Jo Purvis, director of marketing and relationships at Blueprint Gaming stated ‘we’ve reverted to what Blueprint is renowned for,’ as she explained the reasoning behind the development of Rick and Morty Wubba Lubba Dub Dub.
Blueprint Gaming started the year off with huge success with the release of its Rick and Morty Megaways title which recorded the company’s ‘strongest ever launch’. Now with the conclusion of 2020 on the horizon, Blueprint looks to exit the year the same way they entered it.
On the eve of the launch, SlotBeats spoke to Purvis who explained the reasonings behind revisiting the space hoppers, the differences between their two titles and the game’s target demographic.
SlotBeats: Having first released Rick and Morty Megaways earlier this year, what’s prompted Blueprint to launch another game featuring the animated duo?
Jo Purvis: The huge success of the original release was a big factor in our decision to revisit the theme. The licence really resonated with players, just as we anticipated it would when developing the game.
The animated TV show fits perfectly with the genre of humorous slots that we create at Blueprint Gaming, giving players as much entertainment with the graphics and storyline as the mechanics itself.
We hold a great relationship with Warner Bros. Consumer Products having developed several successful releases in the past, so extending our portfolio of titles with the licence holder was always going to be a winning partnership.
SB: Tell us more about the gameplay, how does it differ from your first Rick and Morty branded slot?
JP: With our first Rick and Morty slot, the gameplay was centred on taking the Megaways format and adding some exciting free spins rounds with a Blueprint twist, such as Federation Wild Spins, but this new game has a different gameplay.
For the latest adventure of the dimension hopping duo, we’ve reverted to what Blueprint is renowned for – an action packed slot filled with in-game modifiers and bonus features, all based on classic episodes and characters from the animated series.
Our design team have done a fantastic job in adding little twists to classic features and modifiers, as well as introducing three new free spins rounds and a Big Money feature that makes great use of the licence. It’s Rickin awesome!
SB: With the release of this new title, are you looking to target a different segment of players given the change in mechanics?
JP: Seasoned slot players know what to expect from a Blueprint game now. Lots of fun and laughs during the gameplay, but overall a good gaming experience.
We’ve built our reputation on creating bonus slots which engage players on many levels. Bonus slot players are a large section of our loyal fan base, so when we have a popular brand such as Rick and Morty that features many recognisable characters and environments, it lends itself perfectly to multiple bonus rounds and modifiers.
With themes such as Rick and Morty, making use of what the brand’s fans would expect to see is just as important as making a good game. Sometimes they go hand-in-hand, as we’ve shown in previous releases including The Goonies, which is one of most successful games.
A creative rich brand and a company like ourselves who like to develop feature rich slots is a partnership that delivers a quality end product.
SB: How confident are you that this new game will match the strong levels of engagement that the first Rick and Morty game produced?
JP: We’re very confident and in our minds we’ve created the perfect sequel. There’s a traditional phrase throughout the gaming sector of taking an already successful title and ‘adding 10 per cent’.
It’s a proven formula of adding an extra feature, modifier or tweaking the hit rate and/ or win table, which gives the player that little extra without completely changing what made the first game so popular.
This is exactly how we approached the development of Rick and Morty Wubba Lubba Dub Dub. The inclusion of new bonuses and in-game modifiers will engage players in a different way to the original release, while adding a Big Money feature is always a winning method on any game.
SB: Several of your branded games have made their way into Jackpot King, such as The Goonies and Ted. Can we expect Rick and Morty Wubba Lubba Dub Dub to follow suit?
JP: Should the game prove as popular as we believe it will, then there’s a high chance Rick and Morty Wubba Lubba Dub Dub will join the Jackpot King family at some point in the future.
Adding games to Jackpot King is a great way of not only strengthening the portfolio of the progressive pot system, which is one of the most popular in iGaming to date, but also breathes new life into games which might be starting to see a downturn in popularity.
It’s well documented that there are players who only play jackpot games to seek big prizes, and we don’t want to deprive them of playing the best content from our games library just because it doesn’t incorporate our progressive pot.
The desire to add games to Jackpot King also stems from operators themselves. They know and understand how the main prize and supporting pots can attract players to their offering and boost engagement. If there’s demand from players and operators alike, then we’ll do the appropriate work to add more games to Jackpot King.
