Viewpoints: What’s hot in slots?

Fiona Leung

Velvix, Director of Game Design

Fiona Leung comes from an eight-year background in game design. Her most recent role with Velvix includes leading a team of game designers and developers in the creation of titles for a new manufacturer targeting casinos across the United States and Asia.

Dan Schrementi

Incredible Technologies, President of Gaming

Dan Schrementi has been part of Incredible Technologies since 2004, first joining as a marketing team member in the Amusement division. In 2011 Dan helped shape the company’s then-emerging casino gaming initiative and has since been an integral part of the division. As President of Gaming, Dan oversees all Gaming operations and leads commercial strategy.

Steve Walther

AGS, VP of Game Development

With nearly 30 years of gaming industry experience across multiple disciplines, Steve Walther has a broad knowledge of product management, gaming operations and casino systems with extensive expertise in product lifecycle management, casino marketing, software development, and organizational behavior.  His experience spans global product planning, performance analysis, and strategic planning including gathering and prioritizing customer requirements, defining the overall vision and roadmap for products, and building launch strategies.

Gerard Crosby

Konami, SVP & Chief Games Product Officer

Backed by nearly three decades of experience creating and delivering casino games entertainment to diverse global markets, Gerard Crosby brings a depth of expertise to his role as Senior Vice President & Chief Games Product Officer for Konami Gaming, Inc., and its sister company Konami Australia Pty Ltd.

Laura Olson-Reyes

Eclipse Gaming Systems, SVP of Marketing

Before joining Eclipse Gaming, Laura Olson-Reyes served as the VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications at AGS, and earlier, as the Executive Director, Community and Corporate Relations at Scientific Games (now Light & Wonder). She received the Great Women of Gaming – Proven Leader Award, was named in the “Women to Watch” by VEGAS INC, and won the Women Worlds Awards for The Communicator.

1. What is your first priority when designing a new slot game?

Fiona Leung: There are multiple priorities at the ‘front of the list’ when it comes to designing a new slot game: easy to understand, proven game mechanics, theme and storyline. The player should be able to understand what they are chasing in the game within the first minute of entering the base game. Game mechanics help us understand why successful games attract players. Don’t copy, but look at what’s working and decipher ways to further enhance the player experience. This could be a better pay table, adjustments to volatility, wider range of prizes, more potential to trigger free spins, etc. The theme itself is not enough to create a successful new slot game. Mechanics and themes need to complement each other. The game’s storyline needs to make sense and be convincing.

Dan Schrementi: The first priority of any slot design is summed up with one word “why.”  The best games have a reason behind every aspect of the design to target a distinct goal.  The critical attributes that make up the game, such as the game math, feature designs, branding, player pricing, all have to line up to a distinct segment of player to be successful.  Games that don’t align well tend to fail, and those that succeed at mastering this delicate balance are the trendsetting games that have redefined our industry.  At Incredible Technologies we’ve adopted a new game design methodology that spends more effort defining “why” before setting out to execute the project.  

Steve Walther: When we design games, we focus on creating something that is relevant and resonates with players so they can have enjoyable experiences.  These experiences engage our players which leads to profitability for our casino operator customers.

Gerard Crosby: We aim to create strong entertainment. Our parent company, KONAMI GROUP CORP, has deep roots in video games and arcade games. And it is from that mindset and development approach that we look at designing new slot games—We think of it as entertainment. New creative designs should be fun, enjoyable, and rewarding. By prioritizing entertainment, we’re driven to explore the novel game mechanics, eye-catching graphics, unique characters, and strong mathematics that players want and operators need.

Laura Olson-Reyes: Our first priority is to make sure that the game will entertain players. We look at the math model, bonus features and play mechanics to make sure they’ll all come together to offer a game that delivers high levels of player engagement. We also look at where it fits in our current portfolio; does it offer a feature or play mechanic that we don’t currently have, but that players are seeking? Finally, we look at the markets where we do business to ensure that the game will meet the demands of the players in those markets.

2. What has changed the most about slot cabinets over the years?

Fiona Leung: I think its easiest to list out some of the changes that are seen across new cabinet development. These include: mechanical reels changing to virtual reels; high-definition screens (3D and 4D); physical size and dimensions of cabinets; connectivity between cabinets; advancements in player tracking systems; and augmented reality.

Dan Schrementi: There was an era in slot cabinets where it was a race to what I call “obvious technology”.  This would include things like single-channel audio to multi-channel, standard definition video to HD and then 4K.  This race is over for now and a cabinet is not going to standout by just adding technology.  To a player’s eye, all new cabinets are good.  I think what’s changed the most about cabinet launches since COVID is that the industry is focusing more on simple cabinets with excellent software.  Hardware gets the attention, but software is the fuel to our industry.  There are certainly more innovations to be made in cabinet hardware, but the trend is less about extreme cabinet designs and focused more on the all-important game.

Steve Walther: Improved design methodology and capability over the years have led to showcasing exciting game content better.  We take advantage of newer technology like LED lights, premium sound systems, and powerful 4K graphics to both attract players and provide a richer gaming experience. 

Gerard Crosby: Graphics have changed dramatically. Slot cabinets once had static, printed graphics, primarily on the reel strips themselves. Today slot graphics are digital, moving animations that extend beyond the reels to large displays, to the buttons, between machines, and above machines. As a result, it is difficult for games to stand out. In a crowded visual market, strong branding is even more critical. Game graphics and sound need to distinct and carefully designed in such a way to attract players walking by, while for the player on the machine these same graphics and sounds need to be make the game enjoyable to play.

Laura Olson-Reyes: It’s been exciting to see how slot cabinet design has evolved over the years. We have gone from cabinets with mechanical reels and game artwork printed on glass, to all digital displays, interactive touchscreen button decks, curved displays, fully digital spin buttons and phone charging stations. Portrait cabinets with massive 4K HD or Ultra HD displays are dominating casino floors, and companies are designing amazing merchandising around their cabinets that includes towers, walls, arches, digital toppers and integrated audio and visual components that draw players to the games from across the casino floor.

3. How do you make sure your games integrate well into a new casino?

Fiona Leung: Testing, marketing and observation. Quality assurance is crucial to ensure a seamless gaming experience for players and build confidence in the brand’s products with operators We work closely with the casino to offer promotional materials and strategies that will cause excitement and introduce players to a new game title. We observe how players react to the new game and listen to player’s suggestions and concerns that help define necessary adjustments and shape future game titles.

Dan Schrementi: Simple merchandising options in the “core” product segment have always been an ingredient to our strategy at Incredible Technologies.  Giving operators ways to advertise their amenities and leverage their marketing on our game banks has always been a simple way to partner with the operator on a new placement.   Additionally, we like to offer add-ons that allow a game to be taller or shorter depending on the operator need – big games continue to dominate our industry but operators still consider line of sight.  Most important is the game design itself.  As we offer a game to a customer, we are making a concerted effort to elaborate on the story of “why” we made the game.  This helps operators determine what to place it near, how to configure it, and allows us both to determine a set of expectations.

Steve Walther: Our games appeal to multiple market segments across most markets in North America, so when a new casino opens, its customers are often familiar with our products and seek them out on the floor.  We also create brand extensions of popular games like Rakin’ Bacon that already have a national following, so it’s easy for players to recognize them in new (and existing) casinos.

Gerard Crosby: I’ve been in the industry for quite some time, and I’ll say there are a lot of good games and great ideas in today’s casinos. The landscape is competitive and it can be difficult to effectively place new product so it will be successful. We have to know how to place the right games, in the right areas, for the right type of player; in order to ensure our games integrate well. To do this, requires strong collaboration between game development teams and game sales teams to accurately communicate the nature of the product, as well as strong collaboration between the games sales team and the casino operator to place and configure the product for the correct intended players.

Laura Olson-Reyes: As a partner to Tribal casinos across the US, we work closely with our customers to make sure we are providing them with a game portfolio that will entertain their players. We partner on floor placement and positioning and make recommendations as to how to configure the games, bank the games, and merchandise the games (when options are available) to ensure high performance levels. As we introduce games into casinos, we provide a digital asset kit to give operators a suite of tools so that they can easily and effectively launch the games and share the key features with their players.

4. What Trends are you seeing in the industry when it comes to features, bonuses, jackpots or themes?

Fiona Leung:  Random bonus features where non-symbol-driven trigger mechanisms have gained popularity. These can occur during the base game and excites players with additional awards. Community features integrate social interaction among players in order to enhance the overall player experience. Buy bonus feature games that allow players to instantly purchase the bonus feature instead of waiting for them to trigger naturally.

Dan Schrementi: As industry analytics have gotten better there is clearly a narrowing band of popular features. The majority of top games are comprised of about 4 major feature sets.  Player willingness to explore outside of that band of features is currently down but what is up is innovation within those features.  The best games in the industry right now are those with subtle innovations and excellent execution within the confines of these popular player features.  Markets have gotten more mature and players have, as well, in knowing their expectations before they sit down.  Again, at Incredible Technologies, we’ve learned we have to spend the majority of our time really answering “why” we’re making a game to ensure its design is a value-add for a distinct player segment.  Recent products where we’ve executed that the best are our top products.

Steve Walther: Building upon leveraging brand extensions, we see a growing trend of games with familiar, yet slightly different, mechanics. Whether that be the actual theme of the game like Rakin’ Bacon or River Dragons, or mechanics like ‘cash on reels’ or ‘hold and spin’, players like to see something new, but not too new. Features and bonuses continue to be a strong driver for the success of games, and it is important that the value proposition is clear to slot players.  These propositions are important because there is so much product diversity and competition, that players today are making decisions quicker on what drives their interest and their spend.

Gerard Crosby: The key trend at the moment is bonus symbols—those slot game symbols with the credit prize values displayed on them. It is a trend that emerged with the hold and spin-style features, and it continues to expand to more and more types of features. The bonus symbol trend has been very successful because players like games that are easy to understand and clearly show the winning potential. I consider it a good, worthwhile trend. We want players to easily understand the ways to win. The challenge is continuing to involve this trend to more diverse and fun entertainment, while still making sure it’s easy to understand. Chinese themes for games continue to be popular and for a good reason. The Asian culture is vast providing a whole host of iconic symbolism that speaks of wealth, luck, prosperity, and success. All the things that casino players are looking for when playing games!

Laura Olson-Reyes: Cash-on-reels continues to proliferate on slot floors as do hold-and-spin, or persistence, games. Perceived skill, like you’ll find in our Cash Arcade Series, is proving to be popular and gives the player the excitement of feeling like they have some control of the outcome. When it comes to themes, we see a trend toward nostalgia. Big Shake Neon and Big Shake Carnival offer a retro 1980s neon theme and a carnival theme, featuring the classic arcade coin pusher. You also see a lot of remakes of classic slot games. We’re introducing spin-offs of Mermaid Multipliers and Highway Hogs, that feature familiar characters and symbols, with upgraded bonuses, play mechanics, and 4K graphics.

Isabella Santos

Writer

Odds never exist in a vacuum. When bettors understand the context behind a line, they’re in a much stronger position to judge its real value.

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