VFX What goes into developing an online slot? -

What goes into developing an online slot?

Most people will have heard of slot games and a lot of people will have played them too. They’re huge business in an industry that’s worth trillions. When it comes to online casinos, you’ll be hard pushed to find any worth their salt, that don’t offer a selection of slot games for its visitors to enjoy. Nowadays slot games come with action packed game play, stunning visuals and animations as well as impressive audio. The animations in Rainbow Riches are a prime example of this but what goes into developing an online slot?

It’s far from a simple process developing an online slot that is ready to hit the mass market. There are many stages that have to take place before the final product is ready for people to actually play. There has to be a reason and a target for creating the game in the first place, then there’s the research that goes into finding out whether or not it’s possible and whether it’s likely to be a success. After that comes the actual planning and development stage before the final design is produced and then released.

The whole process usually takes around a year from going from being an idea to being released into the public domain for use. There are numerous people involved too, usually around a dozen. There’s the game designer, the creative team and front-end developers to name just a few, so it’s a highly complex process to be involved with from start to finish. Every game produced is different but certain mechanics and frameworks are transferred over to streamline the creation of a new product.

So the first step is always to try and come up with an initial concept that is discussed at length before the concept becomes set in stone for the creative team to get to work on. It’s their job to find a way to make the concept appealing to players, in order to attract them to play in the first place. The creative team will ensure that every aspect is covered, even down to the smallest detail. This includes everything from the fonts and colours used throughout each area of the game

Then it’s over to the developers who will get to work on bringing the whole project from ideas on paper to life. The developers are responsible for producing the animations that make slot games what they are. This covers the reels spinning, the background animations and of course the bonus rounds and special features. This is potentially the make or break section of creating an online slot game as it’s the animations and game play that really attract players or put them off.

Don’t forget the vital inclusion of the random number generator and the whole testing process either. The RNG is responsible for deciding the outcomes of every spin, every millisecond, of every day. It does this in real time so the results are never pre-determined meaning that every spin is fair. Once the game is tested successfully, it is then ready for release to online casinos. Its success is usually down to how well the whole process has gone but ultimately it’s the player who decides.