Having led creative and product teams at IGT PlayDigital, iSoftBet and ESA Gaming, which habit or mindset from those roles helps you most now as you shape Booming’s games roadmap?
The most valuable habit I’ve carried forward is treating creativity and product discipline as two sides of the same coin. At every studio team I’ve led, the best games came from teams that were inspired by strong ideas but grounded in data, delivery realities and player behaviour. At Booming, that mindset helps us be ambitious without losing focus, every feature has to earn its place, both creatively and commercially.
When you describe Booming’s next phase as focused on scale, diversification and depth, what does that actually mean for the kinds of games players will see in 2026 and beyond?
In practical terms, it means players will see a broader mix of experiences without losing the Booming identity. Scale allows us to release more consistently, diversification lets us explore different mechanics, themes and volatility profiles, and depth ensures those games don’t feel disposable. Instead of a “one-size-fits-all” approach, we’re building a portfolio where different player motivations are clearly catered for.
As your roadmap moves from roughly three to up to five new titles a month, what makes you decide that a concept should become a “premium flagship” rather than a strong supporting title?
A flagship title for us, is one where everything aligns: the mechanics have a clear long term appeal, the math supports player retention, and the theme has genuine brand potential. These are the games we expect operators to lead with and hope to promote heavily. Supporting titles are still high quality, but flagships are designed to define a key point of the roadmap rather than simply fill it for release cadence sake.
Given how well Buffalo Hold and Win 10,000 and Cash Pig 2 have performed across markets, what have the data and player feedback taught you about how behaviour is evolving right now?
Since the market is highly competitive with so many different providers and game releases, players are becoming more selective but also more engaged. They gravitate towards familiar mechanics, but they expect meaningful progression, clear goals and the feeling that big moments are always within reach. Research shows that when volatility is communicated clearly and features are intuitive, players are willing to stay longer and explore deeper.
With Shields of Gold: Valkyrie Hold and Win combining Cash Collect, Hold & Win, Wild Transform and a dual Free Spins choice, what was the core design brief and which single tweak, in your view, makes it feel “Booming” instead of just another Norse slot?
The core brief was combining game narrative and game features in a meaningful way—offering multiple mechanics which made sense both from a narrative and player intuition without cognitive overload. The single tweak that makes it feel distinctly Booming is how we took a basis of player proven mechanics and made small additions to how those are delivered; the Cash Collect is a common feature but the way it was delivered whilst keeping it fully in the narrative of the game. Other notable tweaks would be the Free Spins, offering player choice that isn’t just cosmetic; it meaningfully changes the session flow and risk profile, giving players ownership over how they engage with the game.
When you build something like Thunder Eagle Hold and Win Extreme 10,000 with multiple grids and a 10,000x Grand Prize, how do you keep the experience readable and fun instead of overwhelming for players?
Clarity and understanding always comes first. We introduce complexity gradually, use strong visual hierarchy, and ensure every new element has a clear purpose. Even in feature rich games, the player should always understand what just happened and what could happen next. If that’s not the case, the feature doesn’t survive the design review. Everything must make sense and educate the player through play without relying on tutorials or paytables.
Since you often say you don’t need to reinvent the wheel but rather iterate on mechanics players already love, how do you judge whether a new feature is real evolution or just one more layer on an already busy game?
A feature is real evolution if it changes player decision or emotional pacing. If it only adds more animations, modifiers or numbers without affecting how the player thinks or feels, it’s probably just extra noise. Additions have to be meaningful in both a gameplay and emotional aspect. We regularly remove features during development if they don’t meaningfully improve engagement or clarity.
As Booming expands across Europe, Africa and local projects like the Durban horse race slot with Hollywood Bets, what is the first thing you usually adapt for a specific region: the theme, the math profile, the pacing of features, or something else entirely?
Math profiles, mechanics, bet options and pacing usually come first. Themes matter, but if the rhythm of wins, mechanic type, feature frequency and volatility don’t align with local preferences, the game won’t perform. Once that foundation is right, visual theming and cultural references become much more impactful and work in sync as a package. We are extremely data driven and this usually gives us our first indications on what works and what doesn't for each specific market.
Now that you’re preparing Booming’s first crash game in a crowded vertical, which core design principle are you relying on to make sure it doesn’t feel like just another multiplier graph?
Since we are only now dipping our toes in the water for this game type, we wanted to rely on the basics for our first game. We could have taken an “all singing, all dancing” approach but we wanted to nail the basics; clear gameplay that provides transparency under pressure. Players need to trust what they’re seeing, especially in fast, quick round formats. Every visual cue, sound and timing element is designed to reinforce fairness, clarity and anticipation rather than distraction. We will look to now build on this and other similar verticals in the near future so this is only the start for us.
If you had to give operators one quotable line that sums up your philosophy for this first crash release, how would you complete the sentence “A Booming crash game should feel like…”?
“A Booming crash game should feel like controlled tension—simple to understand, hard to walk away from.”
Looking at your upcoming roadmap, which unreleased Booming title do you think our readers should keep on their radar, and why that one in particular?
Without giving too much away, we have our new Ultra Buffalo Hold and Win title that pushes the game series further than we’ve ever done before while staying accessible. It’s a great example of where Booming is heading—familiar at first glance, but deeper and more rewarding the longer you play.
This interview was authored by Andrei Vlaicu, with special thanks to Craig Asling for his invaluable contribution to the creation of this piece.
