“We can’t wait to see the reactions generated among players.”
Pragmatic Play’s team talks about new live casino games and slots.
So much is going on in Pragmatic Play’s game development kitchen! The company’s been having a blast with its live casino products, whilst also increasing its slot and bingo production.
In an exclusive interview with KeyToCasinos, Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development Officer of the company, talks to us about Mega Roulette, ONE Blackjack and other exciting live dealer releases that the brand is launching.
We also chat about the monthly amount of new slot machines that the fans of the studio can count on, as well as discuss the recent challenges that game developers have been going through during the year 2020.
We would like to talk about the live portfolio first since Pragmatic Play is about to present three great new games! Can you please tell us more about the upcoming releases?
We continue to strive to create amazing gaming experiences, and our Live Casino portfolio is a big part of this. A recent notable event is our Mega Roulette launch, which takes elements of traditional casino games and combines it with a thrilling single-zero roulette experience. With huge multipliers in play, Mega Roulette has added a new element to our roulette offering, which is among our most popular Live Dealer games.
We’ve also expanded our Blackjack offering with ONE Blackjack, putting players in an intense, one-on-one game of Blackjack against our professionally trained hosts. With sidebets, engaging features, unlimited seats, and the possibilities of huge payouts, it offers an immersive Blackjack experience.
With that set [of new live games] to be launched at the end of April, we can’t wait to see the reactions generated among players.
We’re also set to release Dragon Tiger, which offers a simple, yet enjoyable betting experience, and something we think will really resonate with Baccarat players. With that set to launch at the end of April, we can’t wait to see the reactions generated among players.
It has been more than a year since the studio’s first live game show – Mega Wheel – hit the markets, and now Mega Roulette is ready to go live. We would love to peek behind the scenes of creating a game show – what does it take to put together a new and entertaining live release?
There’s plenty that is involved with creating a smooth live product, not least the creation of a live dealer studio and having professionally trained hosts. However, once the infrastructure is in place, creating individual products relies on lots of things. We analyze the market in depth to identify where we can make a difference, as well as monitor expectations of all stakeholders. Once we find the sweet spot that fills a need that is actually required, we start the actual process of creation.
How challenging was it for Pragmatic Play to maneuver in the time of lockdowns and get the new content ready?
It was of course a challenge, not just for us but for everyone. However, we adapted to the new requirements; the team works closely together so we didn’t face any problems in terms of delivery times. It was an opportunity for us to test our limits and grow even further.
While it was a strange time to not be in the office, the freedom worked well for some and we’ve managed to create more engaging content than ever before.
What is your take on the way that the live casino niche evolved and diversified during these past couple of years? Would you say it has the potential to replace brick-and-mortar casinos in the future?
Live Casino is a hugely exciting vertical to be part of and you can see the growing popularity of it globally. As internet penetration grows and more and more markets become regulated, you’ll see the vertical expand even further as more players than ever before can access live dealer games.
It doesn’t mean that brick and mortar casinos will be replaced, with them playing an important role in the gaming industry, but they will coincide with online arms. There’s plenty of examples of land-based operators having online branches, and as iGaming grows, it’s something we may see more of.
...you’ll see the vertical expand even further as more players than ever before can access live dealer games.
How fast-paced is the current monthly slot production of Pragmatic Play, and what are your criteria for successful slot machines?
We aim to produce five games a month to add to our slot offering, giving a real diversity of content to players, from classic titles to graphic-heavy video slot experiences. A successful slot can differ depending on the goals, but we want all our games to be engaging, meet player expectations, and be a seamless, enjoyable gaming experience, regardless of devices.
With a global presence, creating games that will be enjoyed by all is obviously impossible as different players have different tastes. However, our strong roadmap, delivering games on a regular basis, allows us to continually deliver for our fans all over the world.
We aim to produce five games a month to add to our slot offering, giving a real diversity of content to players...
We are keen to know more about the unique Pragmatic Replay feature! How did the idea appear, and what was the response from the gambling community once you launched the feature?
All players enjoy reliving their greatest moments, and this isn’t just limited to iGaming. Players wanted a quick and efficient way to save and share their luckiest and biggest wins, and we made it possible through Replay. It’s a simple yet secure feature that allows players to watch and share their Top 100 wins.
The feedback from the community has been great, and we’re very pleased as well to celebrate big wins with our fans.
This would be the perfect time and place to tease us about the upcoming slots and Bingo, as well as other products that the studio is getting ready for the year 2021!
While we can’t reveal all our secrets, there’s so much coming up that we’re excited about. The next few weeks will see the launch of Temujin Treasures, Juicy Fruits, Power of Thor Megaways and Wild Booster, which are all games with intense potential. We feel these can all be standout titles and really start Q2 with a bang for us.
We feel these can all be standout titles and really start Q2 with a bang for us.
As for our Bingo offering, which continues to grow at a fantastic rate, we’ve got a couple of very exciting products to come. One will be a variant of our hugely popular Bingo Blast, just in time for summer, while we will be launching Reels Room soon. More will be revealed about that in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled!
