Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | February 2012 30 Weike still dealing with a small [mathematical] set. That’s how players come to know a game and love a game. They experience certain combinations of the game immediately. That’s part of that finite set of outcomes. To get to the stage of a successful game, how much is it about getting the maths right from the start and how much is it about tweaking the maths and the game once it’s in the market? I think having a good structure in the first place that gives a game a better chance of success is important. Often when we look at the successful patterns in games, any new game feature we come up with should adhere to those patterns. Clearly, some winning patterns are more successful than others. I think if you start with a formula with some market intelligence—that you know will do better than others— that’s the best place to start. And then you add the game iterations on top of that, which adds excitement over and above what’s been there in the past. Does Weike get access to the data from the slot operations directly run by Weike-related companies in Macau? Yes. Not only do we get to analyse the operational data, but we also get feedback from the staff. There may be product that is not top on the ranking charts, but with which one or two players have a real fascination. Looking into that is very interesting, because it can indicate to us where there may be a niche for a certain product, and where we can direct some future development. Are certain aspects of player behaviour constant across different cultures and markets? Yes, but the fundamentals of each market tend to be different. I often say to my colleagues that there are good games and bad games in terms of game design. Bad games will always fail in all markets. A good game may still fail, if the formula or set of winning patterns isn’t quite right for that particular market. Could you give me an example? How do you judge success? If the product finds a niche, if there’s something different from what other manufacturers are offering in the market at a given point in time, I think that builds on itself. We’ve heard the attrition rate in slot games is high and only one in ten games—from most manufacturers in most markets—is successful. Is it possible to improve success rates? I think market intelligence is the key. Game developers need to spend time in the market and need to understand at a given point in time what players’ preferences are, and what other manufacturers have on offer in that market. That way they can then use the right formula, the right winning patterns. The key is to look at the best-performing games and to analyse the key components of those; which are appealing to players. That may for example be a progressive feature, or a bonusing system. “I think all design should be driven with the assumption that the player is most sophisticated and knows more about games than the developers do.” Is it possible to create a mathematical template or model on which to build all successful games? There are, broadly-speaking, formulae for success, but which apply and where, depends on each market. But the manufacturer does need to introduce new and exciting product to drive its marketing. And such innovations may not lend themselves to [mathematical] models. It may need new models that have yet to be fully understood or used. The difficult thing with innovative products is yes, the attrition rate is high. But innovation is vital. I would say a core set of our product does adhere to a style of game or feature that would work via modelling—but that will only take you to a certain point. That doesn’t allow you to innovate and go beyond that. Are you noticing any trends in games across the industry? Trends are important. For example, there are games that need a high number of credits to play—say 50 lines or 100 lines; or some games with multiple reel sets on screen where you need to play 200 credits on them. I think that’s a trend that will continue over the next few years—basically low-denomination by maintaining an average bet by virtue of a higher credit play. In terms of themes, I think there’s a number of Asian historical and cultural icons which have not been exploited fully. So I’d like to think there will be more themes along those lines. And I know the team here at Weike are best-equipped for coming up with those games. Given that the company started in Asia and has a home-grown base, I look forward to some of those themes. Most of Weike’s recent games are quite standard in terms of free games and re- triggers, but there are some unique features. When you play 50 lines, for instance, there are subtle changes to the game which offer more opportunities for wins. On our 50- line games we have noticed some players Weike’s Phoenix Dance