Inside Asian Gaming

IAG OCT 2021年10月 亞博匯 38 Agreat studio is one that understands both players and the individual markets that a game is going to be released into. They must treat each market equally in order to create an eclectic portfolio of products. Most important of all is that the games they make are made for the players. They must provide real win opportunities in a fair way while also ensuring each game is both easily understandable and identifiable. The most important aspect is getting the balance right between the expectations of players and the expectations of the operator. Generally, getting the player side right is the primary driver, however we do have to sell the games to casinos, so they need to fit the operators’ needs too. Critical in this equation is investing time and effort to understand the market and the way that players think, anticipating what they will want next. Collaboration is the underpinning of any great studio, as building a game is not a solo project. Within IGT’s studios there are hundreds of people developing and so we need to work effectively and collaborate to develop and deliver the great games that will change the industry. That is a very difficult question to answer because there are so many different types of studios, but the best studios I’ve seen are the ones that are attuned to the market. They are in the market, playing the games, attuned to the players and listening to the customers, then taking that back and working on games through that lens. That’s interesting because studios kind of have to look ahead of the market, so these studios are almost future-casting when they are developing these games. The Elements studio that created the perceived persistence pot and “88 Fortunes”, that studio is not only based out of Sydney but Qin You is also from China and has the Qingdao studio, so you have a studio in China working on Asia-Pacific games. That allows us to really understand the local culture across Asia-Pacific. COVER STORY What makes a great game designer or game design studio?