In a discussion with Jon Lancaster (vice president of sales – EMEA for SG Gaming), Simon Johnson (senior vice president and managing director – EMEA for SG Gaming) and Stewart Darkin (managing director of CasinoBeats), Stubley reflected on how adapting retail games for the online space can help ease a player’s transition into playing online. 

He explained: “Familiarity is really important, especially during these times. Operators are marketing to players from a traditional retail environment who are looking to continue their entertainment online. To do this, they’re marketing familiar games. Whether it’s Rainbow Riches in the UK or 88 Fortunes, which is our number one game across Europe, this really helps to drive that familiarity for players. 

“We’ve got 1000s of those games out in the market in retail – it’s part of a family of games. Online, we launched 88 Fortunes four years ago and it continues to increase in popularity with players. Throughout Europe, it’s our number one in Italy and Sweden, in the Netherlands, in Norway, in Greece, Austria, it’s number two in Germany, Spain, Finland, it’s such a popular game with players.”

Citing the example of SG Digital’s leading Jin Ji Bao Xi title, Stubley explained that to elevate the online player experience, it took the step to add features such as Megaways and jackpots.

“We do expand on the family,” he continued. “So we’ve got another game that was really successful in retail, Jin Ji Bao Xi which we’ve adapted for online. That’s coming out in a couple of months’ time, we’ve got Jin Ji Bao Xi with Megaways, that’s a familiarity in itself as well. 

“So combining those together is changing the gaming experience for the retail player – they come online with some familiarity, and then they move on through the family of games, then into pure online content which is what we see when we look at the data.”

When it comes to the land-based sector across the EMEA region, Lancaster disclosed that the last 12 months have posed some major challenges in terms of communicating with clients – eased somewhat by the ‘strength of relationships’ Scientific Games holds with its customers.

The VP of Sales noted that as restrictions begin to lift around the world, his job is to now understand what it is that clients want: “In our position, the customers have been closed and have not had a lot of clarity on when they will open,” he said. “Our job is to try and understand what it is they need and match our strategies and our products to their needs going forward.

“Many of our customers have had a fundamental shift in what they’re looking for going forward. Originally, they were looking to diversify their products and portfolios as well as attract new player demographics. But what many have now realised is that in the short term, they need to get back to basics, they need to bring back their top players, they need guaranteed products, which will deliver the best performance once they can open.

“So we’re definitely seeing a shift in what it is that customers are looking for. Thankfully for us, we believe we have exactly the right products which can help them to drive recovery.”

One way in which Scientific Games has gained insights into the products that its customers want was through the launch of a forum. This, shared Johnson, has helped the company to create highly specific solutions for customers which are tailored to individual regions.

“I think the most important thing that we will have to recognise is there’s no playbook for the situation that we’re in. That’s partly because it’s the experience of the pandemic, and experience of market conditions are intensely local,” he said.

“So when you’re working across a region as diverse as the one that John and I work in, you have to recognise that you’re looking at multiple different tracks, multiple different experiences, multiple different government responses, multiple different human experiences. 

“Whilst you can have a global position, you’ve got to make sure that your response is very local. So first and foremost, it’s around understanding the position on the ground, what individual customers are going through, and what their market conditions are. You then have to be able to create highly specific solutions or help them create highly specific solutions.”

Johnson then turned his attention towards the necessity of short-term, flexible planning – something which he believes is essential to continue operating over the next 12 to 18 months. 

He continued: “You also have to recognise that while much of the human condition is to look for certainty, we all find uncertainty extremely difficult. We look to people, whether it’s politicians or scientists to give us some reassurance when looking around the corner. There is no way that people can know what’s going to happen next. 

“We’ve got to recognise that uncertainty is bred into any consumer facing business. For the next 12 to 18 months, there’s just going to be a whole load of unanswered questions that we’re only going to come to as we experience them. This then means that business planning has to become short-term and highly flexible.

“You then end up in a situation where you start working through customers on an individual basis. We need to make sure that what we are presenting to our customers is flexible enough and reflects their local market needs – providing them with the support they need to manage uncertain times. 

“We know there are some consistent factors. People are trying to understand the point at which they can open up their businesses – and so they must make sure they can get COVID secure. so be able to share our experiences of the parts of the world.” 

The post Flexibility and familiarity: How Scientific Games is bridging the gap between retail and online appeared first on CasinoBeats.

The title, released in 2016 as a sequel to 2014’s introduction of the same name, rose from ninth in the overall game charts and seventh in the slot rankings to dislodge Evolution’s Bonanza, which is down to fourth in both. Through December Golden Knight II sat in 657th spot in the slot rankings.

“While Golden Knight II from High 5 Games is only tracked at four sites currently, it leads the slots segment and overall indexes at 17.90x,” it is noted within the report.

On a slots basis, a total of eight suppliers occupy the top ten positions, with High 5, Evolution, and SG Digital joined by Design Works Gaming, AGS, Bragg Gaming, IGT, and ReelPlay.

Sitting in second place in both the overall and slots rankings is SG Digital’s 88 Fortunes, up from third and staying consistent month-on-month, respectively, with the previously unranked Break The Bounty by DWG making a surge to round-off the top three. The aforementioned Golden Knight from High 5 is also represented in the top 25 slots this month at thirteenth.

Of the DWG entry, and at such a lofty position, the Eilers-Fantini report noted: “Design Works Gaming produces a new game tracked in the OGPD with Break the Bounty ranked number three, but like the High 5 theme, it is only tracked at a few sites (three) showing a low confidence interval.”

Evolution Blackjack Surrender rose from seventh to occupy top spot in the table games ranks, coming out ahead IGT’s Blackjack which was last month’s leader and Blackjack Poker and Pairs in third. 

The report collects monthly game performance data directly from online operators to track how games perform in the region’s igaming ecosystem, with an ambition of growing the database similarly to that of its land-based game performance index.

This latest analysis examines data from 26 online casino sites, across Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia, tracking 25,022 games to represent 60 per cent of the market in terms of gross gaming revenue.

Slots is once again the dominant vertical across North America’s igaming ecosystem, accounting for 88 per cent of all unique games tracked, up from 87.4 per cent month-on-month.

This comes out ahead of table games’ 5.2 per cent (January: 5.4 per cent), as well as instant win’s 2.7 per cent (January: 2.8 per cent), live casino’s at 1.4 per cent (January: 1.8 per cent), video poker which remains consistent at 1.7 per cent, virtual sports’ 0.6 per cent (January: 0.5 per cent), lottery with 0.4 per cent (January: 0.3 per cent), and bingo/keno which once again rounds things off with 0.1 per cent.

Evolution remains ahead in the ‘Supplier Mix by Game Category’ rundown, after being found to account for 22.9 per cent (January: 25 per cent) of all games in the region, 86.9 per cent of which were slots.

SG Digital followed-up to maintain its second place, accounting for 20.1 per cent (January: 21.6 per cent) of games of which 89.3 per cent were slots.

Next up is IGT at 13.5 per cent, of which 84 per cent were discovered to be slots, with High 5, Everi, and Ainsworth following-up with 8.5, per cent, 6 per cent, and 4.5 per cent, respectively, all of which were slots.

It was mobile that once again led the devices with the highest percentage of theo win generated at 58.8 per cent (January: 60 per cent), with video poker joining virtual sports as the only segments where it doesn’t forge ahead.

Desktop tracks a theo win of 36.7 per cent (January: 35.8 per cent) with tablet lagging behind at 4.5 per cent (January: 4.2 per cent).

Android edges out iOS in the percentage of total theo win in the mobile category with 52.4 per cent, however, the latter dominates the tablet space at 89.7 per cent.

If interested in learning more, subscribing, or participating in the Eilers-Fantini Online Game Performance Database reach out to Rick Eckert at reckert@ekgamingllc.com.

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On a slots basis, Evolution’s Bonanza and Extra Chilli igaming titles sandwich SG’s 88 Fortunes offering at the summit, each of which have spent all of the past six months occupying spots in the top five.

This game rank history aggregates data across monthly reports to showcase an overall and average rank, as well as number of times each game and supplier was represented in the group’s charts. 

Evolution and SG Digital dominate the top five rank history with games featuring 40 per cent of 33 per cent of the time, respectively, however, the former slips to 13 per cent when looking at the top 25. IGT overtook the group with 23 per cent to finish ahead of SG’s 22 per cent.

The table games ranking is dominated by IGT, which lists two of the top three titles in Blackjack and multihand Blackjack and featured 60 per cent of games in the top five. Evolution, which slotted in behind with 27 per cent, rounded off the top three with Blackjack Surrender.

Through the first six months of performance data collection across the US online casino market, it is observed that slots accounted for 70.4 per cent of the estimated gross gaming revenue, ahead of table games’ 16.0 per cent. 

This is ahead of live casino’s 8.1 per cent, instant win’s 3.4 per cent, the 2.1 per cent of video poker, and nominal percentage rates of video poker, bingo/keno, and lottery.

The OGPD dashboard uses a fair share analysis in its inspection, which compares the percent of total games, or positions, against the percent of total theoretical revenue generated from those games. 

“A positive fair share is when the percent of total theoretical revenue generated exceeds the percent of total games, while a negative fair share is the inverse,” it is stated.

Slots and instant win are reported as coming out as negative due to boasting total games tracked of 84.9 per cent (theo win 70.4 per cent) and 4.8 per cent (theo win 3.4 per cent), respectively.

One further focus on the report was an analysis of RNG blackjack and roulette to its live casino counterparts, with data points showing that the former only accounts for 17.3 per cent per cent of total blackjack win while roulette comes in at 59.6 per cent.

It is Evolution’s Live Dealer Roulette that currently leads that segment, while IGT’s Blackjack (RNG) forges ahead in those standings.

The goal of these quarterly insights is to provide additional insights in the North American online casino market from the ‘Online Game Performance Database’ reports that are published, and reported by CasinoBeats, on a monthly basis.

This latest analysis examined data from 26 online casino sites, across Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia, and grew to track 25,079 games to represent 57 per cent of the market.

An overall ambition is to grow the database in a similar fashion to its land-based game performance database, which currently tracks approximately 270,000 slots, or 27 per cent of the North American market.

If interested in learning more, subscribing, or participating in the Eilers-Fantini Online Game Performance Database reach out to Rick Eckert at reckert@ekgamingllc.com.

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With reels ranging from 6×2 to 6×7, whilst offering up to one million ways to win, Gold Megaways offers various features such as a Win Exchange mechanic and free spins mode.

BTG CEO, Nik Robinson, commented: “Gold was Big Time Gaming’s first ever game. We set out then to change the industry with a new breed of slot mechanics and it’s fitting that Gold is crowned with Megaways for its 10th Anniversary edition.

“As a business we thrive on innovation, and we can’t wait to reveal what we’re working on with Evolution. The upcoming decade will see a jurassic shift in online entertainment.”

Launched on August 18 at Flutter Entertainment, Entain, Leo Vegas Group, Unibet and Betsson Group, the game has variable ways to win – maxing out at 117,649 – depending on how many symbols land on each reel.

The top paying symbols award between x2 and x100 the stake for six-of-a-kind wins. Furthermore, cascades can occur on every win to help players build up wins over time.

Within the base game, whenever the player lands a win in with a wild, a x3 multiplier will be applied to the win.

Moreover, landing three or more scatters will trigger the free spins round where players spin a prize wheel to determine how many free spins they’ll receive. However, if more than three scatters are landed, each additional scatter will add four spins to the total.

During the expanding reels bonus, players will find the expansion symbol feature. Whenever this symbol appears, it is replaced by two symbols, increasing the number of symbols on each reel.

Should the player expand a reel to the maximum of 10 symbols, they will be awarded with eight more free spins. Additionally, all wilds on that reel turn into wild multipliers

Finally, if the player lands a win of x70 or more, they can exchange that win for 12 free spins. If the player lands a win between x20 and x70, they’ll be given the chance to play the gamble wheel for the 12 spins.

“We’re thrilled to be the debut platform for Gold Megaways because we know that this is a really big release,” added SG Digital content specialist director, Rob Procter.

“The original Megaways was so influential, and this is its next phase. BTG are always pushing the boundaries, always innovating and it’s fun to imagine just what they will do next.”    

The title comes with an RTP of 96.42 per cent with a high volatility level implemented within the gameplay. Readers who would like to learn more about Gold Megaways from BTG can click here to be redirected to the supplier’s official website.

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This collects monthly game performance data directly from online operators to track how games perform in the region’s igaming ecosystem, with an ambition of growing the database similarly to that of its land-based game performance index.

In this latest example, which utilises data from 25 online casino sites across Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia, the report has grown to represent 66 per cent of US gross gaming revenue. This includes the tracking of 20,671 games.

Slots continued to dominate the digital footprint of the region’s online casino ecosystem, with the vertical accounting for 86.9 per cent of all unique games tracked.

This comes out ahead of table games’ 5.6 per cent, instant win’s 3.1 per cent, video poker with 1.8 per cent and live casino which comes in at 1.7 per cent. Virtual sports, lottery, and bingo/keno tracked 0.5 per cent, 0.3 per cent, and 0.1 per cent, respectively.

SG Digital once again tops the supplier’s table after being found to account for 23.1 per cent of all games in the region, the majority of which, at 89 per cent, were found to be slots.

Next up is NetEnt at 21.2 per cent, of which 92.8 per cent were discovered to be slots, with International Game Technology rounding off the top three with 15.7 per cent, 84.1 per cent being slots games. This is someway ahead of fourth placed High 5 Games, who accounts for 6.1 per cent of games, all of which were slots.

Mobile leads the devices with the highest percentage of theo win generated at 58.5 per cent, with virtual sports and tables games shown to be the only segment where it doesn’t forge ahead. 

Desktop tracks a theo win of 37.7 per cent with tablet lagging behind at 3.8 per cent, with video poker highlighted as a close battle between the two.

On an overall basis, Reel Play and Evolution continue to forge ahead with a theo win index of 3.42 and 3.09 respectively, ahead of Novomatic (2.37), Internal (1.96), IGT (1.33) and AGS (1.25).

Evolution’s Bonanza and SG Digital’s 88 Fortunes maintain their positions at the summit of the top slots games ranks, indexing at 14.96 and 12.66 respectively.

Rounding off the top three is Evolution’s Extra Chilli, with Big Spin Bonus by Inspired, Novomatic’s Diamond Cash Mighty Elephant, and Evolution’s Vault Crack and Piggy Rich Megaway, the new games tracked for the month that make the top 25.

IGT’s Blackjack comes out on top of the overall games charts with an index of 20.73, followed by the aforementioned Bonanza as well as a fellow Blackjack title, this time by NetEnt, which comes in at 13.78.

Rick Eckert, managing director of slot performance and analytics at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, explained: “Top performing online video slots this month included Evolution’s Bonanza, followed by SG Digital’s 88 Fortunes, and Evolution’s Extra Chilli as we see the ‘Ultra Megaways’ themes from the Big Time Gaming (acquired by Evolution) continue to develop hit titles with this game feature. 

“Game performance data was captured from 25 online casino sites across Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia markets accounting for over 65 per cent of the US online casino markets GGR.”

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With the new deal, the supplier has rolled out two of its “most popular” slots in the Mountain State – Chicken Fox and Lightning Horseman – making them accessible to players in the area for the first time.  

Peter Causley, CEO and co-founder of Lightning Box, expressed his excitement that the company had met the requirements in another regulated state, noting: “Our games have been very popular among American players in the land-based and social casino industries, and I’m pleased more and more of them are now getting to experience them in online too.

“West Virginia holds a number of significant opportunities to Lightning Box given the number of established operators in the state and we’re looking forward to partnering with them via SG Digital.”

The company’s debut in the West Virginia comes soon after its entrance to Pennsylvania in November 2020, as well as Michigan in January this year, also via SG Digital – having featured with online casinos in New Jersey via Amaya since 2014. 

Steve Mayes, partnerships director, digital at Scientific Games, added: “After successful launches across the US, we are delighted to expand our content offering in West Virginia and bring our immersive experiences to players and further enhance our incredibly strong partnership with Lightning Box.”

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The inaugural Game Developer Awards ceremony, hosted by Trudy Kerr at the InterContinental Hotel in St Julian’s, Malta, recognised the achievements of both the industry’s biggest names and emerging studios across 14 categories.  

The Relax Gaming team enjoyed a pair of wins in the Game Performance section, as   Money Train 2’s Slot of the Year 2021 success was followed by Book of 99 being named Slot to Watch 2021. 

Alchemy Gaming’s Wheel of Wishes claimed the Slot Studio Debut 2021 title, while SG Digital’s Rainbow Riches took the Slot Legacy Title honour, and the Slot Collaboration of the Year award went to Red Tiger and Big Time Gaming for Gonzo’s Quest MegaWays.

In the Game Creation categories, AvatarUX took the Game Innovation honour for the CherryPop, TikiPop and HippoPop titles from its series of releases using the PopWins mechanic.

Blueprint Gaming’s Rick and Morty MegaWays took the Game Licensed Content prize, while Rainbow Riches Race Day gave SG Digital its second success of the night, this time in the Game Retro-Style category.

Push Gaming’s Dinopolis secured the Game Design & Art Direction title, iSoftBet’s Moriarty Megaways came out on top in the Game Narrative category, and NetEnt’s Hotline 2 won the Game Music / Soundtrack trophy. 

The Game Marketing section of the ceremony saw Evoplay take the Innovation in Marketing honour, LetsGiveItASpin of CasinoGrounds crowned Streamer of the Year, and ELK Studios named Content Creator of the Year for its work to promote Nitropolis 2.

Rasmus Sojmark, founder and CEO of the event’s organiser SBC, said: “Huge congratulations to all the winners at the CasinoBeats Game Developer Awards.

“The judges and voters faced some very difficult choices when deciding the winners. The shortlists were full of fantastic entries that demonstrated the depth of talent in the industry, the continuing excellence of the established players, and the emergence of some really exciting new studios.”

Adding: “Events such as the Game Developer Awards are made possible by the ongoing support of our sponsors and partners. I’d like to thank BetConstruct, AvatarUX and Internet Vikings for being headline sponsors, as well as all the other companies that continue to work with SBC.” 

The Game Developer Awards were the concluding event of the two-day CasinoBeats Summit conference, which took place in an integrated live and digital format, with a select group of senior executives attending in person at the venue in Malta and an international audience joining an online broadcast of the content.  

All conference sessions from the event are available to view online by registering for a free digital pass at the CasinoBeats Summit website. 

CasinoBeats Game Developer Awards Winners 

Slot of the Year 2021

Winner: Relax Gaming – Money Train 2 

Silver: Nolimit City – East Coast vs West Coast

Bronze: Pragmatic Play – The Dog House Megaways

Slot to Watch 2021

Winner: Relax Gaming – Book of 99

Silver; Push Gaming – Jammin’ Jars 2

Bronze: Fantasma Games – Golden Castle Titanways

Slot Studio Debut 2021

Winner : Alchemy Gaming – Wheel of Wishes

Silver: Peter & Sons – Johnan Legendarian

Slot Legacy Title

Winner : SG Digital – Rainbow Riches

Silver: NetEnt – Starburst

Bronze : Blueprint Gaming – Fishin’ Frenzy

Slot Collaboration of the Year

Winner : Red Tiger + Big Time Gaming – Gonzo’s Quest MegaWays

Silver: Relax Gaming + CasinoGrounds – Iron Bank

Bronze : AvatarUX + Yggdrasil Gaming – CherryPop

Game Innovation

Winner : AvatarUX – CherryPop, TikiPop, HippoPop

Silver: Spribe – Aviator

Bronze: Nolimit City – East Coast vs West Coast

Game Licensed Content

Winner: Blueprint Gaming – Rick and Morty Megaways

Silver: SG Digital – Cluedo Cash Mystery

Bronze : Playtech – Rubik’s Cube

Game Retro-Style

Winner : SG Digital – Rainbow Riches Race Day

Silver: Triple Edge Studios – Attack on Retro

Bronze : Evoplay – Fruit Super Nova

Game Narrative

Winner: iSoftBet – Moriarty Megaways

Silver: Relax Gaming – Money Train 2

Bronze : SG Digital – Cluedo Cash Mystery

Game Design & Art Direction

Winner : Push Gaming – Dinopolis

Silver: Evoplay – Dungeon: Immortal Evil

Bronze: Stakelogic – Candyways Bonanza Megaways

Game Music / Soundtrack

Winner: NetEnt – Hotline 2

Silver: Kalamba Games – Sadie Swift: Guns ‘n Glyphs

Bronze : Hacksaw Gaming – Chaos Crew

Innovation in Marketing

Winner : Evoplay

Streamer of the Year

Winner: CasinoGrounds, LetsGiveItASpin

Silver: Brian Christopher Slots

Bronze : CasinoDaddy

Content Creator of the Year

Winner : ELK Studios – Nitropolis 2

Silver: Push Gaming – Jammin’ Jars 2

Bronze : FunFair Games – AstroBoomers: To The Moon!

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The studio has entered the new market with the support of its distribution partner, SG Digital, releasing titles Blown Away and Dragon Palace.

Dragon Palace has already gathered an array of land-based fans in the South American country following a launch on Inspired alongside Lost Temple. 

Peter Causley, CEO and co-founder of Lightning Box, explained how the online roll-out served as proof that the supplier’s products appeal to a universal audience. He explained: “Colombia’s slots players have been enjoying two of our games in bricks and mortar venues for some time now, so we’re excited to be able to offer them games on their personal devices too.

“Dragon Palace was a natural one to take live after its early successes and we hope Blown Away goes down well too. We also hope that Colombia is the first of many countries to welcome Lightning Box’s games in Latin America as the area continues to regulate.”

Earlier this year, Lightning Box made its debut in the Norwegian market after agreeing to supply its games to Norsk Tipping – a Hamar-based company that offers a range of lottery, sports betting, slots and instant games.

Lightning Box praised the partnership, saying that it “presented them with some interesting opportunities”. Causley expressed his pleasure to be entering the new market, acknowledging compliance with its strict limits on maximum stakes and wins. 

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Invaders Megaways – SG Digital

SG Digital has launched its flagship igaming title of 2021, with Invaders Megaways released via a period of exclusively with 888casino ahead of general release on June 15.

Invaders Megaways is a six-reel slot that includes a feature on every spin and a uni-cow experience within the base game. 

During the game, a UFO will land on each spin to select a random symbol to turn wild when landing on reels two to five. When a player hits four or more Scatter symbols to win free spins, a random picture symbol is selected to act as a wild for the entire round. Each has its own modifier, ranging from expanding wilds to increased megaways. 

During the base game the uni-cow makes an appearance, which results in all reels showing between seven to 10 symbols, resulting in up to 1,000,000 megaways. 

“There has been plenty of interest internally with this one, with a lot of show-and-tell regarding the game’s development. A new and innovative Megaways game always creates a bit of a spark and this one builds on the legacy of Invaders, an old favourite.

“But as soon as we started teasing out the look and feel of the new game through some animations, it was clear to everyone that it looks phenomenal. We haven’t produced a game as aesthetically pleasing as this one for a long time and we have set a benchmark for ourselves with this one.” – Rob Procter, SG Digital’s content specialist director.

Bounty Showdown – Fantasma Games

Enter the wild west and aid a small town under attack from three raiders in Fantasma Games’ Bounty Showdown, a 5×3, 10-fixed payline slot which includes a double bonus respin feature and shadowdown free spins that incorporates a gatling wheel bonus mode. 

To help defeat the raiders, players are given three bonus features, including a bonus wild that appears on all reels and substitutes for all symbols. If two land during the base game, the double bonus respin feature is activated.

Line wins are evaluated and paid out first, before the two reels where the bonus wild symbols land are locked and the rest of the reels re-spin.

If three, four or five bonus wild symbols land during the respin feature or the base game, 10, 15 or 20 showdown free spins are awarded respectively. The feature starts with a gatling wheel bonus game which plays automatically.

The wheel has 16 positions, each with a multiplier value from one to 100. Players receive three spins on the wheel, with a multiplier selected at the end of each spin. These are then added together and the free spins get underway.

“The game punches hard and when it does, it’s a great result for the player. That combined with the classic wild west graphics and music makes the whole experience feel just right for players who love classic slot games.

“This is another example of how we create games that go beyond gambling due to the engaging narrative that sets the scene for the action that takes place across the reels. This is a great addition to our portfolio, and we look forward to seeing players enter the bounty showdown.” – Tianzhi Zhou, game producer at Fantasma Games.

Max Dangerous and the Lost Relic – Red Rake Gaming

Red Rake Gaming has released Max Dangerous and the Lost Relic, a 5×4, 50-payline which includes cascading reels and a free spins bonus mode. The title includes five different meters which trigger special features, such as whip, plane, skull, hat and chalice. 

During the whip feature, a symbol and multiplier will be awarded. All the instances of this symbol in the reels, in addition to wilds, will be transformed into the chosen multiplier. All of those multipliers will be combined to form a larger multiplier, which will be used to increase the bet. 

Furthermore, in plane mode, the plane moves along a row from left to right, replacing all the symbols with new ones of the same type. 

The sticky wild symbols appear on the reels in the skull mode. Each has three lives. Every time they are involved in a win, they lose a life. When all three have been used, the symbol will disappear. 

Additionally, in the hat feature, the first three symbols in the second reel will be replaced with wilds and three more will be placed in the upper positions of the reel that are not yet visible.

Big Buffalo Megaways – Skywind Group

Skywind Group has ‘beefed up’ its Big Buffalo title to include the Megaways mechanic for its latest release, which will be lie and exclusive to PokerStars from June 17 ahead of a global release on June 24.

The 7×5 Big Buffalo Megaways, which offers players upto 117,649 ways to win, includes a ‘stampede of features’ such as free spins, buy in and ante bet. 

During the base game, the free spins mode is triggered when between three to six scatter symbols land anywhere on the reels awarding up to 100 spins. When the wild symbol lands on any reel but the first, and participates in a winning combination, it will transform into a wild multiplier. 

The buy in feature can be activated by players, for a cost of 100x the bet, and immediately starts the free spins feature. Players can also choose the bet and see the cost of free game triggers. This mode can only be activated between spins and during the main game.

Moreover, the ante bet feature doubles the chances of free spins for an additional cost. The ante bet price is displayed on the screen for the next spin.

The post SG Digital, Skywind & Fantasma Games: on the spin – slots round-up appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Ahead of the official launch on June 15, CasinoBeats spoke to Rob Procter, SG Digital’s content specialist director, to gain a sneak preview of the eagerly anticipated sci-fi themed game, and why it could the benchmark for future slot releases from the company. 

There’s a lot of excitement around the release of Invaders Megaways at SG Digital, what is it about this particular release that’s generating a lot of interest?

There has been plenty of interest internally with this one, with a lot of show-and-tell regarding the game’s development. A new and innovative Megaways game always creates a bit of a spark and this one builds on the legacy of Invaders, an old favourite.

But as soon as we started teasing out the look and feel of the new game through some animations, it was clear to everyone that it looks phenomenal. We haven’t produced a game as aesthetically pleasing as this one for a long time and we have set a benchmark for ourselves with this one.

Everyone who has played the game so far has loved it and that also goes for operators, affiliates, streamers and review sites. We just need the players to share that view.

How did the development of the game come about?

It wasn’t always intended to be Invaders-branded. We incorporated some Invaders From The Planet Moolah iconography, but our original plan was simply to create a space-themed Megaways game. We had the idea of basing it around UFOs and aliens, but didn’t set out to create a brand spin-off – it just so happened that the game we were producing was a really good fit. 

The front-end design and graphics are not what you would expect from a typical SG game, is this a conscious decision to diversify your content portfolio?

Absolutely. There is always room for differing styles within a slots portfolio and this is very much in the realm of high-polish, high-definition content. If you look at Rainbow Riches Race Day compared to Invaders Megaways, you will see two startlingly different front ends.

There is an acceptance of both styles, if the content and the genre is right. But with a game of Invaders Megaways’ type – as opposed to a legacy game that is a spin-off from a land-based brand, with a particular magic to it – that extra level of polish is a necessity now. We have set the bar higher than ever before and this is the level I expect from all our games moving forward. 

With a cartoon-style game of this type, how mindful are you in the design process of not appealing to children?

As always, we have been very mindful of this. When operators look at these issues and make decisions on games they will carry, it comes down to the name of the game and the assets you are putting in front of players before they are logged in.

We have covered ourselves very well in this regard. Invaders Megaways isn’t a title that holds appeal for children and the way we present the game prior to being logged in stays away from the use of characters, and is driven by the use of the logo. 

This latest title is another example of how SG has taken Megaways in a new direction, what are the key highlights of the gameplay?

I have genuinely never seen a Megaways game do what this one does. You essentially get a mini-feature with every spin because as the UFO hovers in the base game, it selects a random symbol and causes a reaction wherever that symbol lands on the reels.

In addition to the responsible gambling tools that are integrated into the game, there are a lot of modifiers packed into the base game and when you get into the free spins and you only get reactions on the top-paying symbols, that’s where it starts to get really interesting. It’s the base game that is the real differentiator in this one.

I have not seen a Megaways game have as much action as in this example and even if it’s not a win, there is something happening on every spin to keep the player interested. It also provides a taster for the free spins, which is where you get the full-fat version of the mechanic.

Is this title proof that Megaways games have not yet run out of steam?

There is no sign of that, nor of suppliers slowing down in their use of Megaways. We certainly still see the benefits of the mechanic, as we have in Perfect Potions, and I believe even more so with Invaders. We also have Jin Ji Bao Xi Megaways to come later in the year, so we are not slowing down as we know that these games are resonating with players.

Tell us more about the Uni-Cow feature and how that impacts the gameplay?

The Uni-Cow feature is of a type that we haven’t utilised too often within our games, but it’s also something I am really keen on including more. These super-features are something other studios do really well and it becomes something of a badge of honour for players when they manage to trigger it. It is present in some of our legacy games – in Bruce Lee, for example, when you hit the double feature – and gives players a sense of pride when they see it happen. 

When it occurs in the base game, everything goes dark and the Uni-Cow appears in a spaceship to unleash a guaranteed  number of Megaways Megaways as well as allowing wilds to land on all reels. There is a very high maximum win attributed to it, with the potential to hit over 1000x. I don’t want to spoil it too much, though – a lot of love has gone into that feature!

What promotional activity do you have planned with operators around this upcoming release?

We have a period of exclusivity with 888 which we are very much looking forward to from June 8 to June 15 and there’s a week of activity there to give it a good push. 888 is a great partner of ours with excellent reach particularly in Europe, where we see Invaders Megaways having plenty of appeal. 

It is a good time to launch the game, as traffic particularly on sportsbook sites will be high around the European Championships. Hopefully results go the way of punters, so we can get some traffic over to the gaming side. If operators are putting on cross-promotions using Invaders Megaways then that would be great to see. There would be mileage in it, as it’s the type of game that would appeal to sportsbook fans.

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