Following its first ever slot title release at the start of this week, Slotmill has officially entered the slot content industry with Templar Treasure hitting the igaming market.
Embracing the mystery of the Knights Templar, players enter the hunt to find the legendary Templar treasure a theme stated is “unexplored.”
Designed by a “team of industry veterans’ with mobile first in mind Slotmill’s aims, according to CEO Johan Öhman is to focus on easy interfaces and high quality graphics.
SlotBeats spoke to Öhman about what SlotMills’s brings to the industry, what players can expect and what’s in the pipelines for the future.
SlotBeats: What was the thought process behind starting Slotmill? And after so many years in the industry, what inspires you to continue?
Johan Öhman: We saw a market opportunity as many existing suppliers have lost innovation, initiative and increasingly turns to re-skinning of existing game titles.
Personally a key driver is my passion for the industry and conviction that slots can be much improved – not only from a feature and graphics perspective but equally in terms of usability given that most gameplay today is done on mobile devices.
SB: Can you tell me about your first release? What inspired you to create this slot?
JO: Our first game is titled ”Templar Treasures” and is based on a Knights Templar theme set in a medieval castle.It’s a theme that I have been thinking of for quite some time and that so far is unexplored and well suited for a slot with its inherent mystique and rumours of ancient riches.
Templar Treasures has a box standard free-spin bonus with a well proven and tested feature as our key focus during the initial phase was to create a solid game client framework on top of which more complex features can be built going forward.
SB: What separates Slotmill from other companies out there?
JO: A key differentiator is our team of industry veterans that know what it takes to build great slots and that becomes obvious when you play our games.
Our game client has been designed for mobile first with controls and setting panels that are intuitive and easy to use also on small screens / mobile devices. Win presentations, near wins as well as e.g. transitions between different stages in the games are soft and polished creating an optimum player experience.
We take great care to use graphics and animations of the absolute best quality which combined with effects from one of Sweden’s top sound producers will make our games unique. Just the backdrop in Templar Treasures took infinite iterations before we had captured the right light and mood.
SB: How has the last year been in setting up Slotmill? What have been the greatest challenges in your first year, and how have you overcome them?
JO: It has been fairly straight forward as we have done the journey several times before, but nevertheless it is still surprising the amount of time it takes to get e.g. corporate structure, bank accounts, certification, licenses and a team of resources in place and operational.
We have been very fortunate to find a great team but it is a challenge to find people of the right calibre to grow our organisation however we are convinced that this will change over time when we have a couple of games released and people see what we do.
SB: Was there ever a moment where you thought your first release would never happen?
JO: No, even if we had a few set-backs during the first year with delays as a result, we never lost faith or conviction that we would reach our goals.
SB: What can players expect from Slotmill in 2020?
JO:Our aim is to have three games released by summer 2020 and going forward deliver 10 high quality games per annum.
We are extremely pleased – and humbled – to already have signed our two operators and one distributor and integrations are being finalized so our games will soon be available on the market.
SB: You’ve been in the industry for 17 years, do you still get the same excitement when releasing a new slot title? And what have been the greatest changes in the industry that you have seen during your career?
JO: Amazing how time flies! I am truly passionate about working in the online gaming industry and love every second of it. Each new title should and has to be equally exciting – if it’s not you should go back to the drawing board.
The number of games hitting the market is one key change in recent years where some suppliers now are releasing one game a week.
Needless to say that strategy is unlikely to fuel innovation but rather float the market with clones of already existing games which I find a bit sad to be honest and it was one key reason we founded Slotmill.
SB: In the long term, what are your ambitions for Slotmill?
JO: Management and ownership of Slotmill lay with three individuals and we have no external investors and no external board members which gives us complete autonomy.
The main objective is to have fun and to develop great games by pushing the envelope for what can be done. If we maintain this focus I am convinced we will provide slots that will be appreciated by the player community which in turn will enable us to become even better.
