Real Dealer Studios CPO Shane Cotter: “Festive Games Are a Worthwhile Tradeoff Despite Their Limited Shelf-life ”

Real Dealer Studios has leveraged the power of pre-recorded videos into real-time gameplay to create an exciting new iGaming experience. Seen as a bit of a gamble, festive games have proven a successful formula for the company’s further growth and expansion. Real Dealer Studios CPO Shane Cotter explains how the company drove success through its festive games.

Q: As a producer, why did you decide that festive games were a good bet for your studio?

A: We know that players really respond well to these holiday games, so operators run special promotions based around them which creates a buzz.  As it happened, around the middle of 2021, we’d just reached the stage in developing our cinematic table games where we could branch out from the classics and make something more thematic. Since most players still aren’t familiar with our concept, which integrates recorded videos of actors/dealers into RNG games, we figured these promos would be a great way to boost our exposure and drum up some new fans.

Q: What did you end up making and how has it been received?

A: We released two games – Real Spooky Roulette for Halloween, and Real Christmas Roulette – each of which stars a dealer from our standard roulette games. The results, I’m happy to say, have been absolutely stellar. Each one instantly shot to the top of our rankings list, breaking studio records for early post-launch performance.

Q: What challenges did you face in developing this content and how did you overcome them?

A: Working with video is a lot different than working with animation. Our main challenge was taking existing video material and setting it in a completely new thematic environment in a way that looks natural. Luckily, we have a fantastic crew of artists and film production specialists who, as always, we’re able to rise to the occasion and get the job done.

Q: What would you tell other games makers who are considering going down this route?

A: It’s understandable that some producers will shy away from producing holiday-specific games, given their short shelf-life. But if you’re looking at a potentially massive boost in exposure from the promotions – and this would depend on your operators – then the payoff could be worth it. Also, keep in mind that that the games can generate revenue beyond their holiday period – we were still seeing quite a bit of play on Real Spooky Roulette two months after Halloween. 

And there’s no reason a game, especially if it’s a great game, couldn’t be reused in the future. The Holy Grail would be to make a holiday classic that players will be keen to come back to year after year.