Evoplay Entertainment CEO: New Apple guidelines risk killing the market

As player behaviours consistently evolve to adapt to new technologies, game developers must keep on their toes to be able to adapt their offerings and stay relevant. They also face setbacks in meeting new guidelines (Apple’s App Store comes to mind) and assessing whether some technologies are a fad or are here to stay and worth investing in.

3D slots supplier Evoplay Entertainment has approached the challenge with a new wave of slot game, offering a wholly immersive experience via 3D visuals. EGR Technology sits down with CEO Alexander Levchenko to discuss where the latest innovations in technology lie and how the industry is evolving in light of these.

EGR Technology: Congratulations on being shortlisted for Innovation in Mobile award at this week’s EGR B2B Awards, how dominant do you see mobile becoming in the egaming space?

Alexander Levchenko (AL): Thank you! It’s a great honour to be shortlisted and considered by the EGR awards panel.

To understand the emergence of mobile in the egaming space, we can look back at the development of the computer and the tech behind it to see how mobile has developed. It goes without saying that the evolution of the internet has powered the emergence of egaming and, until recently, the PC was the only channel available to access it.

With smartphones, that’s all changed. The flexibility means that mobile is by far becoming the preferred channel. The emergence of mobile in markets outside Europe, such as India, Africa and Latam has a whole new level of dominance – having bypassed desktop entirely as part of its tech jump and going straight to mobile. With these markets becoming increasingly important in terms of global influence in the industry, we see that continuing.

EGR Technology: Considering Apple’s now hardline approach to rejecting HTML5 games in RMG apps, how is the industry (particularly from a game development perspective) to move past this and work around app rejections?

AL: From what we’ve heard – this update risks killing the market for egaming apps on the iOS platform. It’s technically impossible to create a native app of the casino with an integrated portfolio of games from different providers. We understand the reason behind Apple’s decision, and their desire to provide high quality solutions, and while this change will be crucial to bringing high quality content to market, it definitely won’t be without its casualties. As to how we move past this and work around app rejections, I have every confidence there will be a raft of new solutions soon enough. As always with tech, challenges are there to be overcome.

EGR Technology: Do you see any difference in the demand for tech across different global markets? How do you adapt to different trends? What are the tech challenges in taking such an approach?

AL: There are three crucial areas to consider here regarding the state of the market, and how it influences the player’s behaviour: desktop version, type of smartphone and internet speed. In our development we aim for a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

When it comes to developing the slot there’s a raft of tech challenges that need to be tackled. The usage of complex polygonal modelling is one, as well as resource-intensive animation requiring the correct optimisation for smartphone that can suit multiple devices.

To be able to satisfy markets with slower internet, we also need to reduce the memory requirements (the weight) – which means that we need to ensure every animation, 3D model and graphic is optimised. We also add the option for HD mode, so we can be sure that users with a new smartphone model can enjoy our graphics without alienating the players with older models and compromising game time due to battery life.

In terms of trends, when creating a desktop version, we keep in mind that much of the new generation of players choose games based on recommendations from streaming platforms YouTube or Twitch – which are becoming increasingly influential. Players broadcast their games live, communicate with viewers and share the experience, therefore the quality of the broadcasted desktop version needs to be of the same quality as a mobile version to ensure retention, and this can only be done by ensuring that the game provided works across all platforms.

EGR Technology: Do you think the likes of VR and other new gaming technologies are here to stay?

AL: We can see that there is a huge demand for VR experiences, and there is no question of the fantastic potential it has to offer. However, there is simply not enough hardware to fully support its mainstream use at this point in time. That will happen soon enough though – we can compare this process to the development of the PC in pocket form. Historically, the first large devices produced had almost no functions and could be used only for very specific actions.

Fast forward to today and we see that a modern smartphone or tablet can fully replace the need for a laptop. VR/AR is at that same original point when everyone wants to explore its functions, but the technology is just not yet ready to satisfy demand.

While I think it’s dangerous to gaze into the crystal ball of the future too much, I also think smartwatches as a channel of delivery will definitely play an exciting role in the future.

 EGR Technology: What is your general outlook for egaming technology in 2019?

 AL: 2019 and 2020 will begin to usher in fundamental change as we move into the era of high-quality content. The main driver behind this will be the advancement of smartphones; both for developed and emerging markets.

For us as content providers this will be a fantastic challenge. The industry’s largest providers will have to review their pipelines to decrease the number of slots produced – as demand for flat, 2D slots will drop exponentially as with the increasing expectations of a new generation. In my view, the market is already overloaded, and if you want to stand out, you need to make sure you offer something special, and this expectation will only continue to increase as tech advances.

EGR Technology: When will we move onto a new channel in egaming? Mobile will surely dominate for a while but some are suggesting voice assistants and AR/VR to be the next phases.

 AL: Voice assistants will never become more important than the visual channel in egaming, but we need to understand the crucial difference of both. Of course, voice assistants can be important in everyday life as they minimise dislocation and allow greater convenience while focusing on other tasks. However, with egaming it’s the opposite – if you want to switch off from the real world and immerse yourself into the gaming world; voice assistance isn’t going to be part of that.

While I think it’s dangerous to gaze into the crystal ball of the future too much, I also think smartwatches as a channel of delivery will definitely play an exciting role in the future.

EGR Technology: You developed some of the industry’s first 3D slots for mobile, what was the principle driver behind this development?

 AL: In short – trends. The new generation of players demand a more immersive gaming experience and expect the industry to deliver.  We’ve always been passionate about tech and could see the direction the gaming market was going, in particular the need for 3D. At that time there were no exciting products that could correspond to the new tech principles and behaviour patterns emerging, so we created the proof of concept for the industry’s first 3D slot.

EGR Technology: Other slots suppliers have made similar claims about developing the initial 3D offerings, what are the main differences between 2D and 3D games? 

 AL: It’s an interesting subject. Most game providers claim to develop both 3D and 2D slots. But in reality they take a 3D model, cut an object out and insert a 2D screenshot in a flat model.

In 2D games, the principles of creating perspectives are used to reproduce the illusion of space, whereas in 3D format the viewer immediately picks up the real proportions of objects and their location in the game’s space – all just by looking at the screen. The atmosphere created by 3D is also easily noticeable, it gives the feeling of a magic world surrounding the player and responds to moves and actions, making the player feel part of the slot.

EGR Technology: What’s unique about your offering versus other similar products in the space?

AL: Reverting to standard 2D, we’re two steps ahead of other developers. Our slots are full HD on mobile, offering a high-quality image resolution (almost four times higher than most) and yet occupy around 10 times less space than similar products on the market. Additionally, we add the special effect of parallax – the seamless merging of the background in line with what the player sees. For example, in our E.T. slot, which is only 2.2MB on mobile, when players rotate their phone, the background in the game automatically responds by moving according to the angle of the user’s view.

Dedication to the user experience is also a very important development stage – and the interaction between the user and slot is essential. As well as being the first to harness some of the latest development tech from outside the industry such as our ‘swipe’ functions which enables the user to change bets or spin via an intuitive swipe, we also offer the ‘fast skip’ for players who prefer to cut out in-play events or additional game steps. For us, it’s important to both satisfy players desired speed of play as well as achieving that balancing act between quickened play and maintaining the original aesthetics of the slot.

Alexander Levchenko, CEO, Evoplay Entertainment