entering the casino market, but to heavily focus on R&D. "A lot of studios think they have artists, animators and developers, ergo I can succeed. Simply copying popular game concepts doesn't work anymore because the market is saturated of that content."
Yggdrasil's first Game Engagement Mechanics, or GEMs, were rolled out in 2020 with Splitz, Gigablox and MultiMax, followed by GigaRise and DoubleMax in 2021, which are also licensed out as part of the company's YG Masters programme. Fredrik uses Gigablox as a prime example of how R&D can be successful before they are tested in the heat furnace of the online slots market.
"When you are working on mechanics, you need to ask: why you are working on it now? Is it marketable on its own or something that should be combined with other things? Can it be built on? Is it flexible and versatile enough? We knew we could build non-volatile games, how the UX would work around Gigablox, and that it could be combined with other features. Te biggest thing about R&D is to curate what you're putting to market but, just as importantly, kill that which shouldn't. Don't experiment during the studio production, do it during the prototype and mock-up stages."
Fredrik commends the strategic approach taken to to R&D by Nolimit City and Big Time Gaming but pays short shrift to developers who 'blatantly rip'. "Anyone that releases a Book Of game that has similar mechanics but with different art concepts is permissible. You can be
We knew we could build non- volatile games, how the UX would work around Gigablox, and be combined with other
features. The thing about R&D is to curate what you're putting to market but, just as importantly, kill that which shouldn't. Don't experiment during the studio production, do it during the prototype and mock-up stages."
inspired - creative inspiration permeates across creative industries - but copying an Andy Warhol work is theft. It’s the same with slots.”
DISRUPTORS
Industry disruption refers to a situation in which new entrants to a marketplace or industry use new technologies or business models to take from the traditional established players. According to Fredrik, industry disruption must have an impact - otherwise it’s an innovation - and is nearly always driven by changing the user experience.
"UX keeps the audience attached and this is
why the casino industry has continued to be so successful with new mechanics, features, promotion tools. I like what Evolution is currently doing with 3D live experiences."
Yggdrasil's YG Masters is a content partnership programme that empowers independent game studios and game developers to design and distribute content via Yggdrasil's network, offering access to a preconfigured, regulation- ready development "GATI" toolkit. For Fredrik's money, Yggdrasil has disrupted the third-part aggregation market.
"Industry disruptors expand the market and carve out a bigger piece for themselves within the bigger market. We wanted to disrupt the third-party aggregation market. With GATI and signing up all the studios that we have, this has been achieved. We are an efficient route to market.
"It was conceived by me bumping into Stewart McCarthy who has been in the industry for quite some time. I told him that we have nimble technology with great potential and there is a gold rush coming. Either you dig for gold, or you sell the shovels. So why not do both?"
Looking forwards, Fredrik explains that the next stage in the expansion of Yggdrasil's publishing arm will be a focus on more IP collaboration. "Te market does not need 20 games a month from us. We need to curate with partners whereby they keep the flavour of what they produce but get in line with working on our IPs such as Gigablox or Gigarise."
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P91
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