— Good afternoon, tell us a little bit about yourself.
— I live in the USA, Minnesota, and have worked in the iGaming industry all my adult life — for more than 20 years! I started out as a partner, then moved on to work with various superpartners in different capacities. Now I put all my heart and soul into Slots Launch.
— You are a co-founder of the Slots Launch platform. How did you get the idea to create it?
— The idea for Slots Launch came up when we discovered that there is a request for a centralized platform. On it, device developers could share information about their games with partners and other interested parties. In turn, they would like to get reliable data about any gambling entertainment and not contact each developer separately.
— What exactly does the company do?
— To put it simply, Slots Launch helps game developers increase the reach of slot machines. At the same time, we provide support to our partners in automating the implementation of content on their websites. Before Slots Launch, partners had to painstakingly communicate with every developer they wanted to collaborate with. Since there are thousands of games from hundreds of different studios, this was impractical. Therefore, most of the partners repeated their actions after other sites to speed up the process. We realized this and set ourselves a goal: to create a single platform that will benefit the entire iGaming industry.
— Why do you deliver only demo games, and not offer complete solutions for integrating paid versions?
— There are already many aggregators of paid gambling entertainment on the market. The new company simply won’t be able to compete in this area. Paid games are one thing, but the demo version is quite another. Given our experience, we decided to focus on creating a company that (we are sure) will not only save partners time and money, but also significantly improve the experience of their visitors.
— There are more than 480 providers in the catalog. Do you find companies yourself or do they contact the project?
— Fortunately, we have many years of experience in direct cooperation with the vast majority of providers. We have managed to leverage existing relationships to accelerate our growth. When new developers appear, they have already heard about Slots Launch and contact us so that we can put their games on the platform.
— What requirements do you set for studios to include their software in your catalog?
— There are no conditions, restrictions, or commissions. We accept everyone and are open to any studio that wants to increase the reach of their games.
— Pragmatic Play takes the top spot on your leaderboard. How can you explain the success of the provider?
«Very simple. They make awesome games. The leaderboard is designed to highlight developers based on the quality of their gambling entertainment, not quantity. It just so happens that Pragmatic Play doesn’t just create great games. They make a lot of great entertainment. There are enough cool studios competing with them that have a very small portfolio of hits.
— Do you like studio slots? You once said that you don’t like it when providers add the same sound effects to all the slot machines in your portfolio. Pragmatic Play is guilty of this.
— I like most of the slots from Pragmatic Play. However, if you include Reel Kingdom in the list, it seems that they have too many Big Bass slot machines. As for the sound effects, Pragmatic has quite a variety of options. Things are much better than other games and providers that I mentioned in the quote you gave.
— Do you have any statistics on popular slots?
— We do not publish data on them… yet! Now we are trying to be neutral, as we plan to host any game from each provider. However, it is quite possible: at some point, we will publish the data so that our partners can decide which gambling entertainment to promote.
— How do you feel about crash games like Aviator?
— I don’t like such entertainment, I’ve never been attracted to it. Of course, I believe that they have their place in the market. I like it when new types of entertainment appear. However, I don’t think that every provider should create a crash game just to have one.
— What mechanics do you think are the most interesting in slots?
— When playing slots at a local land-based casino, I never use new slot machines, oddly enough. I run the same old slots that I’ve been playing for years. But on the Internet, I like to find new devices. I am attracted to those slots that feel different from the traditional ones. These include most releases from Nolimit City, Hacksaw Gaming, ELK Studios, and others.
— What do you value about slot machines as a player?
— I like slots with the right balance. They should give a sense of novelty, but at the same time not be too complicated. The ideal machine for me is a game that represents something unique, but the user does not have to wade through the pay tables to understand the slot. I’ll give you an example. Of course, I love games from Nolimit City and have been a big fan of them from the very beginning. But a lot of their entertainment is quite difficult for the average user. This, of course, was originally conceived. They want to do things differently, and that’s why we love them. But most players prefer to read the rules of a slot that they can understand after a few spins of the reels.
— Back in April, you said that the Slots Launch team consists of only two people. Are you still doing everything together with your partner Damian Logge?
«Yes, there are still two of us. This is partly what we intended, as we personally saw the difficulties faced by companies that have increased their staff too much. If we hired more people, we could do a lot of things faster. However, we have already achieved so much together. We like to work closely with our partners. So the plan is to keep a small staff for as long as possible.
— Is it possible to expand?
— of course. I would say that this is likely (and even inevitable). But at the moment, we don’t have any plans to expand.
— You have been working in the iGaming industry since 2005. Tell us, how did you start?
— I started out as a partner. I first encountered the opportunity to earn money during the boom of online poker in the early 2000s. I played it a lot in college. There I found out that I can get a percentage for the friends I bring. That’s when I first heard about affiliate marketing. And the rest is history!
— Did you have a team while working on the No Deposit Needed website?
— no. Only I worked on the site. The industry barely started growing in those days. It was hard to outsource anything or hire staff (especially in the US). When I was young, I had no experience in hiring staff.
— How did you collect information about no deposit casino bonuses? Was there a database of operators, or was it a painstaking manual search?
— It was much easier then than it is now. There were not so many casinos, and even fewer providers (only 3-5 when I started). All operators had the same or very similar catalogues of no deposit bonuses. As a result, stocks were tracked much more easily than they are today. For me, no deposit bonuses are identical to free demos, since both options are based on the «Try before you buy»marketing philosophy. It has proven its effectiveness in almost all industries.
— How has the sphere transformed in 15 years?
— The biggest change is the regulatory difficulties that have affected many aspects of the industry. Given how fast things are changing in the world today, there were hopes that regulation of iGaming would become much easier and clearer. However, it is still archaic, despite development, and there is a lot of work to be done.
— Do you think it is possible to work successfully in the iGaming industry without real gaming experience?
— of course. The iGaming industry will continue to grow in the near future. Its development will provide a chance to work in it for everyone who has considered such an opportunity.
— Have you ever thought about collaborating with providers and releasing joint slots? It seems that with such a rich experience, it would be possible to create something interesting.
— I have a very secret list of slot concepts. I add what comes to mind, but this list may never see the light of day. However, I like the various collaborations, and at the moment we are happy to help increase their reach. We have too much to do right now to put something like this into action.
— What are the company’s plans for 2025?
— In 2025, we hope to strengthen our relationships with slot developers and provide our partners with valuable offers. After several years of extremely hard work, we have finally reached the level where Slots Launch is recognized by all possible affiliates. We would like to use this momentum to find new ways to help partners save time and money, as well as increase their conversions and revenue.