Ian Robson, Senior Account Manager Team Lead – North America at Gaming Realms spoke to Casino Guru to share his insights into GMR’s innovative vision for the future.
Q: Thanks for joining us! Can you start by telling us about Slingo Press Your Luck, the brand, and how the game itself works?
Press Your Luck (PYL) is an iconic game show in North America and its presence on TV for decades has made it a household name that almost everyone can relate to. Characters such as the Whammy really add to the excitement, and they play a huge part in how players can progress to win some great prizes.
PYL is a perfect fit with Slingo – we brought the iconic elements of the classic TV game show into a memorable Slingo experience where we have incorporated big prizes and of course the ever-mischievous Whammy!
As ever in Slingo games, you match numbers from the reels to the Slingo grid, and progress in the base game in order to achieve a Full House and collect the Press Your Luck Bonus, Press the button to win cash – lose two lives and take on the Whammy with the Press Your Luck Gamble. Play it safe and collect winnings, or Press Your Luck and risk it all for a chance at even more!
The element of choice provides players the ability to play the game exactly as they want to, but with the knowledge that the Whammy is always lurking to steal those big wins … exactly like the TV show!
Q: From day one of its release, this game always looked as if it was destined for North America due to the IP, was this always the long-term plan?
Yes, the branding element of the game meant that it is was always going to resonate with players in North American markets, triggering nostalgia for all who come across it! We can already see just how popular the game is with an impressive number of players acquired in the early days since its launch.
Q: How has Slingo Press Your Luck performed in the European markets considering that the IP is based on a US television show that’s rooted in their culture, and not that of Europeans?
This is where our strategy of creating a great product regardless of brand is fundamental to its performance. Slingo Press Your Luck was launched in EU markets and we have seen that by creating an exciting game that is feature rich, innovative, but also rooted in Slingo’s classic game structure that we know people love, has led to a strong performing title globally.
Q: Do you think that players in the US will naturally gravitate to this game due to the familiarity of the IP, and have you seen other branded Slingo titles outperform those that are not branded?
There is a huge amount of brand equity in the Slingo brand alone, however, not every player has tried Slingo, our strategy is of course to acquire a broad range of players and our expectation is PYL can help attract a different audience. We have gone through this process with a number of other marketing leading IPs such as Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania and Deal or No Deal.
However not having a known brand attached to the game doesn’t mean the game won’t succeed. We have recently launched games such as Slingo Day of the Dab and Slingo River Re3ls which are both currently sitting as two of our best performing games since launch. Both titles are driven by new, interesting mechanics as well as great design and production.
Q: If you could pick any IP out there, what would be the dream collaboration for you personally?
That would be giving away our secrets, but I can say that in 2025 we will have some iconic casino branded titles that we are very excited about launching! I think they might cause a bit of an “Eruption” in North American markets! I also personally love sports, and we have seen some amazing successes working with key partners on our sports franchise-branded games, so more games in partnership there would be amazing too!
Q: What’s next for Gaming Realms, both in Europe and North America?
It is more global than those two continents – there are several new markets in Europe we will enter in 2025 and we also expect Albert to open up in Canada. As excitingly, we will plan to debut in regulated Latin America and Africa countries in 2025.
You can read the original interview here.
