Reflex Gaming has long been recognised for delivering high-quality slot games, and their collaboration with Yggdrasil’s YG Masters Program has significantly expanded their reach, making their titles available on more platforms than ever before. With the integration of Yggdrasil’s innovative GEM (Game Engagement Mechanics) portfolio, Reflex Gaming continues to enhance the player experience with cutting-edge features and engaging gameplay.
Today, Dailyspin.it have the privilege of speaking with Mat Ingram, Chief Product Officer at Reflex Gaming. Join us as we delve into their impressive slot portfolio, explore their development process, and also see what the future holds.
To start, could you provide us with an overview of the company and its history so far?
We proudly marked our 20-year anniversary this year, having been founded in 2004! As part of the Dransfields Group, established in 1947, we’re built on a legacy of industry expertise and innovation.
Historically, the vast majority of our business has been in land-based sectors in the UK, The Netherlands and other territories in Europe. Our HQ is a 28,000 sq.ft. manufacturing facility in Newark, UK from which we distribute our gaming machines to our customers.
The last 5 years have seen us rapidly grow our online business, mainly via our distribution partners, Yggdrasil Gaming. In 2025, we are set to make some significant investment in people and technology to turbocharge this growth.
Your slot portfolio includes both land-based and online slots. Could you explain the key differences between the two formats? Additionally, when releasing a new slot, is it possible to launch it simultaneously for both land-based and online platforms, or are there specific distinctions in the release process?
The two formats are quite different technologically and mathematically. The games are written in different languages for different target hardware, and the maths are necessarily different to account for regulations in stakes and prizes.
While we can’t make games identical across channels, we ensure the “flavour” of each title is preserved when porting from one platform to another. For example, a volatile online slot remains just as thrilling and volatile when adapted for our retail channels.
Aesthetically, online players require a more sophisticated approach, even on more traditional-themed games such as fruit, and whilst this can sometimes work in retail, it doesn’t necessarily work in all categories of land-based gaming, so tweaks are often required. We can, and sometimes do, launch simultaneously across retail and online, but this only really adds significant value when partnering with an operator that has operations in both sectors. We usually release to one channel first, and if the game is successful, we port it quickly to the other channel. This means that there is already brand awareness when the game launches onto the second channel. Our data reveals that launching the online version first is more effective, as it attracts significantly more brand attention to the game before the land-based version is released.
Could you walk us through the process of creating a new slot, from the initial concept to its completion?
I have a team of highly and widely experienced Senior Game Producers, who come up with innovative designs that balance commercial risk with new ideas. This same team produces games for online and land-based, we’re able to design games that will work in both sectors OR will be focused on one sector or the other. We have weekly meetings where we discuss trends, feedback from live games, data analysis, portfolio gaps and competitor content, and all of this along with our own innovation feeds into the design process.
Once a game specification has been created, it is added into the roadmap and resources are allocated. The game implementation process varies greatly from land-based to online but in essence the same tasks are performed, and once the game is at a suitably playable stage, the Game Producer can then start to play and get a feel for whether the first draft of maths works (or not), and whether any further tweaks are required. The final stage of the process is QA. We have some hugely experienced game QA staff who don’t just tick boxes on a Test Script but actively add to the design, playability, and robustness of every title. The whole team pulls together to create something wonderful!
Among all the slots you’ve developed, do you have any personal favorites? Perhaps you could share a top three and explain what makes them stand out to you.
We have a large portfolio of games so picking a winner is tough! On the land-based side we have games that are 10 years old and still perform amazingly well. You have to love games that do that, our players obviously love them too! In my opinion, our games are getting better and better, both in the online and the land-based sectors.
Our recent games that use our Big Game Fishing brand have all been massively successful for us in all sectors: so much so that we have 2 games scheduled for 2025 in our land-based and online roadmaps. I also have a soft spot for our fruit themed games which do so well for us in land-based venues in the UK and The Netherlands and beyond, and which also are amongst our best performers online. With a fruit game, as a game designer, you have nowhere to hide. You can’t blind players with amazing graphics or bizarre themes. The strength of the games have to be in the mechanisms and the maths, and Reflex do that stuff so very well.
How do you work with “Responsible Gambling,” ensuring players have a safe and enjoyable gaming experience while promoting healthy gambling habits?
We design our games with this in mind. We obviously follow the UK Game Design Codes of Conduct both for online and land-based games. Indeed, I was chair of the committee that pulled the land-based Code together. Of course, a large part of this area needs to be conducted and managed by the B2C operator as they will have the direct relationship with the player, but from a B2B supplier perspective we think we do what we can to make our games fair, transparent and not encourage players to play in ways that could cause harm.
I feel that we, as an industry, and this includes regulators, are still not in possession of the explanations for why some people come to harm. There is much talk of fines, levies and more regulation, but none of these really seems to get to the nub of the problems whatever they are. These measures are either post-event or allegedly preventative but without any evidence that they do prevent anything. So, I would like to see more research done in this area – maybe the new levy planned for the UK will help in this regard.
What can we look forward to from Reflex Gaming in 2025? Could you share some insights into your future plans?
We have BIG plans for 2025. We are expanding our teams to include more development staff in order to increase capacity but we are also bringing in people at a senior level to really nurture the relationships with our customers and create a much better interface between market and development. We have done this for the land-based sector by bringing in Mark Purdy, Business Development Director who is already having a significant effect on our retail activities, and we will shortly be announcing a similar hire on the online side.
For land-based, there are interesting developments that are already starting to take shape which will see our penetration into pubs, AGC and Bingo in the UK step up. We also have a couple of large and exciting European projects underway which will come to fruition during 2025.
In the online channel, we have increased our throughput via Yggdrasil for 2025, and with the support of James and the wonderful team there, we will release 12 games in 2025 via that route.
We will also look to ramp up our activities in the US and hope to build on the foundations that we have laid there in the last year. We have some exciting new global partners planned for the near future and will be announcing some of those very soon! The game roadmap is looking stella, thanks to my amazing team, and I think 2025 will shape up to be our best year yet!
