“Our goal is to give an incredible gaming experience to our operators’ players”
(Exclusive interview).- The live casino provider’s Head of Marketing talks exclusively to Focus Gaming News about its latest participation at ICE London.
UK.- We caught up with Amy Riches, Head of Marketing of Evolution Gaming, during last month’s ICE London where they showcased some of the live dealer provider’s latest titles and talked about its plans to succeed in the US.
At this year’s ICE London, you showcased 12 new games, can you tell us more about these games and how players will respond to them? Are you planning your 2020 financial performance based on these new games?
At ICE 2020, we showcased 12 new games in our extensive and ever-growing portfolio of both casino classics and Game Show games. The line-up included two new Game Show titles, our first ever bingo-style Mega Ball game, and the most fun game yet in Live Casino, Crazy Time, which mixes virtual reality, RNG, slots style elements and more bonus games than ever.
In addition to the new titles in our Game Show category, we also showcased an enhanced portfolio of classic casino games at the exhibition. Traditional Live Casino games remain popular player favourites and therefore we wanted to honour those games that players know and love, but with unique twists, to welcome a new generation of players. One example of how we accomplish this is with our Lightning Baccarat game, the latest addition to the Lightning family, which follows the exact same format as classic Live Baccarat with the integration of advanced RNG technology, to offer players a unique gaming experience with exciting multipliers. Other enhanced casino classics in the ICE 2020 new games, include Instant Roulette, Power Blackjack, Speed Blackjack and a Live Casino first, Craps Live.
With this wide variety of new and innovative titles, our goal is to give an incredible gaming experience to our operators’ players. Our main focus at ICE was to both enhance our classic games for the next generation of players and expand the Live Casino audience with our latest Game Show titles, two objectives which will be considered throughout 2020.
One of your new titles, Crazy Time, has been described as the “most fun Live Casino game ever created.” What separates this game from your other successful titles that you’ve released in the past?
Crazy Time is our newest Money Wheel variant, and a headline game showcased at ICE 2020. This game builds upon our original player favourite, Dream Catcher, and takes the Money Wheel concept to new heights. As one of the most complex studios to have ever been built by Evolution, it has been designed to immerse players at every turn, with more bonus rounds than any other game we have ever made. Each bonus game is completely unique and merges advanced RNG technology, a virtual ‘Crazy Time’ bonus world and of course multipliers. The opportunity for players to win ‘crazy’ big, is in the bonus world round, which houses the largest virtual wheel ever created. This game is different from anything we have ever created before as players are truly immersed in the Game Show atmosphere, with so many different elements to enjoy. It’s entertaining enough to be enjoyed simply without even placing a bet!
Our main focus at ICE was to both enhance our classic games for the next generation of players and expand the Live Casino audience with our latest Game Show titles, two objectives which will be considered throughout 2020.
Amy Riches, Head of Marketing at Evolution Gaming
You’ve recently unveiled your operating revenues from 2019, a period in which Evolution posted a 49% hike, and you’ve also said that you currently have the best game line-up ever. How do events like ICE London help you cement that position as one of the leading companies? How do you manage to obtain such good economic results while expanding your portfolio of games?
As previously mentioned, we showcased our 12 new games at ICE this year and the exhibition gives us the ability to show these games on the gaming world’s stage, to our existing, as well as potential new operators, press, investors and players alike. ICE is the perfect platform to showcase new titles as there is nothing more rewarding after the many months of preparation for the show than witnessing first-hand the buzz that these new games such as ‘Crazy Time’ and ‘Mega Ball’ generate. Having almost the whole industry under the one roof for three days is a really unique moment for all of us. With all of our 2020 releases, we are aiming to appeal to the widest player base possible – from classic casino players, to new player groups who are less familiar with Live, to the next generation of players.
Our Chief Product Officer, Todd Haushalter, has previously spoken about how many suppliers talk about being “mobile first” or “omni channel” or many other such terms, but the thing that we keep at the forefront of our game’s development is simply player first. When expanding our portfolio of games, our team works incredibly hard to ensure that every minute detail of each game centres around the player experience. It is this focus and attention to detail that drives us forward each day so that we are continually challenging ourselves to provide the next generation of games that players will love.
With all of our 2020 releases, we are aiming to appeal to the widest player base possible – from classic casino players, to new player groups who are less familiar with Live, to the next generation of players.
Amy Riches, Head of Marketing at Evolution Gaming
What can we expect from Evolution Gaming in the upcoming months?
You can expect a great deal! We are launching Mega Ball, our first bingo-style game, along with the RNG variant of this game, First Person Mega Ball, plus 3 additional First Person games including, First Person Dragon Tiger, Baccarat and Football Studio, as well as Instant Roulette and Power Blackjack.
We are also expanding our presence in the US. Following the 2018 launch of our New Jersey studio, having been the first Live Casino operator to gain New Jersey Preliminary Waiver status, it has now doubled in size, both in terms of tables and studio space. Parallel to this growth, we have been closely monitoring emerging states and have secured space in the neighbouring state of Pennsylvania. As a consequence, the process to build a studio in Pennsylvania has begun and agreements with new operators for that state have already been struck.
