If you delve into the silver screen, you’ll see different universes cropping up throughout different franchises; the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Extended Universe, and even Godzilla and King Kong have the Monsterverse.
Earlier this month, Spinomenal shared its Universe vision, a project that it stated will allow players to “immerse themselves” in the company’s world where characters from separate series will coexist.
Taking SlotBeats on a tour of this new dimension was Nir Ronen, Spinomenal’s Chief Commercial and Operation Officer, who stated the company’s Universe will have “many layers”.
SlotBeats: You’ve just announced your Spinomenal universe. Can you expand what this is?
Nir Ronen: The Spinomenal Universe is our brand new product concept and strategy that is an industry-first for the igaming industry. This Universe concept allows us to introduce a new portfolio of products that will include fresh games, tools and features all designed to enhance players’ experiences. On top of this is our tournament mechanism that is packed with promotions.
The Spinomenal Universe is a shared “reality” in which all the game series exist. Each series of games will follow their separate storyline, for example the series Lucky Jack’s Adventures is telling the story of an explorer embarking on various adventures, while Majestic Beasts conveys the story of great animals roaming through their natural kingdoms.
Our Universe opens up a world where a player can be enjoying Lucky Jack Lost Jungle and trigger a feature in which a letter is sent to you. Within the letter is an invite and a flight ticket to travel to the African Savanna where you must locate a lost relic. If you choose to accept the invite, your live game will seamlessly transform into a new version that is bolstered with 10 free spins. This mechanic works across multiple game series to bring in varying themes which are all intertwined and ultimately decided on by the player – they control their own destiny.
There is scope to give the player a few options to choose where to go next with Lucky Jack, what would be the nature of his next adventure and the games will respond accordingly. Another advantage of Spinomenal’s Universe is that players who are fans of Majestic King, can now play Majestic King Sunset, a new game in the Majestic Beasts series.
In this game players will enjoy many of the mechanics they love from Majestic King while the scenario of the game has been changed and as we refreshed all the art to tell a new story.
Our roadmap is nearing the stage where we will introduce game lobbies for each series and also for the Universe itself, where the players can dive in and quickly take a tour in the Universe without having to go back to the main casino lobby and wait for games to load.
SB: What made you decide to create a universe for all your present, and future, titles?
NR: Creativity is an organic process at Spinomenal and we rarely actually schedule a creative meeting for the team. These ideas are born on the fly. I can spend the entire day with lawyers and accountants, and then be called into an immediate product meeting because someone has had an idea.
Spinomenal managers have very strong relationships with one another, we are very close friends and sometimes an idea will arrive while outside the work environment. You never really know how the idea came about or who did what as we do everything together.
So the concept sprung from an off-the-cuff suggestion, because we had too many ideas and it was hard to arrange, but in each product meeting it became clearer that all our ideas have a binding logic, and some of our games and other products began to connect to one another. This is what inspired us to bring the Universe to existence.
We are not going to include all of our games in the Universe, it doesn’t make any sense to have narrative-lacking games like fruits series within the concept.
In some aspects the Universe idea was already infused within Spinomenal’s thinking. Our “Easter Egg” cameo has some Universe commonalities as its present in one game, but also carries across to others.
Our Saint Patricks games depict the story of the Patricks with the games Lucky Mr. Patrick, Lucky Mrs. Patrick who eventually go on to get married, have kids and then appear in the last game of the series – Patrick’s Collection.
SB: How will you decide on who meets who in your universe?
NR: We’ll continue with the same Spinomenal creative philosophy and work together until we all feel equally enlightened by an idea that we can then put into practice. The beauty of the concept is in its foundation and that leaves our imagination and tech expertise to guide the next chapter.
What was important for us was to create a playground in which everything is possible, and from here, we can go crazy.
SB: How will your universe begin? What are the first few titles in the pipeline?
NR: Despite our obvious enthusiasm for the Spinomenal Universe, it’s vital for our players to be gently introduced to the idea as many of our players already love what they have become accustomed to. Our players are not used to this kind of concept and the last thing we want is for them to be confused and feel uncomfortable playing their favourite Spinomenal games.
To ensure a smooth launch that maximises interest, we’ll be introducing the Spinomenal Universe very carefully and make the in-game amends step by step – with clear communications.
On May 2nd we launched a tournament with four rounds, in each round we introduced a new series of games – Demi Gods Series, Lucky Jack’s Adventures, Majestic Beasts and Wolf Pack.
SB: How will players be able to keep up with your universe?
NR: The Spinomenal Universe will have many layers, some of those can also be viewed as stand alone features that players can enjoy even if they just want to play slots without a complex narrative – so all they have to do is to play our games and maybe look at the site’s banners once in a while.
We will make sure the players are made aware of any adjustments within the Universe through our market-leading CRM processes. Our players tell us what their preferences are through game behaviour and we use that precise data to interact with our community on a deep level, on whatever touchpoint they prefer.
An ongoing challenge is finding the perfect balance between communicating with players in a meaningful manner without being too overbearing. There will always be our classical players who love the original Spinomenal games and for these we’ll be sure to disable any communication around the Universe concept.
SB: What are your expectations for your universe?
NR: We have high expectations for the Spinomenal Universe, but are realistic about the time it might take to become fully adopted by players and operators. We’re also taking a considered approach about how we introduce the Universe concept to avoid players becoming confused or frustrated with changes to the games they have grown to adore. Our plan is to run with the Spinomenal Universe for the long term and to add layers on a monthly basis.
The Universe will also drive innovation internally within our own studio as we explore new ideas and the best way to deliver these. It will be a framework for ideas and plans, something that directs our way of thinking and helps us take abstract ideas into execution.
Over the last four years Spinomenal has enjoyed very strong growth that has carried the business from a medium sized studio to an industry giant with hundreds of products and thousands of clients. To maintain this momentum, we need to remain agile and be able to adapt quickly and this is where the Spinomenal Universe will be the catalyst for the next hugely exciting chapter in our business growth strategy.
