Today we’re going to be doing something a little bit different from our usual bouts of news reporting and slot strategies outlining! Instead, I’d like to delve a little bit into more creative waters and address not the people who are playing the slots, but those that are making them – companies such as PlayTech, Microgaming, NetEnt and others (though I hope that even players will be interested by what I have to say). Consider this an open letter and a helpful guide, from a concerned citizen. First of all, I love your work, seriously! You guys are the best! But for every great decision and awesome slot you make, there’s at least one that I don’t particularly agree with. If you play real money slots online, you’d notice that the most popular ones are ALWAYS, without fail, licensed. NetEnt has their AWESOME “South Park” slots, Microgaming has their “Jurassic Park”, Playtech has their “Avengers” and the rest of their amazing Marvel slots… Overall, at their best, their licensed properties are amazingly creative and hit all the right marks, which in turns results in profits and popularity.
But then there’s the licensed slots that aren’t exactly going to be a surefire hit, to the point where one has to wonder whose idea they were. Playtech, for example, recently announced that they would be making slots based on the 2011 “Green Lantern movie and the 1966 “Batman” TV show starring Adam West, which certainly made me scratch my head. I mean, “Green Lantern” was a massive flop, scoring a 26% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes (coincidentally, the exact same score as the recently release “Suicide Squad”, which further proves that DC are literally unable to make good movies that aren’t directed by Chris Nolan – and even then there’s a 33% chance of failure). I’m fairly confident in saying that NO ONE wants a slot based on that abomination. Same goes for the 60s “Batman” – while not bad for what it is, it’s just way too goofy and campy for today’s audiences which are used to a more series, brooding Batman. But the worst offender has to be Microgaming, who won this solely by virtue of making a slot based on “Bridesmaids”. “BRIDESMAIDS”! WHO ASKED FOR THIS?!
I know that slot development is serious and expensive work (especially when licenses are involved), and as a result there’s only so many slots that can be made. That’s why I’ve taken it upon myself to provide a few very quick, very easy steps on how you can select the right license for your slot:
- Pick names and brands that are widely recognizable and will catch the eye of people. “Game of Thrones” is a widely recognizable name, and many would play the slot just based on it alone. “Hitman” is not – despite being a successful videogame franchise, both of its movies bombed hard, and right now a casual person on the street wouldn’t know a thing about it.
- Pick properties that would appeal to the same demographic that also plays slots. “Jurassic Park” was a great choice, because many of the people who saw it as kids are now old enough to both be nostalgic about it and pay to play slots.
- Pick properties that can translate well to the realm of slots. We’re talking a unique visual style, lots of characters, you know it. Technically, you can make a slot out of “Les Miserables”, but it probably wouldn’t be very interesting. Give me a slot based on “Guardians of the Galaxy”, though, and I’d play the hell out of that.
See? It’s just three small, short tips that will hopefully help you pick your licenses just a little bit better. Hopefully this little article of mine will eventually make its way to the computer of someone who actually has some kind of power over what licenses get picked and what don’t, but even if it doesn’t, it was still an interesting exercise in creativity that I hope you found useful!