Shalva Bukia: “True innovation is hard in terms of concept, execution and the risk involved” 

Casino Guru News has had the opportunity to catch up with Spribe, a studio that develops innovative products intended for the iGaming industry. Spribe Chief Product Officer Shalva Bukia has walked us through how the company has been engaging with Gen Y and Z demographics, the importance of catering to younger generations' preferences, and the success of games such as Aviator. Bukia remarked that true innovation is a risky and challenging endeavor, but one that is worth pursuing nevertheless.

Q: Spribe has been designed as a company that builds products that, in turn, appeal to Generation Y. Taking stock of your successes so far, do you think you have been able to deliver on this promise?

A: Absolutely. Aviator, our flagship crash game, has taken the world by storm and secured the title of the number one crash game with an impressive ten million active players per month. A substantial portion of these players come from the Gen Y and Z demographic. The reason for this popularity is undoubtedly the unique and immersive experience that the game provides.

As a game development company, we understand the importance of providing an experience that caters to the needs and preferences of younger generations. To achieve this, we focus on creating a familiar experience for Gen Y and Z, with a simplistic UI and a strong emphasis on social interaction. This approach has been incredibly successful, as evidenced by the popularity of Aviator and our other games.

Aviator's multiplayer and social aspects have contributed significantly to its success. Players can engage in real-time competition with their friends and watch their scores climb up the leaderboard. Additionally, the in-game chat feature allows players to communicate with each other throughout the session, adding to the social element of the game. In short, Aviator has taken off in the gaming world, and we are thrilled to have delivered an experience that resonates with our target audience.

Q: This year is bound to be one of the busiest for the iGaming industry. We have been keeping an eye on your Aviator product, which is now an industry-recognized game. How big a part will Aviator play in your 2023 strategy?

A: You can’t take your foot off the gas if you want to continue with the success you have achieved, and this is certainly the case with Aviator. We are always looking at ways to improve the game and the experience offered to players – we recently updated the UI and made the game a little faster and have additional tweaks in the pipeline over the coming year. We have also been working hard on a suite of engagement tools that operators can use to deliver more value to those playing Aviator and to ultimately maximise the revenue potential the game provides. This is in the final stages of development and will be hitting the market shortly.

Q: Can we talk about your upcoming products this year? We understand that poker is going to be one of those new content gems we all have to look forward to. How is your poker game going to be special?

A: Our poker product has been available for a couple of years now and has already proven to be hugely popular with players at big-name brands such as Adjarabet. It’s had a recent update, and this has really helped our operator partners ramp up GGR from the vertical with some seeing revenues increase by 4x compared to the GGR being generated with their previous provider.

What makes our poker client so special? Well, it’s one of the most advanced solutions in the market with a state-of-the-art tournament module and engagement features such as missions and personalised offers and rewards. As with all our games, it’s been designed to be played on mobile from the get-go.

Q: What other games will be featured as part of your portfolio over the coming months, and do you see them as important additions measurable to Aviator’s success and impact?

A: We are really excited to release our latest Turbo Game, Balloon. It has some similarities to Aviator in terms of the mechanics and the gameplay, but is single-player. This is a great-looking game that can be played on pretty much any mobile device, so we expect it to appeal to a broad audience. When you have a title that has enjoyed the success that Aviator has had, it can be difficult to come up with another game that is just as popular. Of course, we are always trying to improve on the success of Aviator and have some surprises in the bag throughout the year.

Q: How fast do you think other companies are catching up to providing consumers with out-of-the-box and innovative content and gaming products?

A: Not fast enough. Everyone claims to be innovative, but true innovation is hard in terms of concepts, execution and the risk involved. That’s why so few ideas actually go on to be widely successful. That said, there is always room to improve on what is currently in the market, especially as players are demanding ever more engaging and interactive experiences.

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