It’s amazing how much online gambling has grown this past decade. In 2008, consultants from H2 Gambling Capital estimated the global market at $21 billion. In 2015, Statista pegged the value of the worldwide online gambling market at $41.4 billion; one year later, they bumped that figure up to $45.9 billion, with revenues of $56 billion expected by 2018. Not bad for an industry that didn’t exist 30 years ago.
Of all the different games you can play at the online casino, slots are by far the most popular – including here at Café Casino, where we’ve got over 200 different slots (and counting) for you to choose from. But how do these games created behind the scenes? What goes into creating a truly memorable online slot machine?
The Perfect Brainstorm
It starts with an idea. Most slots begin with a group of people getting together to toss around concepts for new games; these people typically represent the creative, marketing and R&D departments, each bringing a fresh perspective on a game’s feasibility. If they agree that a certain game might be worth a push, marketing will dig deeper and look at the demographics, more meetings will take place, and if it gets the green light, the project will be left to the creative team and product development.
At this point, a theme for the game will be determined – it could be a classic “one-arm bandit” game like Sevens and Bars, an exotic theme like Aztec’s Treasure, or anything in between. Then they’ll decide what emotion to invoke in the player. Will it be a silly game like Chicken Little, or something sexy like A Night With Cleo? This is where decisions about graphics, audio and bonus gameplay will be made.
Insert Product Placement Here
One last thing: Will there be a corporate tie-in? You won’t find many of these games at Café Casino, but “branded” slots based on movie franchises or famous people are one way to generate interest in a game. Although certain legal hurdles regarding intellectual property have to be cleared, this process can be easier than coming up with new ideas for games.
Once all these considerations are ironed out, it’s a simple matter of designing and programming the game, testing it, then releasing the game online and seeing how players like it. All told, about a dozen people will have provided input into creating the games you see at Café Casino. We think you’ll find it well worth the effort.