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Tell us a bit about yourself. What makes you, you; and why have you chosen to work at ORYX Gaming?
I’m Niklas Mravlje, a Director of organizational unit games at ORYX Gaming which is part of the Bragg Gaming Group. Since the early days of my career, I’ve always been around games, in different roles, but always around games. Oryx and later Bragg has given me and our teams an environment in which we can succeed as game providers and as of lately; game makers!
You have an impressive slots portfolio, can you name the best three slots ever released by Oryx?
We do have a substantial portfolio of games! Oryx at its core is a technology company and as such, we have always provided the technology component, and our studio partners; Gamomat, Golden Hero, Kalamba, Peter & Sons, Arcadem, Givme Games and Candlebets are just some of the studios we worked with so far. I do have to note, that this is a growing list – recently we have added Blue Guru Games, Bluberi, and Sakuragate to our upcoming roadmaps, starting in Q2 2022.
The studios were always the ones that provided the creative direction to our portfolio. I’m very proud to say this is something that has recently been changing. With the introduction of our in-house studios Atomic Slot Lab and Oryx Gaming, we have also picked up the role of creative direction. Doug Fallon, our newly appointed group director of content, has been a huge inspiration and driver in this regard.
In terms of the best three releases… Gamomat is and remains a strong partner of Oryx and one of our all-time best releases is Ramses Book. A recent outstanding release we have to point out was the very first game of Atomic Slot Lab – Egyptian Magic. After that, another strong release of note is Hawaiian Dream by Golden Hero – a modern take on pachinko games, which is a testament to a strong creative direction from a studio and a great technology component to support such an ambitious project.
We love big wins, so can you please let us know the top 3 winnings ever paid by games on the Oryx network?
I could list three major wins here, and I imagine many do. But I don’t think that would really be in line with our philosophy.
Of course, we have many big wins reaching in the hundreds of thousands in terms of payout, however, our objective has always been to create games at the level of 5.000 – 10.000x max win multiplier or potential.
Recently we had this influx of games with 50.000x and even beyond. And that is problematic from two angles.
Number one is the operator’s exposure or liability. Having a game with such a high exposure limits the size of the max bet immediately and increases the operator’s concerns about the frequency surrounding the big win itself. Now given, during the initial month of the game’s release it’s, of course, hidden, as traffic on the game is high and any major win can be covered from it, but after a while, the game starts to feel like a time-bomb luring on the page itself. The game must establish a strong base audience and ensure long-term traffic to remain profitable.
The second angle, which is also the reason we as a company do not intend to significantly grow our portfolio in this direction, is the win distribution. Whenever you create a game with such a high potential, you must sacrifice some of your win potential on 100 – 200x. Meaning solid medium size wins are far and few between. Games with a max win potential between 5.000 – 10.000x allow you, as a game-maker, to create a solid sustainable win distribution, which will recurrently reward your player base, allowing them to return to your game frequently.
2021 was a challenging year for all of us. Even so, ORYX Gaming had multiple releases. Which slot takes the 2021 title of the best ORYX Gaming release?
In total, we released more than 40 games from our RGS in 2021, with the main releases of 2021 being Lava Lions and Books & Bounties from our partner studio Gamomat! 2021 was definitely a challenging year, but in the end, we exceeded we still managed to exceed expectations and deliver a solid quantity and of course quality games to our operators, as well as players!
Looking to the future, what is the next big release ORYX Gaming is planning?
2022 and beyond is where I think things get really exciting! With us adding strong new game providers like Blue Guru, Bluberi and Sakuragate, as well as opening an in-house studio, Atomic Slot Lab, we are significantly stepping up our production, our quality and most important our reach.
Oryx Gaming started out as a very German focused company but has quickly started growing its name and technology on a global level. Particularly during 2021 / 2022 where we acquired the UKCG, Greek, Ontario and Bahamas licenses. The next strong focus is the newly emerging USA market. Today we are in a position where we actively supply over 10 regulated markets with a steady roadmap of quarterly releases. But overall, we are active in more than 20 jurisdictions at any given time.
Oryx used to be a very German focused company, but during 2021 and now throughout 2022 we have and still are significantly expanding our reach. Currently, we are actively supplying over 10 regulated markets (including UK, Dutch and Sweden) – meaning between 5 – 15 games are being delivered into these markets quarterly while being able to deliver games into more than 20 jurisdictions.
This should further strengthen our player base and show the diversity of our products.
If I had to single out a release of our Q2 2022 roadmap, it would be Dreamy Genie from the Atomic slot lab! The game is structured around a strong wheel mechanic, which is aimed at retaining and rewarding the player and prolonging their experience.
In a market with hundreds of game studios, what would you say is ORYX Gaming’s biggest differentiator?
Our diversity. The games and products we offer are something that fit into every portfolio. Last year we formed our Blue Horn program. The program is aimed at our operators and is effectively extending them an entire selection of game providers and games, from which they can handpick their and their player’s favourites.
One of our core objectives is to always deliver games above the floor average. We never claim that every single game we deliver to you will be a top 10 game. What we are striving to achieve is that our games perform above the floor average every time in income and in the player experience. Especially when we talk about Atomic Slot lab, historically (landbase format), these games have a very strong longevity aspect to them. This means they captivate players and keep them coming back to the experience. Looking at the numbers of our first two releases, this aspect is proving true in the online sphere as well.
We would love to hear more about the slot creation process. Can you let us know which is the most exciting part of the entire process when creating a new slot?
It depends who you ask, I would say. There are so many roles in the game creation process, it’s a true team effort. For me, there are 2 moments really. One is the idea conception. This part is super important, but also extremely fun! Many ideas are thrown in the room, some good, some bad… But all of them are discussed.
The second moment is when the game is ready, everything starts to come together… documentation, approvals, licensing and is gearing up towards the game launch. The quiet before the storm, if you will. And then it goes into the world!
How can you tell if an online slot is going to be a hit or not?
This is something everybody in the industry is hoping for. But in reality, it’s just not possible. You can have the best data available out there, but it’s not going to be enough to 100% tell you if a game is going to be a hit or not.
We have seen games we were convinced are going to be a hit fail, and the other way around.
You follow the data, the indicators and demand to create a game. After that it gets a life of its own, and it’s the players who decide in the end really. There are of course ways you can help that, by securing great positioning and marketing, but in the end, if the game is not liked by players, it will fail.
Did you use to play slots before entering the iGaming industry? Can you share with us your biggest win on an online slot? (you don’t have to name the stake, just the multiplier and the game is more than enough)
I did. I think everybody that works with games has at least one experience like that. Unfortunately, I do not remember any special online wins from before my time in Oryx, even though there were some. However, I do remember a big one of 150x from our last visit to Las Vegas a couple of months ago.
Since Atomic Slot Lab is based there and we also draw a lot of inspiration for the online, from the land-base business, I’m sure there will be some more I can tell you about soon 🙂
What has been your biggest challenge and your most significant success in the gambling industry?
I would say, staying on top of this ever-changing industry. You could say this for any industry. One of the challenges you face is retaining your current player base while attracting a new one. It’s always a balancing act – creating something new while staying true to your existing brand.