Industry News

ThunderSpin captures lightning in a bottle for online casinos

Published

5 years ago

January 30, 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In an age where the most important focus for developers is to continually create engaging games for players and operators alike, ThunderSpin’s development process is more akin to Pixar than traditional gaming brands relying on the motto that ‘no idea is a bad idea’.

ThunderSpin, a game studio which has launched its own exclusive set of 25+ casino slots, is becoming increasingly renowned for its strategy of putting originality at the fore. With titles featuring everything from Vikings, newborn galaxies and zombies to World Cup football, biblical battles and cowboy snails, the brand’s extensive portfolio is all thanks to their one internal rule, ‘no clones’.

Commenting on the challenges of ensuring each and every game stands out in the iGaming market, Jeff Letlat, CEO at ThunderSpin, explained: “We have an internal rule – we do not make clones of popular games. Yes, we can be inspired by some kind of game or mechanics or the idea of our competitors, but the game itself will be unique in any case, both in mechanics and in graphics. In addition, our team should primarily like the game too. After all, if inside you feel you are doing what you like – the game will be both memorable and unique.”

In its first year, ThunderSpin is driving innovation in a manner more suited to a creative film company or animation studio than to the typical world of reels and slots thanks to a reliance on the beauty of ideas combined with cutting-edge technology. When taking a game from idea to execution Jeff Letlat highlights how ideas can come from anywhere, whilst not mistaking that although some concepts might seem great to the team at the start, the true genius is knowing which ones to take right through to the end.

“Every game in the beginning consists of an idea,” he said. “Most often, for starters, the idea consists of just one phrase. I want snails in the Wild West which becomes Snail Town. Or, let’s try to connect the slot with betting elements and it becomes World Cup Football Slot. The main difficulty is to combine a good idea with the resources available to us – technical, human, etc.”

One of the company’s latest games, Book of Treasures, is a prime example explains Jeff Letlat with ThunderSpin’s marketing department highlighting the need for a popular theme slot around a central theme. “Combining hunt for treasures and slots is interesting for our players in principle but the magic happens when our team start throwing ideas around. In this case, in the very first brainstorming session all of us sounded almost in chorus: ‘Mayan treasures!’ It’s the conceptualisation that our team thrives on.”

For ThunderSpin the regular working process consists of in-house game designers creating prototype mechanics, the Art Department’s conceptual sketches and a whole host of programmers, testers delivering details, narrative, etc. After this the project pushes into plans, sprints, deadlines, and an internal presentation to gain first impressions and feedback from colleagues. Detailed external R&D with the company’s partners and players follows which helps not just during creation but throughout the game’s release according to Jeff Letlat. “We try to listen carefully and consider all of this in the development process. We try to analyse as much as possible in different directions – both the duration of the sessions, and the betting strategies, and the players’ returns to their favourite games. And where do they click with the mouse in game clients and much more. Each of our already released games is constantly monitored and analysed, so that we can make each next game more interesting and attractive for our players.”

“With development feedback, we listen to everyone,” he continued. “Whether it’s colleagues, business partners, or players, we analyse competitors, read reviews on the forums and our main focus is our players. Since consumers can be completely different – by gender, age, tastes and preferences – we try to make different games in order to adapt to the most diverse wishes of our players.”

The unique portfolio of games from ThunderSpin have all been developed with a strong focus on sound and visual to ensure a strong first impression of the game in the current market where every casino can offer thousands of slots. For Jeff Letlat, it’s all about that initial visual appeal and the most crucial attribute for a new concept is to ensure your game is entered into a casino at all. “The ability to stand out is essential so your game does not get lost among a huge pile of the same type and uniform slots,” he said. “When creating new concepts the development team are aware that both interesting mechanics and large payouts are all very important in terms of ROI but when developing an idea you can keep the player mechanics, volatility, payouts. To help the player decide to launch your slot for the first time, essentially the visual is King.”

Industry News

Dutch Mental Health Care Calls for Total Ban on Online Gambling Advertising

Published

4 days ago

November 1, 2024

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The Dutch mental health service is calling for a total ban on online gambling advertisements in the Netherlands.

Although a ban on untargeted gambling advertisements and a ban on the use of role models has been in effect since 2023, a recent research by KRO-NCRV’s Pointer shows that (illegal) gambling companies and sports tipster platforms are still enticing young people via social media such as TikTok and Snapchat.

By using influencers and terms like “free money”, they try to attract a young audience and thus lower the threshold to start gambling. This concerns both legal online casinos and online casinos that do not have a license in the Netherlands. The Gaming Authority has started an investigation based on Pointer’s findings.

Pointer’s research shows that part of the gambling industry deliberately targets young people who are often susceptible to promises such as “fast money” and the influence of role models. Ruth Peetoom, chair of the Dutch mental health service, compares this approach to that of the tobacco industry, where similar marketing strategies were used to get young people to smoke.

Despite the existing advertising ban, gambling companies continue to explore the boundaries of the law, according to Peetoom. The Dutch mental health and addiction care associations in the Netherlands therefore push for a total ban on online gambling advertising and stricter rules for the duty of care of gambling providers.

With the call for a total ban, the Dutch mental health care sector hopes to prevent further normalisation of gambling behaviour among young people and to protect them from the temptation and consequences of online gambling.

Compliance Updates

UKGC: Market impact data on gambling behaviour – operator data to Oct 2024

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

George Miller

UKGC: Market impact data on gambling behaviour - operator data to Oct 2024

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Gambling Commission has published further data on the gambling industry in Great Britain.

This data, sourced from operators, reflects the period between March 2020 and September 2024, inclusive, and covers online and in-person gambling covering Licensed Betting Operators (LBOs) found on Britain’s high streets.

Comparison should not be made with the industry statistics dataset, as this dataset may include free bets and bonuses and does not include data from all operators.

This release compares Quarter 2 (Q2) of financial year 2024 to 2025, with Q2 of 2023 to 2024, looking at how the market has changed in comparative periods over a year.

The latest operator data shows:

online total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) in Q2 (July to September) was £1.32 billion, an increase of 11 percent from Q2 the previous year. The overall number of total bets and/or spins increased 12 percent Year-on-Year (YoY), reaching a new peak for the third consecutive quarter of 25.2 billion, whilst the average monthly active accounts2 in the quarter increased 8 percent
real event betting GGY increased by 6 percent YoY to £453 million. The number of bets decreased 10 percent, while the average monthly active accounts in Q2 increased 9 percent
slots GGY increased 16 percent to £680 million YoY. The number of spins increased 13 percent to 23.3 billion while the average monthly active accounts in Q2 increased 16 percent to 4.4 million per month. Although this is a new peak for GGY in this dataset for the slots vertical, it should be noted that one operator has re-classified some of its products into the slot vertical this quarter, which has had an impact on the vertical data
the number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour increased by 9 percent YoY to 10 million. The average session length remained at 17 minutes. Approximately 6.1 percent of all sessions lasted more than one hour compared to 6.6 percent in Q2 the previous year. The number of spins per session has fallen from 147 to 142 YOY, whilst the GGY per session has fallen from £4.20 to £4.13 in the equivalent timeframe
LBO GGY decreased by 1 percent to £533 million in Q2 2024 to 2025, compared to the same quarter last year, while the number of total bets and spins decreased by 0.1 percent to 3.1 billion.

Industry News

Petra Maria Poola Joins Xace as Group Commercial Director

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Xace has announced that Petra Maria Poola has joined the company as Group Commercial Director.

Petra brings a wealth of experience from the iGaming industry having formerly held roles at several iGaming companies such as Yolo, Relax Gaming and SiGMA. She will lead the commercial growth of Xace and its group companies, including crypto and iGaming focused xda.io, helping to drive strategic initiatives across banking, fintech and iGaming solutions.

In her new role, she will mainly oversee the growth of the group’s sales, marketing and account management functions, ensuring a cohesive strategy that supports Xace’s ambitious expansion plans.

“I am incredibly excited to start this new chapter with Xace, and work alongside such a talented team and management. Transitioning into the fintech space, while still connected to iGaming, presents an exciting opportunity for growth and learning. I’m looking forward to applying my expertise to help Xace and its group companies achieve new heights commercially, while gaining deeper insights into the fast-evolving world of fintech,” said Petra Maria Poola.

Reuben Abel, CEO of Xace, said: “Petra’s extensive background in the iGaming sector, combined with her commercial acumen, makes her a valuable addition to the Xace team. She will play a crucial role in expanding Xace’s market presence and enhancing its suite of services tailored to the specific needs of the iGaming and fintech industries.”