Craig Asling: "Players want an experience they can understand quickly"

In this exclusive Casino Guru News interview, Craig Asling, Booming Games' Director of Games, talks about staying competitive, what drives differentiation and how suppliers manage to stay relevant in an overly saturated market.

Q: Booming Games has had a very busy 2026 so far, delivering multiple fresh games and expanding geographically with new content. What has the reception been like from players for your latest releases?

The reception has been extremely encouraging. We have released a broad mix of games this year, from familiar Hold and Win experiences to titles that explore mechanics such as Scatter Pays, cascading wins and Max Scatter. That variety has helped us engage different player segments while learning more about what resonates in each market.

We closely monitor early engagement, retention and operator feedback, and the response has reinforced the value of balancing recognisable gameplay with a distinctive twist. Players want an experience they can understand quickly, but they also expect enough depth, entertainment and win potential to keep it exciting. That principle has been central to the strongest-performing releases in our recent portfolio.

Q: A fair share of your new releases have featured the Hold and Win and Link & Loot mechanics. How central are these mechanics to your overall performance as a gaming studio, and what kind of impact do they have on your results?

Hold and Win and Link & Loot are important parts of our portfolio because they provide clear, compelling gameplay and have demonstrated broad appeal across multiple markets. Players immediately understand the anticipation of collecting symbols, unlocking prizes and progressing towards a potentially significant reward.

However, we do not see them as formulas that can simply be repeated. Their long-term value depends on continuing to evolve them through new features, themes, prize structures and mathematical profiles. Ultra Buffalo Hold and Win, for example, expanded the familiar experience with an enhanced grid and additional features, while our Link & Loot releases have explored different ways to build momentum and excitement.

These mechanics make a meaningful contribution to engagement and portfolio performance, but they sit within a much wider strategy. We want to offer operators a genuinely diverse catalogue rather than become dependent on a single game type.

Q: Your brand has pursued growth in multiple markets, from a successful run in South Africa to your freshest efforts in Brazil. Has this geographic diversity changed how you approach game development, or has your core philosophy stayed consistent?

Our core philosophy has remained consistent: create polished, entertaining games with strong mathematics, intuitive mechanics and a clear identity. What geographic expansion has changed is the amount of local insight we bring into the development process.

Player preferences can vary considerably between markets, from themes and volatility to feature familiarity, session behaviour and the way games are discovered. South Africa has been a particularly valuable example of how local partnerships and sustained market engagement can help us understand an audience more deeply. Brazil brings its own culture, energy and strong affinity with sport and entertainment.

We do not believe localisation means simply changing a few visual elements. It means listening to operators and players, examining the data and deciding which parts of an experience should be tailored while retaining the quality and character associated with Booming Games.

Q: You launched Ronaldinho’s Streetball Bonanza during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. How has the title performed, and what did you learn from timing a release around a major real-world event?

Ronaldinho’s Streetball Bonanza received a strong initial response and benefited from the enormous global attention surrounding football during the World Cup. Ronaldinho is an authentic fit for both the occasion and the game: he represents creativity, flair and entertainment, all of which we wanted to express through the title’s visuals, soundtrack, cascading gameplay and Scatter Pays mechanic.

The launch confirmed that timing can be a powerful amplifier when the product and the event are genuinely aligned. It can increase visibility and give operators a highly relevant promotional story. At the same time, timing alone is not enough. A game still needs a strong underlying experience and an identity capable of sustaining interest once the event has ended.

One of our main takeaways was therefore to develop event-led content with longevity in mind. The World Cup provided an excellent launch platform, but Ronaldinho’s worldwide recognition and the game’s broader entertainment value give the title relevance beyond the tournament itself.

Q: What do you see as the greatest challenge in distinguishing your brand in emerging markets today, and how have you approached addressing it?

The greatest challenge is cutting through the sheer volume of content. Emerging markets offer tremendous opportunity, but they also attract intense competition. It is no longer enough to enter a market with a large catalogue and assume that distribution will automatically translate into player engagement.

Our approach is to combine product quality with meaningful localisation and strong operator relationships. We use market insight to identify the themes, mechanics and mathematical profiles most likely to resonate, while ensuring that every release still feels recognisably like a Booming Games product.

Consistency is equally important. Building a brand takes more than one successful launch; it requires a dependable release pipeline, responsive account management and a willingness to invest in the market over the long term. Ultimately, we distinguish ourselves by listening carefully, acting on what we learn and delivering games that are locally relevant without becoming generic.

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