As the Megaways™ Gaming Engine continues to grow in popularity around the world, we are seeing more game developers acquire the Megaways™ license and bring even more highly entertaining slots packed with features and modifiers to the market.
We always like to be at the forefront of anything that is Megaways™ related, and today we are absolutely delighted to be joined by Inspired Gaming who have already shown huge potential with the use of the Megaways™ Mechanic in their debut slot.
Before we begin today we would like to say a big thank you to the team at Inspired, especially Claire Osborne the Vice President of Interactive who we are chatting with today. We would also like to extend a special thank you to Graham Greensmith who is the Head of Commercial & Account Management at Inspired Gaming Group, for his continued help and support throughout this process.
Q. Hi Claire it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for giving up some of your time to have a chat with us today. What is your role at Inspired? And how long have you been working with the company?
A. Hello, I am Inspired’s Vice President of Interactive. I have been with Inspired for a year and half.
Q. Would you be able to give us a brief overview on Inspired?
A. Inspired Entertainment is best known for its player-popular multi-game retail slot machines and award-winning Virtual Sports. But in the last few years Inspired’s Interactive portfolio has been making a big impact in Europe, and now the company is experiencing rapid growth in North America. Performance to date has been impressive, with our interactive games receiving award nominations on both sides of the pond.
Inspired’s recent acquisition of the Gaming Technology Group (“NTG”) of Novomatic UK Ltd. (“Novomatic UK”), a division of NOVOMATIC GROUP, has multiplied our talent, resources, game design, brands, hardware and technology. Inspired now offers one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in today’s competitive marketplace, with a wide range of offerings in Gaming, Virtual Sports, Interactive and Leisure.
Q. The Megaway™ Slots series has proven to be extremely popular and continues to grow. Once BTG had licensed the mechanic, did you always plan on acquiring it? Or was the decision made after you had seen the success other developers were having with it?
A. The potential that Megaways™ offers players was the draw for Inspired, but seeing how the mechanic resonated with players made it easy for Inspired to decide to acquire a license in order to start developing our own Megaways™ content. Players are bound to get excited when they know that they may have more than 100,000 different ways to win. Our aim is to enhance the games we develop with Megaways™ and do something a little bit different rather than sticking to the same format many are using.
Q. Your debut Megaways™ title, Desperados Wild Megaways™, was released in December 2019. What feedback have you received since going live?
A. Yes, Desperados Wild Megaways™ was Inspired’s first-ever Megaways™ branded game, featuring two exciting bonus options with unlimited multipliers and stacked sticky wilds. The player reaction and performance have been amazing! Eighty percent of players are choosing to play our super-volatile “Jail House Free Spins” option, over our higher-consistency and more standard “Sunset Free Spins.” bonus round. We are keeping this in mind as we look to develop our future Megaways™ branded products.
Q. What does the team at Inspired believe makes a top Megaways™ Slot when it comes to grabbing the attention of players?
A. Megaways™ is already a market leading mechanic with a huge number of ways to win per spin, and the addition of more dimensions to the games through other mechanics and features like Cascading reels, which creates more winning combinations. We want to take these popular elements and enhance them by adding a twist, players like to see both familiar and new and we want to delight and surprise players rather than give them the norm every time. Ultimately it also helps to have a familiar, trusted and popular theme!
Q. We always look for something new in a Megaways™ slot when one is released, and we particularly liked the Jailhouse free spin feature on Desperados Wild Megaways™. The sticky wild multiplier that can increase in value, lock the Megaways™ for that reel, and potentially re-trigger the bonus really added something special to the slot, in our opinion. Do you have any plans for your future releases to contain new features and modifiers that Megaways™ players have yet to experience?
A. Yes. As I mentioned, we saw the benefit to innovating within the Megaways™ mechanics with the Jailhouse Free Spin bonus, and it’s obviously one of the reasons the performance on Desperados is so strong. So to answer your question, yes; future Megaways™ slots will contain new features and modifiers that Megaways™ players have yet to experience. The Inspired game development team is extremely talented and knowledgeable, and are always inventing new player experiences.
Q. After an excellent debut slot in the Megaways™ market, we can’t wait to see what you come up with next. To finish off, is there anything you could tell us about upcoming releases?
A. Yes, we will be releasing Anubis Wild Megaways™ from 23rd March 2020. This is our second Megaways™ game, and a sequel to one of Inspired’s most famous slot titles, Rise of Anubis.
Anubis Wild Megaways is a 6×7 + extension Megaways™ title with Cascading Reel wins. In certain markets, it will offer an innovative new bonus feature that allows players to “buy” enhanced bonuses. Based on certain other market requirements, that bonus may offer players a chance to “gamble” their current bonus award to earn more spins by spinning a wheel. We are also very excited to announce that this summer we will be releasing two massive titles, Reel King Megaways™ and Centurion Megaways™ – both will take the best elements of the original games and blend them with the extra fun that Megaways™ brings!
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