Kate Puteiko & Sebastian Khalighy: “We created Aztec Clusters as a game streamers would love”

We have sat down with BGaming Kate Puteiko, CMO and Casinolytics Sebastian Khalighy, Co-founder & CEO, to discuss the importance of streamers in iGaming and the promotion of casino games. Long time a force to be reckoned with, streamers are now dictating the preferences and interests of players to an extent. This has prompted Casinolytics and BGaming to come together and create a game that appeals to streamers but also leverages big data to ensure that players enjoy it just as much. Streamer and player behaviors have been factored in the creation of Aztec Clusters, which captures the best of both worlds. Puteiko and Khalighy now guide us through the creation process, the expected results, and the ultimate outcome in the interview below.

Q: Can you tell us a little more about the idea behind Aztec Clusters? Was the idea to solely create a streaming-friendly game?

BGaming: So, the idea behind Aztec Clusters was to craft a data-driven game that streamers would absolutely vibe with – you know, packed with all compelling mechanics, features, and eye-catching art that keeps them hooked. BGaming teamed up with Casinolytics, iGaming experts focused on streaming & players behaviors, tapping into their expertise in gambling streaming. Their insights helped us shape the game into something that stands out from the rest of our lineup. It's amazing what happens when two prominent companies join forces to create something exceptional!

Casinolytics: Being in the industry since 2012, the year of when Starburst was born, the industry has been eager to create the next blockbuster. Sure, we have seen a couple of blockbusters since but what we have learnt is that creating a successful slot that breaks through the noise in a saturated environment is incredibly difficult. The first casino streamers surfaced around 2015 and we have been following the streaming market since 2019, both by the data that our AI identifies, but also putting in 10,000 hours by just watching streamers.

The creative team at BGaming really took on this challenge with us and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Aztec Clusters mechanics are built on popular features among streamers with a unique twist – introducing sticky wilds with insane multipliers – which haven’t been done before in a cluster game together with the unique random dig-up feature. We wanted to use mechanics that cope with the likes of streamers, and tuned everything from sequencing, timing and overall UX to maximize the entertainment value in the game and minimize the player frustration.

Q:While creating this title, over 10,000 hours of streams were analyzed. Has the game been received well by player communities since you launched, and did you hit the mark with the rollout?

BGaming: The response to the game has been incredible among streamers since day one. It's been impressive to see one streamer after another diving into Aztec Clusters or even hitting the maxwin. Right now, over 225 gambling streamers from all corners of the globe have played the game on their streams. It's been particularly thrilling to see big names like Roshtein, CasinoDaddy, Frank Dimes, Andypsx, Syztmz, Nickmercs and many others giving it a go.

Casinolytics: Despite how much confidence you have in your knowledge you will never certainly know the outcome. Now that the game has been out for a month, we are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together with BGaming. The game has really stuck on streamers’ slot rotation and we have seen incredibly fun and entertaining content coming out of the game – both the good and bad sessions. I’m proud to say that Aztec Clusters became a hit among streamers, which have been our common goal since day one.

Q:What are the streaming worthy qualities of Aztec Clusters?

BGaming: We've learned that streamers love challenges, high risks and aim for achievable max wins. That's why we designed Aztec Clusters with a max win potential of 10,000x, playable in various modes like the base game, Wild Spins, and bonus buys. Streamers value the bonus buy option and Wild Spins for their unique gaming experience, control, and better chances of hitting significant wins. Drawing from Casinolytics’ data, we integrated sticky Wilds and multipliers, adding a fresh twist to Aztec Clusters, unlike any other cluster game.

Casinolytics: Aztec Clusters is designed to cater for the roller-coaster of feelings that streamers want to experience in a slot game to be able to create engaging and entertaining content. When we design games for streamers, and players alike, we want to see certain things in it that captures the needs of streamers. As an example, achievability, which is extremely important. You want to have certain challenges to the streamers e.g. to be able hit a max win anywhere from the game, max wins on one spins, and other fun challenges that you as a streamer want to achieve. The second one is unpredictability, whereas the game can go cold to superhot in a blitz of a second and from nowhere you get a massive win or one of the dig-up features that are all totally random. The last one is flexibility, we want to offer players the maximum potential to control the game and play it as they wish, like the different level of bonus buys or the crazy volatility wild spins or just spin the game normally with different optimized speed settings.

Q: What type of marketing did you have to resort to in order to make the game more visible? Was it just streaming?

BGaming: We ran a big 3-month promo campaign, using all sorts of marketing channels and tools. Besides streaming, we engaged both B2B and B2C target audiences. We shared stories about how the game was made, gave detailed reviews, talked about its rich in-game features, and shared what streamers and media were saying. We did interviews with BGaming and Casinolytics reps, wrote some expert articles, and sent newsletters. BGaming team aimed to cover every promotional channel possible because the game deserved widespread recognition.

Casinolytics: We have worked as executive producers in the creation of Aztec Clusters with BGaming and have not been involved in any marketing campaigns surrounding the game. Everything marketing-wise is all thanks to BGaming.

Q:How do you think Aztec Clusters may define the future of game-development, and do you reckon streaming would play a bigger role in influencing player choices of title?

BGaming: We're seeing a positive trend in game promotion through streamers, so it's likely that gambling streaming will indeed play a bigger role in influencing player choices. Aztec Clusters could set a direction for future game development, given its unique collaboration between two industry experts, BGaming and Casinolytics.

Casinolytics: I think it will definitely pave the way for others to start looking into a more data oriented approach to game development. By combining your own data with unique data like ours and putting qualitative player behavior research on top of that, I think you will have a greater chance of creating a successful game.

Millions of people watch casino streamers every month, and the most popular titles among streamers are also the titles that appear at the top of the operator lobbies around the globe – we see a strong correlation here and we know that streamers influence players a lot.

Q: Are companies not looking into this particular segment already too late, do you think?

BGaming: Today, streamers are a big deal in iGaming and can be a handy tool for promotion. Every company decides what's most suitable for its promotion and picks its own path. BGaming reckons it's important to try out all the marketing channels to see what works for you and what doesn't. So, if a brand hasn't thought about tapping into gambling streamers yet, it's never too late to start checking it out.

Casinolytics: Streamers have been playing a key role in the way products are displayed to a wider audience for many years, but in the most recent years it’s become more of an active part of companies commercial and marketing strategies. I don’t think it’s too late – just make sure to have a product-market-fit and explore the waters. And also, it’s never too late to start watching streamers – they provide much more valuable information than you think in terms of player behavior and overall user experience.

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