The Question and Answer sessions keep coming here at Demoslot, and we are delighted to be joined by Kristian Hassall today, who is the Commercial Manager at Blue Guru Games. We talk about all things slots and find out more information about the newly formed studio and what the future holds for them.
Thanks for joining us today. Before we get started could you tell us your job title and a brief description of what your role is at Blue Guru Games?
I’m Kris and I work within the marketing and commercial teams; I also take the lead along with our audio partners on in-game music and sound effects which is a key component of all Blue Guru games.
Blue Guru Games was founded in 2021, but what was the driving force and inspiration behind the group being created? And how did you come up with the name for your brand?
The brand name and identity were important for us as it coveys so much at-a-glance. The driver behind the company was to explore our combined love of storytelling, encompassing mythology, history, spirituality, and folktales from around the world – all rich hunting grounds for game themes. The Guru signifies a lot of that and embodies the tradition of a friendly sage imparting stories and knowledge.
Developing online slots is certainly a competitive market, how have you found things so far? And what is it that you can offer players that will help you to rise above any potential rivals in the industry?
It is an increasingly competitive landscape and sadly a lot of fledgling studios fail. We think that our brand and theme choices will resonate with a lot of players. Of course, it isn’t going to be universally embraced but there is always an audience for great stories well told.
We’ve enjoyed spinning the reels on all of your releases to date and found your latest slot Treasure of Tengshe a whole lot of fun to play. How was that game received by players?
Thanks for that! We’re getting into our stride and it takes a while to really imprint your ethos onto games but we’re moving closer towards that with every release. Treasure of Tengshe is a really fun bonus round and is extremely exciting when the dragon grows to cover the reels with wilds. It was the first of many Chinese themes that we’ll cover. It went down well with players and it gave us a lot of feedback to take into future titles.
And what has been your most successful title so far?
It varies by region, we were absolutely thrilled to see that the Nemean Lion was so well received in Greece, its cultural home. That was a real high point for us.
The world of iGaming and technology, in general, is constantly evolving, with new creations such as the Metaverse for example. What do you see as the future for iGaming and where do you think Blue Guru Games will fit into the industry as it progresses?
I think that the Metaverse will change everything when it comes to entertainment, and indeed life. I don’t foresee any major shifts in the way people experience casino gaming though – it’s been pretty much as is for 100s of years and slots have changed little beyond the superficial in decades. We’ve seen a number of initiatives come and go, AR, VR, 3D and none have gained real traction because they don’t enhance the fundamental experience or emotion of the game in a meaningful way.
I know this is a difficult question but it’s one that we always like to ask in our game provider interviews. If you had to choose just one slot as a favourite from your portfolio what would it be and why?
Springheeled Jack (released October 25th via Relax) has a special place in our hearts as it came from a conversation we were having in the office about myths and stories from our childhood. We hope we did that story justice and it inspires people to further reading and exploration of the topic– that’s what gives us the biggest sense of satisfaction.
Finally, both ourselves and our readers enjoy a good teaser. Do you have any exciting titles planned for the remainder of this year that you could share with us?
We have a cracking story in our upcoming December game Napoleon Vs Rabbits. It’s one of those great historical farces and tells the true story of Napoleon and his generals being forced to flee from an army of rabbits. We’ve taken a new approach with the graphics and style of that one too in an effort to bring the story to life.