Jamie: All players enjoy wins and jackpots and they’re something that Blueprint has proven remarkably adept at getting right – how has the company gone about achieving this reputation?
Jo: Consistency is absolutely crucial across every aspect of a game’s development.
The features, art, animation, soundtrack and pacing all combine to produce quality gameplay with each new title we introduce to the market. All these elements must come together as seamlessly as possible in every single game release and of course, the entertainment that they provide must be matched with a reliable win potential.
Our design and development team has earned a reputation for being able to create games that appeal to as wide a demographic as possible.
Some players look to highly volatile slots to secure bigger wins, while there are others for whom the entertainment value of spinning the latest game is enough.
For jackpot players, the key is finding the right balance of delivering smaller and more regular payouts in addition to the prizes that offer a life-changing windfall.
Jamie: How much is the design of a game and its mechanics influenced by the win potential? Does this drive the innovation of new features?
Jo: Game features exist to provide enjoyable gameplay and while this is the core element of all our games, equally, players need some assurance that they can achieve wins in the process.
Ensuring that there are mechanisms with the game design to provide win potential and that players have fun during the overall gaming session is the holy grail in slot design provision.
Achieve this and you have a successful title on your hands. This is a process we regularly adopt and is the reason why we’ve enjoyed strong demand from players for our content over several years.
Innovations like Prize Lines and Fortune Play are born of the requirement to guarantee that players enjoy the journey as much as the destination.
Providing new, entertaining ways to achieve the big wins does drive the development of new and exciting features.
Jamie: For those fortunate to have scooped a big win within a Blueprint game, the graphics and sounds are pretty memorable. How do you approach the development of these big win transitions? Do they differ across your portfolio, or is there a set Blueprint formula to achieve familiarity?
Jo: Building anticipation as a player approaches a win, especially the bigger ones, is key.
Our standards in graphical and audio design are high across the board but obviously, the requirements for each individual game differ due to themes and features deployed.
A good example is our Viking Fall game. Boasting an incredible 262,144 ways to win, there is of course significant win potential. The thrilling ride through Norse mythology is made even more entertaining with an enthralling soundtrack that raises the tension.
We understand the importance of a quality soundtrack in delivering an immersive gaming experience. The role that music plays in setting the atmosphere is just as important as a game’s design, mechanics, bonus features and modifiers.
With Viking Fall, classic Viking-style music with a fast-beating drum sets the tone, and when entering the majestic Asgard hall of Valhalla for the bonus round Free Falls, the soundtrack shifts as the action and entertainment hots up.
Creating a game that uses its visuals and audio cues to set the tone and adjust the pacing of play are design tenets we employ across our wide portfolio to maintain a sense of polish and familiarity.
Jamie: How important is a variable RTP function within your games?
Jo: Variable RTPs allow flexibility to our operator partners and as we supply content across many different global markets we need to cater for the many different preferences, trends and not least, regulations.
Offering different levels of RTP is something that some operators insist on and without them, we wouldn’t be able deliver what they need, so it provides us with extra scope to grow commercially.
Jamie: Blueprint’s proficiency in producing jackpot games that offer the ultimate big win for players was seen last year with a win of €8,133,445.23 on Deal or No Deal™ Megaways™. While these massive wins are the pinnacle for most players how do you achieve the balance of keeping them satisfied with regular smaller-scale, yet still significant wins which are equally as important?
It’s important to have a diverse portfolio of game formats to appeal to a broader range of players.
We understand that players have different expectations for their gaming experience and it’s crucial to offer something that will meet their preferences.
We’re continuously adding more titles to our Jackpot King series and the latest inclusions epitomise how we’re broadening the range of games available.
Alongside feature-rich titles such as The Goonies™ and Ted™, we’ve also introduced retail classics such as 7s Deluxe and Eye of Horus. Within Jackpot King, there are games available to meet all player preferences to ensure they can get involved with the industry’s leading jackpot system.
That said, the design of the games is such that players know they can achieve all manner of wins at each stage of a game, not just in the bonus rounds or if they strike it lucky and drop a jackpot.
Jamie: Which upcoming titles do you have on the drawing board that will maintain this drive for regular big wins?
Jo: We’re staying true to our heritage and have an array of big games on our roadmap that will cater for a wide variety of player tastes.
One aspect that Blueprint is remarkably strong at is adding innovations to both our new and familiar game families, keeping things fresh but not roaming too far away from our core values.
A big upcoming release is Genie Jackpots: Big Spin Frenzy™. It features the return of our classic player-favourite wish maker and the Cave of Wonders where there are a host of new features and gameplay upgrades to a familiar popular franchise.
As always, we’ve got other major releases up our sleeve for the rest of the year but we’ll have to wait until a little nearer the time before we can reveal anything further!
