The latest episode of Beyond the Reels sees Justin Chamberlain, CEO and Founder of HungryBear Gaming, join CasinoBeats’ Senior Reporter, James Ross, to discuss the studio’s latest multiplayer title, SlotMasters.
SlotMasters is a 5×4 reel video slot with an interactive multiplayer element. When entering a game, the lobby will place you in a battle with two other players, in which you can see their screens and even affect their gameplay.
Chamberlain recognises that multiplayer vertical slots are a recent innovation in the industry, stating: “We want to establish a multiplayer vertical. There are other studios working on multiplayer products and I do think it is one of the futures of gambling and gaming.”
Adding: “This idea of playing against other players fits very well in the space I know, the digital space, but we think it is going to lend itself very well to the retail world.
“We are always looking to innovate, there’s a lot of slots providers in the space, and a lot of content saturation in the marketplace so to stand out with a single player game is becoming harder and harder.”
It is said that “huge” challenges were faced in making the multiplayer title work, as Chamberlain noted that “a game has never been developed before where you’re seeing your window and two other players windows at the same time, seeing their spins, results and actions so there is a very complicated database and script structure that sits behind this.”
With SlotMasters multiplayer engine, players can use weapons to impact their opponents game, including being able to freeze players’ ability to spin and temporarily locking players’ ability to use weapons against others.
When describing these, Chamberlain explained that “one of the most fun ones is a bomb where in the dying seconds of the game, if you are beating me on points and I don’t want you to win then I can bomb your points back to zero.”
The interview also delves into the games’ use of seasonal updates, how titles such as Clash of Clans inspired the fantasy theme and how Hungry Bear hopes SlotMasters will be the frontrunner of a new genre in the online slots industry.
