativity and broader range of expression when not tied to one platform or market.”


Peter Causley - Lightening Box: “I think we have always been as creative as we are,


December 2011 Page 66


just more of the left field creations see light of day as a third party.”


Game audio is a special discipline - how much does it factor in the creation of your games?


Scott Smith - Next Gen Gaming: “Audio is vital to the success of a slot game.”


Justin Chamberlain - Betlow: “I am fortunate enough to have a very valuable team member who heads up and creates all of our audio requirements. This guy has over 30 years experience in the music industry playing a successful session player in the 70’s – 80’s and having a successful career in radio following that.”


Steve Schrier - Ash Gaming: “Audio design is taken every bit as seriously as the rest of the creative and can be a major factor in the player’s emotional attachment to a game. It’s also highly subjective and for this reason many of our games include player customisable sounds. Whilst it’s one of the last things actually implemented in the development process it’s considered from the very outset of a project and developed in tandem with the game, not merely ‘bolted on’ at the end.”


Peter Causley - Lightening Box: “We see it as very important towards enhancing the experience of the game, we use a selection of musicians to compose different styles of feature tunes, SFX and audio stings for our games.”


Ramiro Atucha - Leander Games: “For us, music is key in every game. For the main theme of the game we work with different external musicians that capture the essence of the game and help communicate the different stages of the game to the player. A bad sound effect or music choice can really upset a player e.g. a big celebration when the player won less than he wagered might lead to the player feeling frustrated. On the other hand we also decided to unify certain sounds, as to create a common ground to our games, and also provide to the reinforcement of our brand.”


Jaydeep Chakravartty - Cozy Games: “We give absolute importance to game audio. We conduct concentrated market research (in-house and through agencies) and one of the premier motivators for players to wager online, especially Slots, is the sound effects. The sound designers are closely involved during the design phase for the games as well, where the animations as well can be synched with sound.”


Are the software houses that exist today going to be the same as those playing the major roles in the near-future?


“Initially, the game


design in the online industry was


concentrated on replicating the experience


available in real


casinos. Over the past few years, a slew of new


gaming devices (mobiles,


handhelds and


even consoles like PlayStation, Xbox


and Wii) have led to heightened sense of expectations of


what game delivery should be like. This has radically changed the


industry to provide “something more”


than the traditional games.” Jaydeep


Chakravartty, Cozy Games.


we are 100 per cent r&d


spend, except our Bar taBs,


which By some tax quirk are 110 per cent. Scott Smith - Next Gen Gaming: “Yes.”


Justin Chamberlain - Betlow: “I guess so, but perhaps with some natural consolidation that will occur over the coming years.”


Ramiro Atucha - Leander Games: “Hopefully! :)”


Peter Causley - Lightening Box: “Those who don’t rest on their laurels and continue to strive for improving the players gaming experience will definitely be around to play a role in the future.”


Jaydeep Chakravartty - Cozy Games: “Not necessarily. While the software houses that exist today have the know-how of the future shape of the industry, a new generation of communication devices and


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