How to create a successful slot series – Northern Lights Gaming
This article was written by Andrew Goodale, CEO at Northern Lights Gaming.
Andrew Goodale, CEO at Northern Lights Gaming takes us behind the scenes of the studio’s hugely popular Unusual Suspects series and explains how it’s been a game-changer for the developer.
“Most studios want to have a slot series. Why? Because it helps on so many levels when it comes to fostering deeper relationships with operators, engaging players and ultimately driving KPIs for online 바카라s and the studio itself.
“Remember, it is a fiercely competitive market in which studios operate, so anything that makes you stand out from your rivals is worth having, and a successful slot series is a major differentiator.
“But creating a slot franchise is easier said than done, with no guarantees of success. We have first-hand experience of this, having developed and launched our Unusual Suspects series, which has been a game-changer for Northern Lights Gaming.
“We’ve just launched the latest instalment in the franchise, Unusual Suspects: Legends of Olympus, with more games in the series planned.
“Below, I get into how we set about creating a slot series, and how the success of the series has benefited operators, players and, of course, Northern Lights Gaming.”
How Northern Lights Gaming developed a successful slot series
“We’d been thinking about developing a slot series for some time when we came up with the idea for the original Unusual Suspects game and quickly saw that it had the potential to spawn additional titles around the same theme.
“The first instalment takes players to the mean streets of a rough and ready city where danger lurks around every corner and only the toughest survive. As players journey through the city’s underbelly, they encounter different characters along the way, including the game’s hero, the detective.
“They are helped along the way by a ton of bonus features, including Expanding Wilds, Free Spins, an Upgrade Trail and Respins.
“The combination of theme, narrative, characters and gameplay resonated with players, and the game proved to be a hit. But that left us with a hard question to answer – how to develop a follow-up game that takes the experience to the next level.
“We knew the follow-up game had to be just as popular, if not more so, than the original. If it wasn’t, it would leave us with fewer options to explore with the series long-term. Luckily, it allowed us to go anywhere – do we build a new game from scratch, reskin the original or do what we call a +1 game.
“With +1s, we take the original game and look at all the areas where we can expand and improve on it, and this is ultimately what we decided to do with the second game in the series, More Unusual Suspects.
“We kept the theme broadly the same with the main character, who we named Max Spinwell, returning once again, but we elevated gameplay provided through an entirely different combo of bonus features, including Pick Modifiers, a Jackpot Bonus and Getaway Spins.
“This turned out to be the right decision as More Unusual Suspects outperformed the original and built momentum behind the series, which now includes Unusual Catch, More Unusual Catch, Wanted Unusual Suspects and the latest title in the franchise. Unusual Suspects: Legends of Olympus.”
How a slot series benefits operators
“Operators are always looking to add new content to their lobbies, but they must make sure they are adding content that players actually want to engage with.
“It’s all well and good that a game features a highly innovative mechanic, but operators are often reluctant to give top lobby positioning to something that’s not a proven hit – this is prime real estate, so they need to be incredibly careful about what goes there.
“The great thing about a slot series is that it’s already proven, with players eager to try the next title in the franchise. This means operators can give it solid positioning, confident that it will hit the mark with players and deliver the performance they are expecting.
“Slot series can also be used as part of wider marketing and CRM activities, too, with players able to claim bonus offers across different titles in the franchise, for example. This works for both customer acquisition and retention.”
How a slot series benefits players
“바카라ers love slot series because they know what they are going to get with each title, but that there will be something a little different about each game. It’s very much like a movie franchise – if you like one movie in the series, you’ll watch the others as you’re pretty sure you’ll enjoy the experience.
“With game lobbies packed full of different titles, it can be hard for players to find what they are looking for, but with a slot series, games from the franchise are easy to spot, and they can fire up the reels confident that it will hit the mark for them.
“Unusual Suspects has allowed us to unlock all the benefits a successful slot series provides, but getting the franchise to where it is today has not been easy.
“Each game in the series has to offer something different to the last while at the same time staying connected to the original concept and gameplay. This is hard to achieve, but something the team at Northern Lights Gaming relishes.” – Andrew Goodale, CEO at Northern Lights Gaming
