Tell us a bit about yourself. What makes you, you; and why have you chosen to work at Neko Games?
Hello and thank you for the opportunity to share more information about our studio with your audience. My name is Sebastián Perrier, and I am one of the founders of Neko Games. Neko Games is a video bingo studio based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We specialise in creating games that transform simple bingo mechanics into fun and memorable adventures that players can understand, trust, and enjoy.
We founded Neko Games to provide players with an easy to understand game that they love. Sometimes casinos can be intimidating, so our goal was to present players with the type of game that they already love in and intuitive and immersive format.
You have an impressive video bingo portfolio, can you name the best game ever released by Neko Games?
Our best performing video bingo so far is Don Bingote, our latest game and the 4th in our portfolio. Released in November 2021, it climbed to one of the top performance spots in Spain, not just in video bingos but across all available game titles, including slots.
So far, over 100 operators and 400+ brands have launched the game globally in under 90 days. We are delighted with the performance of this title.
2021 was a challenging year for all of us. Even so, Neko Games had multiple releases. Which video bingos have been the main game releases for Neko Games?
Our first three releases were designed as a complementary trio of games that cover the main player profiles: recreational players, players looking to maximise time-on-device, and high-stake players.
Our first release, Super Showball, was launched in May 2020. Designed for recreational players who enjoy the thrill of winning, Super Showball has a mid-cost of extra balls. Additionally, the game has a jackpot during the initial draw of the game, giving recreational players a chance to win big even if they prefer not to buy extra balls. The game also includes free balls and a mystery prize feature.
Pachinko video bingo, was then released in January 2021, allowing players to buy extra balls at a very low cost. This is a game designed for time-on-device players, who are looking for long sessions of entertainment. At the same time, Pachinko showcases tonnes of extra features, including the jackpot, free ball, wild ball, and bonus levels.
Finally, the third game in our initial combo of video bingos is FU 88. Released in April 2021, FU 88 is designed for high-stakes players, where extra balls come at a premium but enable players the potential to land much bigger prizes. FU 88´s features are all present in the extra ball stage, including pot jackpot bonus, wild ball, as well as two bonuses, a level bonus and a picker bonus.
Looking to the future, what is the next big release Neko Games is planning?
We have actually just released an exciting new game, 1524 Golden Quest, inspired by the story of El Dorado. The legendary lost city of gold has beckoned generations of explorers into the uncharted jungles of South America and now, at long last, the path has been cleared with the introduction of 1524 Golden Quest!
In May, we are presented the truly legendary title, Immortal Romance in a whole new iteration. Immortal Romance video bingo is soon to be released, featuring the iconic music and imagery of the masterful game with intriguing new chapters seen in a host of bingo bonus features and jackpots. We’re all incredibly excited for players to experience these upcoming titles!
We would love to hear more about the creation process. Can you let us know which is the most exciting part of the entire process when creating a new slot?
At Neko Games, our creation process is designed to showcase the full scope of what’s possible with video bingos, including building attractive new themes and adventures, cutting-edge graphics and sounds, a mobile-first approach (both for portrait and landscape modes), different bonuses, free balls, wilds, jackpots, mysteries and many more appealing features, exciting math models, and a fully certified RNG.
Thereafter, jackpots, mystery prizes, picker games, bonus stages, free balls, wild balls, and many more features all come into play at the extra ball stage. Neko Games has purposefully embedded these into its video bingos to excite and enrich a player’s experience within a fun and familiar environment.
What about any funny stories inside, do you have something to share with us?
Well, not sure if this is very funny or not, but it is a story we always tell on how to localise gaming content for each region and market. We are very conscious of making sure our games appeal to the segment we have in mind. In that regard, Latin American countries are of course our backyard. We have created many games for this region and players like this very much. However, when we send the game texts for translations, they come with several corrections in Spanish, which is of course our mother tongue. We need to go back to the outsourced translations team – who do a great job and make our games available in over 50 languages – some words related to the games are actually said in a different way. It is funny in that we, as native speakers, would know exactly how it should be translated; but we still get the super formal correct Spanish versions back, academically correct but not how players might be used to talking on an everyday basis!
What are your hobbies?
Nice question! It is not all about work, is it? As any good Argentinean, there are three hobbies which are very typical for us. Number one, cooking barbecues with friends over weekends, enjoying good Argentinian steaks and wines. Second, we love the countryside and the Pampa, so we enjoy horseback riding a lot. And finally, as you can imagine, we are crazy about football.
And, of course we also keep doing what we do best; developing cutting-edge new video bingos with exciting themes and features to keep our players entertained! To find out what’s coming in 2022, keep an eye out on LinkedIn! That’s so much for listening.