Greentube interview: CEO Ben Sutherland on developments in iGaming

You’ve received licensing for Pennsylvania and Connecticut recently; what developments can we expect in those markets from Greentube US in 2024?  

Getting your license is just one of many steps in getting games live in a state. Often, there are customizations on the server level or even the individual game level to tailor the experience to what you think the player wants or the regulatory body needs. But, even with those changes, our first batches of games should go live in CT this quarter followed shortly behind by PA. Based on gaming trends in these states and the sizable appetite local players have for our style of games, we expect great success in these regions.

You had an iLottery endeavor with Drop the Ball last year; are there any additional iLottery releases on the horizon?

We have a lot in our iLottery roadmap, with more releases planned for this year. These are both new states, as well as new games in some of the states we are already in. A few of the games are being produced simultaneously for iGaming and iLottery launches, so that will be very exciting as well, to be able to compare performance in real time.

What do you think may be the biggest revolutionary developments in iGaming, and how can Greentube customers expect to see those things manifest in your products?

There are a number of exciting mechanics right now, but an often overlooked revolutionary development comes in the tool set, and to this, Greentube has long been developing a replacement game engine and server structure. Our first games in this new framework are due to be completed  this quarter.

There are far too many features to list as to why this is exciting from the production point of view; so many of the best practices in mobile development have been incorporated into the new workflow. From the operator’s point of view, the ease of deployment, bonusing, marketing campaigns and reporting is exciting. From the players’ point of view, they should notice a significant improvement in the quality bar of our games.

For example, our compression is better so games can have more content but still be the same or less download time. Our animation tools are better, our sound designers have new features to work with, etc… We could have a whole article on this new development tool kit.

I’ve seen that recently you’ve been working on combining popular games and gaming features (such as Diamond Link: Mighty Seven Ways to Win). Is that something we can expect to see more of? 

Yes, actually! For us, a balanced game portfolio is a mix of classic mechanics, new innovation and remixes of what worked in previous games to something even better. The game you mention is exactly that latter category, where we merge what is already working in two separately successful game types into one great new hit.

Your first ever game, ‘Ski Challenge,’ surpassed 20 million races in November, how much does that game mean to Greentube? 

Since the official re-launch a year ago, we have seen 20 million races and 600,000 downloads. Ski Challenge is an indivisible piece of Greentube – the first ever published game and it dates to 1998.  Moreover, alpine skiing is the number one sport in Austria.

On top of everything, the game was developed in cooperation with the three most successful ski associations in the world, the Austrian ÖSV, Swiss-Ski and Deutscher Skiverband, which underlines its authenticity. It is perhaps not in the key area of our business interest in this region but is and always will be an important part of the heritage of Greentube.

With markets varying dramatically from state-to-state, not only regarding regulation, but also demand – how do you navigate the landscape as it evolves so quickly?

This really speaks back to making sure the portfolio is balanced. Not every title is going to see equal success in every region it gets released in. It is quite shocking the performance differences a game can have from country to country, state to state or even operator to operator. Thankfully, being part of the larger Greentube family means we have all sorts of product types being produced as each of the different studios bring their own flavor.

David Thompson

Editor

Good iGaming content works like a well-balanced system. When the math, structure, and testing align, players can see exactly where the value lies.

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