iGaming experts share their opinion on how changing player preferences will affect video slot design through 2022 and remarked on how much has changed since 2021.

Creative and Powerful Slot Machine in Future

Mads Jrgensen, CEO and founder of Lady Luck Games: In the last 12 months, studios have elevated slot design to an entirely new level. This, I believe, has been fueled by players’ increased expectations, the meteoric rise of slots streamers, and intense competition among studios.

Slots players’ demographics are changing right now, owing in part to streamers, YouTubers, and even content creators on platforms such as TikTok. These new players are accustomed to excellent production values, compelling game design, and, most importantly, choice. As game producers, we must also contribute to this.

Our latest release, Rooftop Fight, is an excellent example of a game built to these criteria. It was created with this demographic in mind, allowing users to customize their gameplay by selecting a character that defines the game feature they wish to enable.

Vladimir Malakchi, Chief Commercial Officer at Evoplay: Without a doubt, current players place a high premium on a game’s aesthetics, and so the most significant improvements are primarily related to the quality of the graphics, which contribute to the gameplay’s brightness, emotional depth, and functional richness.

Comparing slot designs from five years ago to those developed today reveals a significant variation in visual content. We now offer more advanced gaming products with more animations, excellent artwork, the ability to mix 2D and 3D models inside a single title, a flexible sound base, and more spectacular pop-ups with prizes.

The graphic design engages the traditional casino audience while also attracting the attention of newer, more progressive generations. It’s been an honor for Evoplay to see the fruits of our labor, which we attribute to our high-quality and original graphic designs, as evidenced by the favorable feedback we receive from B2B partners and B2C audiences.

Arcangelo Lonoce, head of business development at Habanero: Modern gamers demand more enjoyment and benefits from casino goods than ever before, forcing the industry to experiment with new concepts.

That said, this is not a new phenomenon, with the business fully embracing the new direction ushered in by player preferences in 2021. Across the industry, swarms of operators and suppliers have embraced gamification and the desire for additional features that transform slot goods into communal experiences rich with meaningful interactions and exciting tournaments.

Furthermore, it will be critical for operators to deliver the appropriate content to the right client. Personalization powered by AI will be essential in the months and years ahead, especially in an industry where optimization is critical for survival, much alone profit-generating.

Julian Jarvis, CEO of Pragmatic Play: I believe we’ll see a trend toward players preferring more interactive and varied experiences.

There has been significant discussion in the slots and online casino sectors regarding a relative lack of innovation, with a shortage of fresh goods or concepts compared to the sports betting industry. I believe there is some validity to this, and hence the race is on to develop genuinely “beyond the box” items. Products that incorporate characteristics of a slot game but also provide additional functionality. We intend to be the market leader in this race and usher in a new age of what slot products can offer players.

Mark Claxton, iSoftBet’s head of games: Slots have seen minor changes in 2021. Numerous players desired higher volatility slots, and in very early 2022, we do not anticipate that tendency to reverse.

Specific extremely volatile slots have been gaining increasing exposure via social media outlets, increasing their appeal. However, the industry must exercise caution in moving too far in this direction, as these types of games will not appeal to all players, and thus offering a variety of experiences, including lower volatility games with longer playtimes, is still critical to appealing to the most significant number of players possible.