Interviews
Exploring the Metaverse and AI’s role in it
with modl.ai’s CEO & Co-founder Christoffer Holmgård
- How do you define a metaverse?
The metaverse is a challenging thing to define, partly because it’s such an abstract concept, but also as no one has created one yet – so the exact scope of what we’re talking about is a bit blurry. To define the Metaverse, it makes sense to look to fiction, where the term was originally coined. In Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, the Metaverse is a digital, online universe, perceived from a first-person perspective, that exists independently of whether you are logged into it or not. It’s a persistent place that you can access, change, leave, and return to.
There’s a myriad of possible definitions, but there are common threads between them. The metaverse could be defined as a multi-user real-time virtual space where individuals around the world can connect via a network, co-exist and socialise. Many games and platforms exist already that could fit this description, but what sets apart the metaverse from a traditional multiplayer experience is the ability for players to create and share content to shape the world around them in a more or less persistent setting.
- When do you think the first Metaverse will be created?
Some think we’ve already arrived, others think the metaverse will be far grander in scale. If you look at your gaming library today, examples that resemble metaverses will instantly jump out at you in the shape of Minecraft, Dreams, Fall Guys, Roblox and Fortnite. For many people, these titles are no longer considered games but persistent spaces to connect and socialise through virtual experiences – that may or may not include gaming.
Historically, the gaming industry has seen many forms of the metaverse since its inception. World of Warcraft has had its own functioning virtual and digital metaverse in the form of a digital and virtual economy for decades. Second Life is another early example that partly fits the bill, and EVE Online in particular stands out as a persistent universe shared between all the players where large organizations and even an economy have sprung up. Looking even further back, the early Multi-User Dungeons of the 1970s – or MUDs – might be considered proto-metaverses without graphics. Each of these examples contain different characteristics that define the Metaverse, even if they didn’t manage to achieve them all.
- How are you seeing the metaverse trend being reflected in the industry right now?
We’re seeing a drive across the games industry toward creating platforms for Metaverse-like experiences. Using either existing technologies or games, and even building new ones. The trend has been going on for quite some years, but it seems we’re reaching a point where the idea of Metaverses is coming together for both players and large industry actors. What’s more, the global pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated some of these trends that were already underway.
Fortnite, Roblox, and other big titles have slowly evolved from games to online spaces where people can interact and spend virtual currency on in-game items to build relationships and experience something fun and unique. Elsewhere, the trend continues thanks to games like Fortnite, which continues to develop more virtual experiences like its famous concerts. What’s more, Fortnite’s publisher, EPIC Games, recently raised $1 billion to support its future vision to build the metaverse.
With nearly 40 million daily users, the online gaming platform Roblox has become an incredibly popular online community. The game allows its users near-limitless possibilities to create, buy and sell, customise and socialise. What’s more, Roblox no longer calls itself a game on its website anymore; instead, it’s now an experience.
In essence, it’s a collection of semi-persistent spaces created by players using the same foundational tools and protocols. They make their spaces uniquely their own by changing and expanding templates and customising them in creative ways that no single game development company could come up with on their own.
Developers who have created popular interactive virtual social spaces have realised the earning potential behind their ‘games within a game’. So the race to perfect the metaverse model is on!
Many believe the metaverse is the next logical evolution of the internet, so it’s easy to see why so many big industry players are racing to stake their claim and take as big a piece of the pie as possible. So much so that even the country of South Korea has begun laying the foundation for its metaverse, as it recently created an alliance between 17 of the country’s industry-leading tech companies. Most recently, Facebook came out and declared itself a contributor to bringing about the Metaverse.
There is currently no single metaverse, but given the recent boom in brand collaborations and cross-platform play, in the future, we may see several of them become interoperable or meld together in a shared vast universe. But the biggest hurdle will still remain getting companies to look past their own interests to drive inter-organisational collaboration.
- What do you think will be some of the main hurdles in establishing the first metaverse?
Creating a metaverse is one thing, but keeping players engaged and returning to this new frontier is another. Gaming professionals need to understand what motivates players to contribute and come back to these virtual spaces. The key lies in understanding player behaviour. It may sound obvious, but measuring the way a given player moves through and interacts with a virtual space is a great way to gauge their interests. Their interactions, however seemingly insignificant, reveal the player’s preferences from moment to moment.
Understanding a player within the metaverse could be reached by manually picking and studying the individual user, but this approach quickly becomes unfeasible at scale. Alternatively, one can sample representative users, but this form of user research is time-consuming, expensive, and doesn’t pinpoint accuracy at the individual player level. This is where artificial intelligence can help.
- What role will AI play in the metaverse?
Put simply, publishers need their players to return, continue investing, and growing with the environment itself. Tools such as AI that learns from and understands the audience could be the key to growing the metaverse as the game industry’s next frontier.
Today we’re already seeing how AI can assist in daily work, assisting with checking, testing, coding, or even generating whole segments of stories automatically. As more people become digital content creators, we expect AI to take a role as a creative assistant working next to human creators, automating boring, repetitive or difficult tasks that are part of the creation process. AI systems will learn from prior examples and patterns in the Metaverse and use the learnt information to assist with new creative processes.
An additional way in which AI will be significant in the Metaverse is that AI systems will get to know you over time and shape your experience of the Metaverse accordingly. A quality of digital universes is that they, by their nature, allow for the observation of just about everything that goes on in them. One method that can help developers understand their players is by recording their behaviour at the action level and using it to create AI Personas – which are essentially models of the players in parts of the metaverse. By first logging and replicating player behaviour, AI Personas can predict how certain players or groups would act, and by extension, what that means in terms of interests, motivations, and preferences.
These predictions can then be used to tailor and adapt the player’s experience with the most engaging content and interactions at the individual level. You could imagine having an AI system that puts together or even generates content and experiences that are tailored just for you.
It even opens the opportunity for you to leave behind imprints of yourself when you’re not signed into the Metaverse. Some video games already offer a version of this today – for instance Forza Motorsport has Drivatars: AI drivers that drive in your style, that your friends can race against if you’re not online to compete. Perhaps, in the future, we’ll have our own AI doubles or assistants filling in for us in the Metaverse, when we’re not around to play.
This idea is really an extension of character customisation, which has become a cornerstone of modern gaming. Epic Games understood early on how character customisation and avatar expression attracted players away from competing titles such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Licensing pop-culture avatars was key to keeping people within the Fortnite metaverse. Interest amongst players is always high because there’s a chance for them to wield a lightsaber one week then wear the infinity gauntlet as Thanos the next.
This level of avatar detail and customisation, and the ability for users to express themselves in new and exciting ways, will potentially be the cornerstone of any successful future metaverse project as players use this as a form of expression.
But as games continue to increase in scope and attract more players to log on, manually managing these virtual worlds becomes much less feasible – especially in the context of a metaverse. So you can quickly see where AI fits into the equation.
From generating digital environments, shaping more realistic AI character behaviours to automated bug finding, the potential applications for artificial intelligence will be near-limitless. With regards to the Metaverse, whatever final form it takes, I believe artificial intelligence will be vital in realising projects of this scale.
Interviews
Bigly – not just another game studio. Find out how this start-up is going to help operators achieve sustainable success
European Gaming talks to Liam Mulvaney, Founder of Bigly.
Bigly is the latest studio to have launched into what is a hugely competitive space. What makes you stand out from the crowd?
You’re absolutely right when you say this is a crowded market. Today, there are more than 750 studios providing in excess of 38,000 games to operators and players. But Bigly is not just another game studio. We will be producing thrilling and entertaining content for our partners and their players, but we are positioned to be much more than just a content provider. We consider ourselves a marketing studio that happens to provide assets in the form of slots. Our unique commercial model means operators can access our games for a reliable and predictable cost, which in turn means they can ramp up marketing activity behind the titles that best meet the preferences of their players AND keep the lion’s share of the revenue each game generates. As costs rise and margins fall, Bigly is exactly what operators need to ensure sustainable success.
Tell us more about your unique commercial model.
So Bigly allows operators to access content for a capped monthly fee instead of the standard commercial model used by other studios where they work to a revenue share format. For the operator, this means if a game performs well, they hand a significant chunk of the revenues generated back to the studio. This ultimately has a knock-on effect as to the games that operators push to players and how they allocate marketing resources – this is why you often see the same slots from the same providers at the top of casino lobbies or used for promotional activity. But with our commercial model, which is sort of hybrid between a revenue share and a fixed cost system, operators have much greater flexibility over the games they give top lobby positions to, and how they market those games to players. Of course, they also know that if the game performs well, they get to keep the majority of the revenues made.
How does Bigly’s commercial model help operators beyond cost savings on content?
Our vision is to provide more opportunities for operators to push their own brand rather than Bigly. A quick example is that Bigly will not brand our games’ loader screens, but operators are free to feature their own logo if they wish. This means more brand presence from the operators. With Bigly, operators and their marketing teams can get super creative with their campaigns knowing the cost of accessing the game (or games) is fixed so the better the game performs, the more money the casino makes. In fact, the bolder the casino is in its marketing activity, the bigger the returns they will likely enjoy.
How do operators access your content?
There are a couple of ways. The first is directly through our remote game server, which is provided by our technical partner, Reelsoft. This is our preferred method of integration as it allows us to foster incredibly strong relationships with our operators while ensuring the smooth and seamless delivery of our content into markets across the world. Operators will also be able to get our games through aggregation platforms although the commercial relationship will be with Bigly – the aggregator will simply be a technical partner in the same way that Reelsoft is. This approach allows us to offer our content – and unique commercial model – to operators in the vast majority of jurisdictions from the get-go.
How does this approach to commercials and your wider business model benefit Bigly?
It gives us a major point of difference from the 100’s of other studios in the market, that’s for sure. And there’s something nice about bringing a product to the market that disrupts the status quo and genuinely revolutionises a major part of the industry. Ultimately, our approach and commercial model mean that we can provide the games and financials that operators are seeking, and, over time, this will see us become a major player in the content provision space. Of course, our approach works both ways – while our games are a predictable cost for our partners, they are a predictable income for Bigly and this really helps when it comes to establishing, growing and future-proofing the business. This can be really tough for new studios given the competitive nature of the market and the need for their games to be played at scale which of course requires top lobby positions and operator marketing activity, both of which are hard to secure for a new developer. It is important to note that the vision of this studio is for this approach to be the lifetime model for Bigly, a new way of selling and consuming content.
Your USP is your commercial model, but what about your games?
Our games are a crucial piece of the puzzle. Our commercials can be super attractive, but if our games are tosh then players just won’t play them. This is why I’ve been tapping into my extensive network to assemble an incredible team of designers, mathematicians, developers, testers and so on, as we will live or die by the quality of our content. The first games of a studio are always tough but we are confident that our slots will hit the mark in terms of quality and playability. Our first slot is Deep Sea Treasure and takes the cascading reels format, with symbols tumbling as players dive into the underwater abyss in search of big wins. I’ll be giving people a sneak peek at the SBC Summit in Lisbon, so flag me down if you want to see it in action.
The post Bigly – not just another game studio. Find out how this start-up is going to help operators achieve sustainable success appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Booming Games
Interview with Booming Games: A Sweepstakes Casino Powerhouse Poised for Big Wins in 2025!
In the ever-evolving world of sweepstake casinos, Booming Games is making waves. With visually stunning slots, a wide range of games, and a strategic focus on sweepstakes, they’re quickly becoming the go-to supplier in the industry. We sat down with two of the masterminds behind Booming Games’ success: newly appointed Director of Games, Nemanja Zivic, and VP of Product, Moritz Blume. Here’s what they had to say.
Booming Games has been making quite a splash in the sweepstakes space recently. What’s the secret sauce behind your success?
Moritz Blume: laughs Well, it’s no secret that we’ve been laser-focused on making Booming Games the ultimate partner for sweepstake casinos. For us, it all starts with the players. We’ve built a reputation for creating visually stunning and feature-packed games that keep people coming back for more. And, you know, our sweepstake-friendly features like interactive bonuses, free spins, and multipliers? Players love it! Who wouldn’t want to hit a big win without staking any real money? That’s kind of our jam.
We’ve also made sure to optimize all our games for mobile because let’s face it, people love spinning the reels on their phones, whether they’re on the couch or waiting for their coffee. The seamless mobile experience keeps them hooked, and we’re proud of that.
You’ve just introduced Nemanja Zivic as the new Director of Games. How does he fit into Booming Games’ already strong team?
Moritz Blume: Oh, Nemanja is a rockstar! He brings a ton of experience, not just from the online iGaming world, but as a passionate player of land-based games too. His expertise spans both worlds, and he’s helping us take those proven land-based features that players love and bringing them online. We’re offering players mechanics tailored to all kinds of play styles. Nemanja’s input ensures our games are not just popular but keep players coming back for more.
Nemanja Zivic: Absolutely! We know there’s a traceable trajectory for the features that start in land-based casinos and go on to make waves online. There’s nuance, of course, but we get it. That’s why we offer content featuring both the core and the evolution of Hold and Win, Cash Collect, Triple-pot bonuses, quick-hit Multi jackpots, Multi-reel set Bonuses, and short-term persistence games that make players feel right at home. We bring these land-based features online, and then elevate them with multiple bonus buys, side bets, and picks—ensuring every kind of player, from the casual spinner to the high roller, finds something that resonates with their style.
Between Moritz and me, we’ve got the experience to know what players crave. Add that to our killer roadmap for 2025 and 2026, and we’re all set to release some seriously exciting new titles.
Speaking of sweepstakes, what specifically sets Booming Games apart for operators in this space?
Nemanja Zivic: Booming Games offers full flexibility and an unmatched diversity in our game portfolio—whether you’re looking for classic casino fruits and diamonds, popular casual player favorites, or high-roller picks, we’ve got it all either in the portfolio already or coming next year.
For sweepstake casinos, we provide modified language support tailored to sweepstake players, social currencies, you name it—we’re all about making it work for the operator. And we don’t just stop there. We offer customized game titles to help strengthen the casino’s brand. Want a game with your logo on it? We can do that! Want exclusive features for your VIP players? Done.
Oh, and let’s not forget our various app integrations. We’re getting embedded into platforms that sweepstake players use the most. If you want your Booming Games titles in your app store, we make it happen. Anything’s possible when you’re working with us.
Wow, that’s impressive. Can you tell us more about how you’re integrating with influencers and sweepstake streamers?
Moritz Blume: We’re playing the long game here. In 2025, we’re going to be teaming up with some big names in sweepstake-focused streaming and influencer marketing. Expect to see Booming Games plastered all over Twitch, YouTube, and every platform where people love to watch gameplay. We’ve got some secret partnerships up our sleeve with streamers who are going to take our games to the next level in terms of exposure.
We’re already among the top 3 revenue drivers on various sweepstake platforms, and we’re only going to climb higher. By working closely with influencers, we’re taking our visibility and engagement to new heights. The future is looking bright!
It sounds like Booming Games is on the verge of a major sweepstake takeover. What can we expect next?
Nemanja Zivic: We’re just getting started! We’re in the final stages of some truly exciting partnerships and game launches tailored specifically for sweepstake operators that will redefine the player experience. At the same time, we’re always keeping our eyes on regulatory changes—if there’s an update, we’re ready to react the next day, ensuring our games are fully compliant wherever they’re played.
But that’s not all—responsible gaming is one of the pillars of Booming Games’ strategy. While we’re busy creating all these exciting new features, we’re equally focused on making sure our games are safe, secure, and fair for everyone. By staying on top of regulation and promoting responsible play, we aim to deliver not just thrilling games but ones that players can trust.
Any last words for the sweepstake casino operators and players reading this?
Moritz Blume: If you’re an operator, Booming Games is the partner you’ve been waiting for. We’ve got the tools, the games, and the know-how to make your players love what they’re playing. And for the players? Strap in, because Booming Games has some wild new titles coming your way. 2025 is going to be a ride!
Sounds like Booming Games is the perfect storm for sweepstake casinos. Thanks for chatting with us!
Moritz Blume and Nemanja Zivic: in unison Thank you!
Booming Games continues to dominate the sweepstake casino world, with cutting-edge game design, tailored solutions for operators, and exciting partnerships in the pipeline. Stay tuned for their roadmap in 2025—it’s going to be big!
The European Gaming Congress (EGC) returns to Warsaw for 2024 on 15-16 October, and organizer HIPTHER is proud to introduce the conference’s esteemed Sponsors – trailblazing companies and accomplished professionals that help make the magic happen! In this Sponsors Spotlight Interview, we welcome Maciej Makuszewski, iGaming Director at Promatic Group, parent company of the Platinum Sponsor for EGC 2024, Promatic Games.
For many people outside the gaming industry, putting social responsibility and online slot games in the same sentence might seem counterintuitive. What’s your perspective on this? How can a slot development company demonstrate responsibility?
You’ve hit on a very interesting point right from the beginning. From an outsider’s view, social responsibility and online gambling might seem like polar opposites—like water and fire. But within the industry, we understand that to succeed, all parties, and especially operators and game studios, need to cater to a broad audience. This includes not only players seeking excitement and adrenaline but also casual players who just want a bit of entertainment. We simply need to think about the mass market when designing the gaming experience.
From there, it becomes essential to safeguard ALL players by promoting responsible behaviors and minimizing risks. After all, even with a naturally risky activity like gambling, people still want a sense of security in their experience. This is where social responsibility becomes key. While the public often associates our industry with problem gambling or even addiction, this is a simplistic view. A problem gambler is not a good player—not for them, and certainly not for us. We aim to create a safe and enjoyable environment for all players, which ultimately benefits everyone involved.
So speaking of iGaming in general, what are the key areas when it comes to promoting responsible behavior and minimizing risks for players, as you rightly put it?
I would consider Responsible Gaming as an umbrella term that encompasses a range of measures. I usually break these down into several key categories:
- Identifying and protecting vulnerable players
- Game mechanics
- Transparency and communication
- Youth exposure
- Game design and incentives
- Financial limits and self-exclusion mechanisms
- Utilization of player data
Of course, this list can evolve depending on specific market needs, but these are the core elements. I haven’t included aspects like fairness or certification, as these are typically viewed as basic prerequisites in most regulated markets—they aren’t specific to Responsible Gaming but rather fundamental requirements for offering games to customers. Additionally, technical standards can also play a supporting role in fostering a responsible gaming environment.
Given that your role as a game studio is to provide the games themselves, how can you contribute to making the experience as responsible as possible? You’re not in full control over all of the seven areas you mentioned earlier.
You’re right—our role is narrower compared to operators, but we still have a significant impact in key areas. We can influence game mechanics, transparency and communication, youth exposure (to some extent), and game design and incentives. While we don’t manage player data, we can still support the identification of problem gambling behaviors.
Take game mechanics, for example. As a studio, we invest a lot of time in balancing the speed of gameplay with clear, accurate visualizations of the spin results. One of our key principles is ensuring that all our designs and developments are configurable to meet Responsible Gaming requirements. For instance, our games were recently certified in the Czech Republic, where the regulator mandates that each spin lasts at least two seconds. This is a Responsible Gaming measure, and our configurable software allowed us to implement this requirement quickly.
Another area that’s been a focus of many regulators is the Bonus Buy feature. We were hesitant to introduce it because some of the behaviors associated with this feature may heighten the risk of problem gambling. After months of careful consideration, we decided to launch it only with the ability to monitor every player action related to this functionality. We are committed to tracking this feature closely to ensure it aligns with responsible gaming standards.
You’re also going to touch on game design and incentives at the European Gaming Congress (EGC), correct?
Yes, that’s right! We’re excited to share the story behind one of our most innovative games, Ale Fajny BOBER. The game’s theme is inspired by a popular viral video, and it was a fascinating challenge for our team to translate the essence of a two-minute YouTube clip into an engaging slot experience. We had many discussions on how to best capture and visualize that story within a slot game format. But I’ll save the finer details for the conference—we’ll be talking about it on Day 1 during our presentation! Feel free to join and ask questions!
You mentioned the game Ale Fajny BOBER. Could our readers be familiar with other titles that have come out of your studio?
Ale Fajny Bober is indeed a new game, which had its premiere in Poland on September 26. Promatic Games has a portfolio of hundreds of exciting slot games that have been both successful and widely appreciated by players. Some of these include: Mummy’s Treasure Deluxe, Dracula’s Treasure, Janosik 30 and Miss Joker Show – the latter has even been shortlisted for the Best iGaming Product category at the EiGE2024 awards, with the final taking place at the upcoming conference. I warmly invite to join us at the event and cast your vote for our title. See you there!
Promatic Group’s iGaming Director, Maciej Makuszewski, and Product Design Manager, Luka Oblak, will be presenting a workshop at the European Gaming Congress on ‘Mastering the Art of Balanced Slot Development.
Join us in Warsaw and meet the Promatic Games Team in person:
The post Can Fun Be Safe? The Role of Social Responsibility in Slot Game Design appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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