STARS AND FRUITS: DOUBLE HIT
Playson’s Homor on Stars and Fruits: Double Hit
Playson Sales Director Blanka Homor discusses the company’s recent success for the German market, Stars and Fruits: Double Hit
encouraging customers to use legal sites – rather than driving them to the underground market, where there is no protection at all. We expect that, after a period of initial turbulence, the market will reach a stable growth rate in about 5-7 years.
Gaming International Online: Playson’s recent title Stars and Fruits: Double Hit has been developed specifi cally with the German slot market in mind. Is it common for developers to tailor games for just one territory? Is it something you have done before? Blanka Homor: Regionally customised slots are not new to our industry, as a number of casino operators have partnered with game developers to produce locally tailored games. Gearing your content towards a specifi c market can be a useful way to gain a foothold within it, and that’s exactly what we’re aiming to do with Double Hit. The mechanic is aimed specifi cally at the newly regulated jurisdiction of Germany, intended to meet the demands of audiences within that territory and beyond. We hope that by applying the mechanic to generally popular themes, it will generate widespread popularity.
GIO: Is newly-regulated Germany a key market already for Playson? How do you see the market developing there compared to the rest of Europe? BH: Germany is already a key market for Playson, and we are working on a range of new concepts designed to help expand our presence within the country. We hope that after a test period, the regulator will implement a framework which is more focused on players.
That would mean retaining all of the responsible gambling and self-exclusion measures currently in place but permitting traditional slot gameplay. In our view, that’s the best way of
GIO: You developed the Double Hit mechanic for this game – please tell us about the evolution and implementation of the mechanic and what it means for the end user. BH: The mechanic was designed for markets with strict regulations, where maximum stake limits are set low. With just a single spin, players can claim victory on two game fi elds, thus potentially winning twice as many prizes, and guaranteeing wins when scatter symbols land across both fi elds. For operators in markets with especially stringent regulations, it’s an ideal retention tool, and we’ve had good feedback from the partners who have used it so far.
GIO: It is ideal for the German market because of the new regulation declaring that spins need to last a minimum duration of fi ve seconds, but does this exclude titles like this from gaining traction further afi eld? Or will we see a new game type evolve, with longer featured spins where the spin itself is a major part of gameplay? BH: In my view, the spin is already the main feature of a slot game. The ‘thrill of the punt’ depends on it, through the anticipation that builds as you predict which symbols are about to land, and the potentially winning combinations they may form.
Many of the mechanics we see in today’s market primarily serve to enhance the thrill of the spin. For example, Megaways, Gigablox, Megaclusters, and Infi niReels all encourage the player to focus on the spin itself, rather than distracting them from it. As for Double Hit, the mechanic doesn’t only build excitement by extending the length of that spin, it also doubles your chances of winning.
GIO JUNE 2021 7
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