Connor Blinman: “Gates of Hellfire offers a seriously exciting way for players to collect big prizes”

Today Casino Guru News sits down with Connor Blinman, Head of Games at Gaming Corps, to discuss the recent release of the ambitious Gates of Hellfire slot game. Featuring a unique prize-collecting mechanic and reflecting Gaming Corps’ larger commitment to innovation and creating ground-breaking products. The game will send players on a demon-slaying quest whereby they will need to land an enemy and a weapon on the reels of this visually appealing and highly thematic game, offering a seriously exciting and groundbreaking way for players to scoop up big rewards. Read the full interview with Blinman to find out more!

Q: The recently released Gates of Hellfire slot game seeks to truly elevate how we experience this traditional format – what would you say the standout features of the new game are?

We wanted to put a twist on a classic cash collect system, which is why Gates of Hellfire has a unique prize-collecting mechanic.

We aimed to have prizes on display that could only be collected if the player gathered specific weapons that would eliminate the enemies or, to put it another way, collect the prizes.

The objective is to land an enemy on the grid, while simultaneously landing a weapon to destroy that enemy.

Shotguns are the weakest weapon but will kill the lowest-valued enemy. Then, as the game progresses, players will see different types of weapons with different attributes that will cause different types of damage and have different radii of destruction that will affect the grid.

The top weapon, MFG, will obliterate everything on the grid and when it lands, the player will reap pretty big rewards.

There’s nothing quite like this on the market so Gates of Hellfire offers a seriously exciting and groundbreaking way for players to collect their prizes.

Q: The game has a bit of a video game vibe, and we love that. Why did you choose Gates of Hellfire as the title, and what motivated you to explore this particular theme and topic?

You’re right, the game is heavily influenced by our love of shoot 'em-up video games.

Gates of Hellfire was born by creatively blending the popular "Cash Collect" mechanics with this genre of video games.

We wanted to take tried and tested mechanics for the millennial generation and merge them both with nostalgic themes and an innovative take on a classic mechanic.

After we had this initial idea, we brainstormed on how the Collect mechanic would operate and quickly put together the idea of destroying enemies to win prizes.

As for the name – well, Gates of Hellfire is a kind of demonic fantasy sci-fi epic. a battle of Good vs Evil played out across a slot-machine grid.

Everyone likes a tussle between Good and Evil – the concept is everywhere, epic sci-fi sagas to futuristic adventures. The title came quickly once we decided to have this as the theme.

Q: Would you say that the focus with the game has been on gamification, and bringing the traditional slot experience closer to video gaming, for example?

People are becoming tired of the simplicity of traditional slots. They want experiences that remind them of video games or the social games they play on their phones.

There’s now a lot of influence of video games on modern slots, and Gates of Hellfire is an example of that.

It has Boss demons and futuristic weapons. The grid is divided into two parts, with an enemy section and a weapons section. Each weapon functions differently and attacks different parts of the grid. Meanwhile, the Hellbox is a special cell that can award a second strike or a health pack.

There’s so much going on, and yet it’s still recognizably a slot machine, with the same functionality as a slot, but perhaps with different reward mechanisms that will remind the player of a video game.

Q: In light of the above, do you think players appreciate this mix of traditional slot and video gaming experience?

To attract and keep players, you need to offer features that connect with them because they have so much to choose from in a saturated market.

There are different ways of doing this – for example, maybe your game has a memorable character or a compelling narrative design in the bonus feature.

We believe connecting with players is a key component of the overall strategy of creating a successful new iGaming product. That’s why we wanted to mix things up and offer them elements of more than one type of entertainment experience.

We also value animations because they’re extremely important. They’re a core part of the gameplay experience because they build suspense and are another way of capturing the player’s attention.

They help the player learn how to win and when they do win, the animations make the experience truly memorable.

We factor music and sound effects into our games at an early stage, to ensure they create an appropriate vibe. We use these elements to ensure that the slower parts are more exciting, and the exciting parts are taken to the next level.

Music and SFXs can influence your overall game pace and help keep players engaged and entertained at all times, so we value these elements of our games very highly.

Q: How would you determine if the release has been a success and what are you hoping to achieve with Gates of Hellfire?

We obviously look at the regular statistics for slots, what the player retention rate is, and what LTV and ROI the game is offering operators.

But we also value feedback very highly, from both operators and players, which we pay close attention to and take on board when it comes to planning our future releases. We hope to create a buzz among the gaming community with this game.

We’ve big plans for Gates of Hellfire and are already working on ideas for sequels and further iterations. The gates of Hell have been firmly opened and there’s no sign of them closing any time soon.

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