Designing a hit pay-to-play game is far from simple but the rewards can be huge, writes Simon Liddle .
In what is becoming an increasingly competitive market, engaging game content has never been more important. Today’s pay-to-play amusement operators are not only competing with their peers but other forms of leisure, including the home console market. Being able to deliver experiences that cannot be replicated elsewhere is likely to be the key to the long-term sustainability of the industry. The ability to capture the imagination through innovation and creativity is at the heart of the amusement sector.
So what makes a great game? That, said Justin Burke of Sega Amusements Europe, is the “X factor.” How companies seek to achieve that varies but there are several key characteristics to those blockbuster games.
“It’s a combination of things; a great experience, value for money, uniqueness and enjoyment,” said Burke.
Gaming group JPM suggested that ultimately it’s the players that decide.
“A great game should engage core and casual players and must strike a balance between entertainment/rewards for the player and satisfactory return on investment for both the manufacturer and operator,” a spokesman said.
This article can be read in full in the October issue of InterGame.
