Shane Cotter: “We are jumping with both feet into the realm of the non-traditional”

Real Dealer Studios Chief Product Officer Shane Cotter takes us on a long journey explaining the inner works and production process at one of the most innovative companies in the table games segment that relies on RNG algorithm to create a brand-new type of experience in the segment.

From launching ambitious projects starring Vinnie Jones and Rachael Bower to choosing to pursue a development ethos that breaks the mold and seeks to challenge established concepts, Real Dealer Studios has been actively looking to expand its reach and create experiences that go beyond what players expect.

The Cinematic RNG tech has had a huge role to play in shaping Real Dealer Studios’ authentic signature style and help create an environment for more ambitious projects to be realized, with more important releases on their way, expertly blending game mechanics and genres to create brand new and unchallenged products.

Q: Congratulations on the launch of Vikings Multifire Roulette. What is new in this game and why did you feel compelled to bring it to players?

Vikings Multifire Roulette is a hot, new variation of European Roulette that brings random multipliers into the mix, creating the potential to deliver massive wins. At the beginning of each round, flaming arrows shoot at a row of five shields, revealing a series of lucky numbers and their multipliers. Landing a straight-up bet on one of these numbers can pay out up to 500x. Our experience shows that roulette players absolutely love this kind of multiplier feature, so we knew that when we put it together with one of iGaming’s most tried-and-true themes we’d have a hit.

Apart from the game mechanics, the game stands out for its rich gameplay environment. That’s down to our signature Cinematic RNG production method – essentially mixing Hollywood-quality recorded video with cutting-edge game tech. It creates a realistic look and feel in a way that traditional animated RNG never could.

Q: Looking ahead, what do you reckon will be new for Real Dealer Studios in 2024 that will help further differentiate you on the market?

This year we’re moving even further away from the kinds of standard table games that the market is familiar with and we’re jumping with both feet into the realm of the non-traditional.

For example, in April we’ve got Volcano Roulette coming out. This is a steampunk-themed game where a smoking volcano can randomly spit extra balls onto the wheel to make it easier to land straight-up bets, which then trigger a bonus round with multipliers. As far as we know, this is the first multiball roulette on the scene. There’s nothing like it out there.

Another innovation we’re currently developing is the first hybrid hi-lo card title to incorporate elements of a crash game, and we have an even wilder project in the works that we’re really excited about, but not ready to announce just yet. The upshot is that in the coming months we’re going to be bringing plenty of interesting content that’ll make our operators stand out from the crowd.

Q: What has been your strongest driver of engagement and reputational growth in 2023?

Last year was huge for Real Dealer in terms of innovation and introducing new product types, and that’s definitely given us a lot to talk about with operators.

The first example was Card Chase, a series of hi-lo games that kicked off with one starring Vinnie Jones as host. We quickly followed it up with a faster-paced version that has a retro 80s look and will continue the series this year. 2023 was also marked by our dive into dealer-hosted RNG blackjack games, with several releases ultimately leading up to our first multi-hand version.

In roulette, we started creating our first sports-themed games linked with real-world sporting events to create opportunities for cross-selling. Hockey Fever Roulette, which came out just before the IIHF World Championship in May, did really well in this regard, so we followed it up with an even more elaborate rugby-themed game for the World Cup in September.

In addition to sportsbook crossovers, we also saw impressive results with our first crossover from slots, namely 9 Masks of Fire Roulette, a new game we created based on the popular slots classic. Creating a table-game adaptation that kept the feel of the original was a fun challenge, and one that paid off – this game has been going like wildfire since release.

Q: Is there a limit to your Hollywood-inspired gameplay experiences or are you only getting started?

It’s been roughly five years since we started making games using our proprietary Cinematic RNG tech, and of course, throughout this time we’ve been constantly honing it and figuring out new ways to get more out of it. What we keep discovering is that every breakthrough we have leads to two or three more interesting avenues to explore, be they better ways to present classic table games, or technical improvements, or wacky ideas for completely new products. Plus the film industry as a whole, where we take our inspiration, is constantly developing new technology as well. That can only benefit us.

So, in short, we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg in Cinematic RNG potential. Watch this space.

Q: In terms of live casino, do you think players are keen enough to embrace your outside-the-box products or do they expect to find a more traditional experience?

Our products occupy a kind of middle ground between live casino and traditional RNG, and we expect that players who usually gravitate to the RNG side are likely to flock to our products, mainly because the look and feel of the games is such a massive improvement over what they’re used to.

In terms of whether we’ll attract the live casino crowd, that’s a trickier question. Players looking for that live, social experience won’t find it with our games. On the other hand, there are live casino players who are tired of the ambient noise, lagging and errors they have to deal with from the live studios, so we expect to attract a fair share of that player base as well.

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