Q&A
will heighten the player’s anticipation and thrill of a big win. It’s a nice feature, which we’ve incorporated into other games including Scroll of Egypt, but the first time it’s ever been done on a Megaways title. I’m certain that players will thoroughly enjoy it!
GIO: How many Megaways titles are there now? Does adding the Megaways mechanic have a demonstrable effect on a game’s success? CO: We now have a total of 10 Megaways titles available to play across multiple global jurisdictions. These include the following: Super Hot Fruits Megaways, Cops ‘n’ Robbers Megaways, Gimme Gold Megaways, Reel King Megaways, and Centurion Megaways.
The Megaways mechanic is extremely popular with players, having received high acclaim for its multiple ways to win, 117,649 to be exact. It is a modern mechanic and has been marketed well to target audiences, as such generated a loyal fan base. Its success has seen demands for a separate Megaways category to be featured across multiple operator sites. It’s not a guarantee of success, the game still needs to excite, engage and have great gameplay of course. We find Megaways games don’t tend to eat into the market of the original game but simply engage with new audiences or encourage players to play both versions.
The vast majority of our Megaways titles offer tumbling reels, which means if a player gets a win, the game’s key symbols disappear and are replaced by others to potentially trigger more line wins. The Megaways functionality amplifies the anticipation and excitement per spin, which adds to the thrill of the gaming experience.
GIO: How important is the balance between the standard play action of spinning reels, and the excitement of bonus games and animations, in keeping players interested? CO: A game needs a good balance of key ingredients to maintain strong engagement levels and keep players coming back for more. These include a fun and engaging gameplay and bonus mechanic that works seamlessly with popular and tested features; a theme that resonates well with players which embodies crisp, striking graphics; and a fair return-to- player rate that rewards players regularly and fairly so they can extend their gameplay to an enjoyable and a socially responsible length of time. In a Megaways game it can sometime take a while to get into the
GIO: What’s the volatility of Super Hot Fruits Megaways? What demographic of player will this satisfy? CO: Super Hot Fruits Megaways is a medium-volatility game with an RTP of 94.03% (mirroring the original game), aimed at the casual online casino player. As previously mentioned, the game’s four sets of scorching reels in the Hot Spins feature have a 100% return-to-player (RTP) rate.
More recently, we have steered away from super high volatile games that reward just the high-staking players, instead we have put the wins in the lower levels. Our aim of doing so was to create a fun, relaxed, casual, and socially responsible gaming experience which all players can sit back and enjoy.
GIO SEPTEMBER 2021 9
bonus feature, we try and reduce this wherever possible, but the base game has to stand in its own right if customers are going to keep playing. We conduct research to see what works well for players and do our upmost to fulfil our operator partners’ and players’ needs, tastes and preferences, while bringing innovation at the core of the iGaming experience. We pride ourselves on our growing portfolio of seasonal games which we’ve seen do extremely well during certain periods of the year but also thereafter. Santa King Megaways for example, with its loveable protagonist Santa Klaus and its overtly distinctive Christmas theme, did extremely well post launch, during the Christmas 2020 period, but continued to perform throughout Spring and Summer of this year also. As well its recognisable theme, the game encompasses a seasonal soundtrack and exciting features including cascading reels with advancing “Dings”, a Free Spins gamble and a mini-reel bonus, which leads to Free Spins with an unlimited multiplier. Despite this being a clear seasonal game, it packs the perfect balance of all the key ingredients to keep players interested and engaged during the Christmas period and beyond.
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