Which providers will shine in 2021?

[cocopop3011]

So, I thought I would make this a yearly topic. And we will again take a look at this topic this time next year. 

Soooo....which providers are going to come forward and take the stand this year? I feel like the original giants are slowly been overshadowed! 

Make some predictions guys and I'll put this into my diary for next year.

[Blackjax]

Going by the current trend I  believe Nolimit city is going to be the one provider that will rule this year. They promote their games with those humongous X wins. Those X wins rarely show up but even if a few guys wins big that just creates a sensationalism in casino world and everybody wants to play the slot.

[Afi4wins]

2021 brings in a new decade, but most of the gamblers would still be from the last decade. So what would that imply? The need for new slot trends, but still hyping on sensationalism and super big wins. Megaways may keep on trending for a while, but over-cloning of such games would eventually lead to boredom sooner or later.

Honestly speaking, I don't see any specific provider to rule in this new decade, so I'm not going to make any prediction at all. Hopefully one new provider would emerge from the dark waters, with new trending games that would offer a refreshing good balance between giving regular good wins and avoiding way too many dead spins or feature games.

[kayenne23]

hacksaw gaming and tom horn

[ValDes]

First of all, fantastic idea to continue this particular topic in 2021 so kudos to Sharon! 

I'm with Afi on this one... IMHO, this will be the year of big falls in fact rather than any serious 'shining' or domination or something of the kind. Thanks to the countless gambling forums nowadays, the common online punter is now armed with so much info, comparisons, pros and cons, winner screenshots, etc etc that it's almost next to impossible to dominate the slots market from any reasonable perspective. Players are now 10 times more ''educated'' than 10 years ago which means that the days of mediocracy in that industry are numbered and regardless the size of the gambling company, sincerely hope in 2021 we'll finally witness the real rise of those who offer innovative, original, fun and above all, very well balanced games. 

[pinnit2015]

MG to continue their decent into oblivion; the non conversion of some of the classics into HTML5 will jolt that forward a bit more

Netent/Redtiger - terrible games: the days of Wild Rockets are all but gone

BGT - their cluster games are awful; some of the worst i've played: just get back to making decent MV games. That Cybershot game is one of the worst releases this year. To be fair, at least they try and be a bit different.

No Limit to continue to release games that will bust you, despite some of their max wins being low for such a HV (eg 8KX on some of them)

I had hopes for 4thePlayer but that 123 Boom is up there in terms of the worst slots of 2020: regardless of it's 96% RTP

PNG to reskin every game they have every made and probably come up with a 75% RTP release soon

Thunderkick - meh. More of the same. 

Push Gaming seem to have disappeared recently. 

Stakelogic's games aren't THAT bad - but they really need to do something about that slot speed: meant to be 2.5 secs, feels like 10  -unplayable slots atm. 

 

No real biggie as there was - more slots for different moods/preferences: not a bad thing, Netent and MG ruled the roost for too long and while many don't like the current array of slots (me included), at least there's some choice now cf 15 years ago etc. 

 

i forgot about IGT slots - hahahha; oh boy. Woeful. They'll never improve because they appear to have either old aged pensioners developing their slots or 23 year olds fresh out of Uni - terrible

[Fiekie247]

Red Tiger play okay and good for wagering - Bonus takes forever to come in to be honest

Play'n Go - Out the window

Big Time Gaming - I dont even bother

Nolimit City has good concepts, but their bonus features pay poor - They have good slots with huge potential but the max win cap is low. Like Deadwood should have a x25 000 - x50 000 win cap as this slot can produce, however other slots like Dragon Tribe , Tomb of Akhenan thing - Has potential over x26 000 your total bet, however I have never seen any win on Dragon tribe for more than x1500 - Just x700 - x1200 maybe, same thing with tomb. - Their best games are still Abduction, Punk Rocker for me personally.

iSoftbet has highly volatile slots and their megaways versions are not the best - Too difficult to bonus, they becoming like Blueprint - Either buy bonus or leave the slot.

Push Gaming - Still the best slots for me - However they release too slow, maybe 1 or 2 slots every 3 months?

Netent is the worst of them all I believe.

Thunderkick is doing Okay for me.

[pinnit2015]

The constant tanking of the RTP's isn't helping  - even TK with the 94 Jin Chan and MG tanking Immortal Romance with a 94%; more and more providers are offering the variable ones for a race to the bottom.

Go play a 96 (or 98 in some cases) slot on Unibet for a few sessions and then 91% on somewhere like Aspire and after a few sessions you'll notice the differences: depends where the 5% is taken from; could be reducing the 1000x wins, could be a reduction in the 250x-500x range etc. It creates a different game. Sure, you'll hit a big win on 91% but long term it will be worse.

Wish providers would move away from the headline grabbing 60000x wins and start to offer more games with a more even 250x-500x range - i can't honestly believe anyone gets any joy from 100 quid, 100 autospins, 15 quid balance at the end, sessions. Maybe they do, i don't know. You certainly don't sit on those slots for hours, so a smash and grab is fine now and then but not if, on  Sunday, you fancy a few hours session. Not every one needs/wants to be hitting 100000x: i'll just do the Euromillions instead. 

Netent/TK also get a shout out for games that turn the fan on in my mac - feels like my laptop is running more scripts than Tom Cruise. Their interface is also one of the clunkiest things about.

Forgot about Pragmatic...far from the worse but have never seen a provider more than them whose games hate highish stakes; catch them on a good day and the 40-60ps can get the balance up relatively well, up to a quid and above and the balance hoover comes out: every-time, without fail.  Still one of the more enjoyable providers if in the mood but have never had a real balance booster from them bar the 5 scatters in Madame etc. 

[ValDes]

IMHO, the real problem with NoLimitCity, Blueprint, etc is probably their obvious intention to put the focus on the bonus-buy-features instead of counting on regular base/bonus hits in the range of x100-x500 where most common punters are used to swim and expect during their sessions. And like it or not, this marketing tactic and strategy is working just like charm considering the insane amount of winner screenshots and videos from huge (> x500) wins on their games coming 90%+ from these bonus buys...  

Won't be surprised if some/most of the gaming software giants adopt similar/same marketing strategy this year and we see Play'N Go slots with bonus buy feature...  

[kayenne23]

23 minutes ago, ValDes said:

IMHO, the real problem with NoLimitCity, Blueprint, etc is probably their obvious intention to put the focus on the bonus-buy-features instead of counting on regular base/bonus hits in the range of x100-x500 where most common punters are used to swim and expect during their sessions. And like it or not, this marketing tactic and strategy is working just like charm considering the insane amount of winner screenshots and videos from huge (> x500) wins on their games coming 90%+ from these bonus buys...  

Won't be surprised if some/most of the gaming software giants adopt similar/same marketing strategy this year and we see Play'N Go slots with bonus buy feature...  

Well i cannot disagree on this particular theme. The only thing i can add, is the fact that many streamers are promoting those slots by buying the bonus on extremely high stakes such as 10 euro bet for 1k the bonus. Personally, i have seen few people winning on bonus buys than streamers themselves.

[ValDes]

1 hour ago, kayenne23 said:

Well i cannot disagree on this particular theme. The only thing i can add, is the fact that many streamers are promoting those slots by buying the bonus on extremely high stakes such as 10 euro bet for 1k the bonus. Personally, i have seen few people winning on bonus buys than streamers themselves.

Huh, there are still players within their right mind watching these ridiculously obvious fake streamers pretending to play with their OWN money?!   

[kayenne23]

2 minutes ago, ValDes said:

Huh, there are still players within their right mind watching these ridiculously obvious fake streamers pretending to play with their OWN money?!   

You pretty pretty know there are  There is a forum as well. I think we both know which it is.  

[Fiekie247]

4 hours ago, pinnit2015 said:

NetEnt/TK also get a shout out for games that turn the fan on in my mac - feels like my laptop is running more scripts than Tom Cruise. Their interface is also one of the clunkiest things about.

 

- Forgot about this, you are right, my PC scream as well, but for my Blueprint gaming is the worse, I have i7, 32gb ram, with decent graphics and 512 SSD NMVE and still with Blueprint my pc is lagging at times, especially that Dragon Fall slot - Its the damn worse. I guess you laptop is not used to Scripts anymore, since you working from home!

[Fiekie247]

3 hours ago, ValDes said:

IMHO, the real problem with NoLimitCity, Blueprint, etc is probably their obvious intention to put the focus on the bonus-buy-features instead of counting on regular base/bonus hits in the range of x100-x500 where most common punters are used to swim and expect during their sessions. And like it or not, this marketing tactic and strategy is working just like charm considering the insane amount of winner screenshots and videos from huge (> x500) wins on their games coming 90%+ from these bonus buys...  

Won't be surprised if some/most of the gaming software giants adopt similar/same marketing strategy this year and we see Play'N Go slots with bonus buy feature...  

I agree with you on this Valdes - To be honest these Bonus Buys takes the fun away in slots to be honest and I am surprised Play N Go never followed suit yet.

I remember Sharon contacted me asking about the questions for Play N Go and I remember asking them why they have not implemented the bonus buy feature, to get a feel for what they are aiming at.

I think Push Gaming realise the Bonus Buy Feature on Fat Santa was not the best choice either, so they stopped. However I see in Mystery Museum, they implemented a strategy, that if you win more than 100x you bet in base game or Free spins, you can buy another feature for 100x and bank the rest, which is a cool concept to be honest.

[alyssagrey93]

lol these are fun thoughts that's for sure

[FairGamer519]

On 1/6/2021 at 9:38 AM, ValDes said:

IMHO, the real problem with NoLimitCity, Blueprint, etc is probably their obvious intention to put the focus on the bonus-buy-features instead of counting on regular base/bonus hits in the range of x100-x500 where most common punters are used to swim and expect during their sessions. And like it or not, this marketing tactic and strategy is working just like charm considering the insane amount of winner screenshots and videos from huge (> x500) wins on their games coming 90%+ from these bonus buys...  

Totally agree. The sad thing is that this practice is becoming more common. I think a good game should be a total package of base game and features/bonusses. To be honest, I think players contribute to this marketing to some degree as well. I mean, if your base bet is 1 and you buy a feature for 800x and then win 30,000, you did not win 30,000x! The win is 37.5x. But of course everyone wants to express the win as a multiplier of the base bet. You could easily get that type of win by doing 100 spins at 80 bet on Starburst. Starburst might actually give a better return.

Anyway, to the actual topic. I think No Limit might decline some. The xways and xnudge thing is starting to get old, at least to me. I think bonus buys in general have a limited life span due to more stringent regulations and this will hurt No Limit since their base games are terrible by design. Elk Studios has been pushing out some interesting games as well as Fantasma Games. Relax makes some great games. I expect them to continue releasing good game this year. 

I think NetEnt will see a lot of success this year, at least in a business sense. If 2020 showed anything, its that American players are taking over the big share of the igaming  money as more states open up to online gambling. NetEnt got into that space very early compared other European providers and think that will give them a significant leg up while other scramble to get a gaming license.

[kayenne23]

20 minutes ago, FairGamer519 said:

Totally agree. The sad thing is that this practice is becoming more common. I think a good game should be a total package of base game and features/bonusses. To be honest, I think players contribute to this marketing to some degree as well. I mean, if your base bet is 1 and you buy a feature for 800x and then win 30,000, you did not win 30,000x! The win is 37.5x. But of course everyone wants to express the win as a Multiplier of the base bet. You could easily get that type of win by doing 100 spins at 80 bet on Starburst. Starburst might actually give a better return.

Anyway, to the actual topic. I think No Limit might decline some. The xways and xnudge thing is starting to get old, at least to me. I think bonus buys in general have a limited life span due to more stringent regulations and this will hurt No Limit since their base games are terrible by design. Elk Studios has been pushing out some interesting games as well as Fantasma Games. Relax makes some great games. I expect them to continue releasing good game this year. 

I think NetEnt will see a lot of success this year, at least in a business sense. If 2020 showed anything, its that American players are taking over the big share of the igaming  money as more states open up to online gambling. NetEnt got into that space very early compared other European providers and think that will give them a significant leg up while other scramble to get a gaming license.

To be honest I like slots that do not have the bonus buy option. I have tried this in the past and i can tell you they my biggest wins came from grinding than buying bonuses.  I really wish this tactic come to an end with an applicable law or something. Bonus buys should be restricted. By the time you restrict players in various jurisdictions bet 2 euros as max why don't you restrict the bonus buys? Seems odd. I will agree that netent had out out some fire slots recently such as dazzle me megaways and a new one I don't recall the name. Had very good wins and like the concept. 

[cocopop3011]

14 hours ago, FairGamer519 said:

Totally agree. The sad thing is that this practice is becoming more common. I think a good game should be a total package of base game and features/bonusses. To be honest, I think players contribute to this marketing to some degree as well. I mean, if your base bet is 1 and you buy a feature for 800x and then win 30,000, you did not win 30,000x! The win is 37.5x. But of course everyone wants to express the win as a Multiplier of the base bet. You could easily get that type of win by doing 100 spins at 80 bet on Starburst. Starburst might actually give a better return.

Anyway, to the actual topic. I think No Limit might decline some. The xways and xnudge thing is starting to get old, at least to me. I think bonus buys in general have a limited life span due to more stringent regulations and this will hurt No Limit since their base games are terrible by design. Elk Studios has been pushing out some interesting games as well as Fantasma Games. Relax makes some great games. I expect them to continue releasing good game this year. 

I think NetEnt will see a lot of success this year, at least in a business sense. If 2020 showed anything, its that American players are taking over the big share of the igaming  money as more states open up to online gambling. NetEnt got into that space very early compared other European providers and think that will give them a significant leg up while other scramble to get a gaming license.

I have to agree that the US are getting very interesting indeed! I've actually been looking a lot at the US lately and how more states are starting to either legalize or lean towards it. I think there are always going to states that will outright ban it and never change but yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what happens over the next 12/24 months over there!

[blondie]

On 5/25/2021 at 10:54 PM, cocopop3011 said:

I have to agree that the US are getting very interesting indeed! I've actually been looking a lot at the US lately and how more states are starting to either legalize or lean towards it. I think there are always going to states that will outright ban it and never change but yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what happens over the next 12/24 months over there!

I definitely agree with you, I'm very interested to see what will happen with US market, which casinos will be applying for licenses and what kind of games will be popular. On the topic though, I think Nolimit City, Push Gaming and Relax Gaming will be the ones that will continuously stand out.

[cocopop3011]

On 6/8/2021 at 11:09 PM, blondie said:

I definitely agree with you, I'm very interested to see what will happen with US market, which casinos will be applying for licenses and what kind of games will be popular. On the topic though, I think Nolimit City, Push Gaming and Relax Gaming will be the ones that will continuously stand out.

Unibet already have a license in Pennsylvania & New Jersey, now I feel this is just the start of good things to come for many states!

[cocopop3011]

Remember this topic guys" Well it has now been a year and it is time to look at your predictions and see if they were right!