2019 slot predictions

What do you foresee becoming a new or developing/advancing trend this year (whether it be maths models, games mechanics, bonus structure et c) or any fads or old models you see dying a final death...think: megaways, 9 liners and more)

Example - I foresee something like......being able to purchase an exisiting or new top symbol to add to the reels, or additional bonus symbols

I'd be curious on what @trancemonkey thinks, but as someone in the field, I'd imagine his input may be limited due to future projects, but maybe can chime in on dying trends or simply things should be put in the grave

thoughts?

ps just noticed, and liking the new header prefix
 
What do you foresee becoming a new or developing/advancing trend this year (whether it be maths models, games mechanics, bonus structure et c) or any fads or old models you see dying a final death...think: megaways, 9 liners and more)

Example - I foresee something like......being able to purchase an exisiting or new top symbol to add to the reels, or additional bonus symbols

I'd be curious on what @trancemonkey thinks, but as someone in the field, I'd imagine his input may be limited due to future projects, but maybe can chime in on dying trends or simply things should be put in the grave

thoughts?

ps just noticed, and liking the new header prefix


What I can see from the demo links and announcements I have for Q1/2019, we can expect a ton more Megaways slots. Since they amount to a huge chunk of each casino's overall play, there will be a run to bring out as many as possible to have a piece of the pie as long as the frenzy lasts.

BTG licensed the engine now to Blueprint, Red Tiger Gaming and Storm Gaming Technology. Plus other providers, like Red Rake Gaming (pic below, 6x10 format with up to 1Mio ways), have developed their own model for megaways.

Hence, my prediction is that we will be innundated with Megaways, Multiways - you name it as you like. Plus, there will be a lot more in-game gambles/features where the player can win some extras. Developers call it "player engagement" :rolleyes:

The other thing which is gathering momentum is slot gamification - developers build in achievement tables and players get a reward when they reach the goal. It will be up to the casinos to "switch" the option on, but it exists already, e.g. on Quickspin and Yggdrasil games. This could prove popular especially for markets like Sweden where bonuses are not allowed starting 2019.

tiger-and-dragon-bonus.jpg
 
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Personally, I suspect players will go back to older slot titles, as the new titles simply do not make for a good playing experience. Old, classic 15, 25 and 50 liners will see more action as players try to get value for their money. Games with high RTP will see the most play time. I also suspect the UKGC will ban Feature Buys which are available on most Megaways games.

Slots should not be complicated and free spins and bonus features should be regular. We all want to win, but I believe most gamblers are happy if we can get a decent amount of play time for our deposit before busting.
 
@Harry_BKK - 'player engagement' - might be a yr marriage and a fast run to the JP for a divorce :p I'd think, providers will afterwards drop out of the licensing in an effort to create the next, big, new thing....and...
as @Betreels Casino suggests, I too can (and have) see(n) players clamouring back toward the 'basics'. I'm not 'that' guy that puts down the millenial generation (and the next generation of gamers is already about to pass that generation) but between a new and the old, the more complicated, the less the quick-fix and the less interesting - I'm somewhere in-between and have those on both ends that play, and 'complicated' does not seem to appeal.
 
It's entirely possible that the UKGC may ban or limit the amount of "collection" that can go on in a game... for example, how much RTP is hidden away in VGB if you never activate the best feature because you don't play long enough. This means most players never get near the RTP stated.
 
What I see for the next 1-2 years is less freedom in the "free world". See Australia, Canada and Europe.
It will soon be "you can only play this slot in that casino and nothing else"!
With complete financial block and internet block.

EU had UK looking out for us and protecting peoples interests .... now it's a jungle out there.

Then they will learn and start giving back some freedom.
 
Megaways has done great for BTG, although arguably Blueprint have done a lot more with it and made some better games. Whilst it's doing well, others will jump on the bandwagon. It's hard to tell how long they will continue, but there is certainly a risk of overkill. That said, i thought that DOND would only last 3 years in the pub fruit machine market in the UK, and they lasted almost 20 years.

I think we will probably start to see RTP drop to the 95% level as taxation increases. Hopefully the UKGC will do some useful stuff, rather than just focusing on "the dangers of autoplay" (of which there are very very few) and attack withdrawal reversals. As i've said in other threads, i can also see them doing something about feature buys (or stake levels in general online) and collection mechanics. The worry is that they will bring a gun to a knife-fight and over-react rather than react proportionally - but let's see.

On current trends, the B&M and online games are going in two different directions... B&M is going far more "jackpots on everything" and online is going far more "megaways on everything". I think we will also see even more providers appear who want a slice of the pie, and probably just as many small ones disappear. I can also see a time where one of the big providers begins to have challenges - mainly due to continued poor games or some other reason.

2019 could be interesting for so many reasons.
 
What I see for the next 1-2 years is less freedom in the "free world". See Australia, Canada and Europe.
It will soon be "you can only play this slot in that casino and nothing else"!
With complete financial block and internet block.

EU had UK looking out for us and protecting peoples interests .... now it's a jungle out there.

Then they will learn and start giving back some freedom.
as you say....from the us to aus to canada - we've less ability to enjoy our slots play as big brother 'looks out for us' (read: serves self-interest)
 
I think we will also see even more providers appear who want a slice of the pie, and probably just as many small ones disappear..
on that, is also seems more casinos are disappearing (notable ones - still a plethora of new ones that i dont suspect will have longevity)...as more seem to want pie, it looks as though its a grab-fest rather than learning from past mistakes and creating something new and better.
 
.....I can also see a time where one of the big providers begins to have challenges - mainly due to continued poor games or some other reason.....

Are you thinking what I am thinking? MG took a huge hit when they stopped their tournaments. Timing couldn't be worse either, with the megaways and the book of clone fever.
I find it interesting that we just happen to have another back to back > 15 million jackpot ;)

I have to say that I like their BOOZ so far. Can it beat BOD? I don't know, but even if it does they need a lot more than that.
 
There will be More Mega-No-Pays slots with BTG's engine meaning endless clones, different graphics and a LOT of players being shafted.

I honestly hope the UKGC bans the feature buy. Developers like BTG are treading on a bit of thin ice with their RG ethics and feature gambles. I expect them to release more tripe to that effect and ride the money wave that comes with it whilst players will lose their houses to get a paltry 500x hit on any of their slots.

Im hoping that NetEnt churn out some more slots in the line of Vikings BUT without the dead spin fiasco in the base game - I honestly had hope for that slot, but any hope dies off very quickly with the dead spins and rare feature - NetEnt need a new game engine or honestly need to work harder too root out their blank spin model.

PNG seems to be leading the pack, and quite honestly for me dishes out the most no nonsense 100x + wins every session when I do play (which is quite rare these days). I expect to see the best games being released by them this year.

So in a nutshell - More Megaways to lose, more feature buys with no big wins on BTG and their recruits.

NetEnt - more blank spins, more egg timers and more berry burst / starburst type games - (Surprise us Netent PLEASE)

PNG - A few proper slots with new and different game mechanics

MG - A few clones and new 243 way slots :p

Nate
 
Are you thinking what I am thinking? MG took a huge hit when they stopped their tournaments..
Did they? I always gathered they fell to the back of the pack because:
1. primarily download clients
2. single skew provider casinos
3. quite simply shit-ass releases, sub-par, and not on trend
 
@Harry_BKK - 'player engagement' - might be a yr marriage and a fast run to the JP for a divorce :p I'd think, providers will afterwards drop out of the licensing in an effort to create the next, big, new thing....and...
as @Betreels Casino suggests, I too can (and have) see(n) players clamouring back toward the 'basics'. I'm not 'that' guy that puts down the millenial generation (and the next generation of gamers is already about to pass that generation) but between a new and the old, the more complicated, the less the quick-fix and the less interesting - I'm somewhere in-between and have those on both ends that play, and 'complicated' does not seem to appeal.


I got about 150 demo links and slot announcements for Q1 - the Megaways / Gigaways / Terraways wave is rather high from what I can see. :D

Question comes up what will be the next big thing. BTG with Holy Diver is pointing a little into what's to come. Play more to be rewarded! - That is where I see a big RG issue, but it will grow larger until regulation puts a stop to it.
 
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Did they? I always gathered they fell to the back of the pack because:
1. primarily download clients
2. single skew provider casinos
3. quite simply shit-ass releases, sub-par, and not on trend

I would say
1. -1%
2. -3%
3. -10%
4. No tournaments: -30%
5. No book, no megaways: -20%
6. Jackpot > 15 million: +25%
7. Questionable marketing: +15%
 
I got about 150 demo links and slot announcements for Q1 - the Megaways / Gigaways / Terraways wave is rather high from what I can see. :D

Question comes up what will be the next big thing. BTG with Holy Diver are pointing a little into what's to come. Play more to be rewarded! - That is where I see a big RG issue, but it will grow larger until regulation puts a stop to it.
and i think thats the nail on the head..mega will become terra becomes ultra becomes uber until its its so so over saturated/inundated, its become tiresome and a fad that runs its course (until, as you say its stopped by default)
 
Megaways (variable reel positions) is on trend at the moment. So expect every man and his dog to want some... as with everything, eventually it will become saturated and someone will do something else which shifts the trend - whether that's another BTG game or something else. BTG have shown (so far) that outside of the megaways games, they aren't that good. I'm sure this will change....
 
Only if there is hidden RTP there, as trancemonkey said.

What i mean by hidden RTP is RTP that you have to work to unlock...
On most games, you can get a bonus in any spin (regardless of the frequency - it's just harder / easier depending on overall frequency). Therefore, if a million people played only 1 spin, the overall RTP would be pretty close to target.

However, on games with some sort of binding feature, this isn't true.

Now, the problem becomes even worse when you have long-term binding features. For me, games with binding features over a small number of games are fine. I'd even go so far as to say games which bind you for up to 100 games are ok, because most people play more than 100 games in a session.

But where you have games which you need to play 1,000's of games on to unlock the best feature - this could be seen as a problem. Imagine for example that i make a game which says it runs at 96%, but you need to play 100,000 games on it to win a guaranteed 6,000x. This means that everyone that plays less than 100,000 games is NOT playing a 96% game.

There is a fine balance between binding for excitement, and binding for the sake of binding. The issue is how you would legislate for this. For me, i would consider anything that forces players to play over 1000 games to unlock a proportion of the RTP should be frowned upon.

You might all have very different views on what is fair an reasonable in terms of the number of games - i'm sure some of you hate binding features regardless - but a blanket ban on binding games would kill a lot of very good, very fair games - when it's the outliers that are the ones that need looking at...
 
What i mean by hidden RTP is RTP that you have to work to unlock...
On most games, you can get a bonus in any spin (regardless of the frequency - it's just harder / easier depending on overall frequency). Therefore, if a million people played only 1 spin, the overall RTP would be pretty close to target.

However, on games with some sort of binding feature, this isn't true.

Now, the problem becomes even worse when you have long-term binding features. For me, games with binding features over a small number of games are fine. I'd even go so far as to say games which bind you for up to 100 games are ok, because most people play more than 100 games in a session.

But where you have games which you need to play 1,000's of games on to unlock the best feature - this could be seen as a problem. Imagine for example that i make a game which says it runs at 96%, but you need to play 100,000 games on it to win a guaranteed 6,000x. This means that everyone that plays less than 100,000 games is NOT playing a 96% game.

There is a fine balance between binding for excitement, and binding for the sake of binding. The issue is how you would legislate for this. For me, i would consider anything that forces players to play over 1000 games to unlock a proportion of the RTP should be frowned upon.

You might all have very different views on what is fair an reasonable in terms of the number of games - i'm sure some of you hate binding features regardless - but a blanket ban on binding games would kill a lot of very good, very fair games - when it's the outliers that are the ones that need looking at...

I agree, that is exactly how I see it. If it is easy, or no RTP on it, ok. If it is hard or you can buy it, say the RTP.

May I add jackpots to this? Personally I don't mind the jackpot taking big part of the RTP as long as that is stated in terms.
It definitely takes billions of spins and months of play to win one.
 
I agree, that is exactly how I see it. If it is easy, or no RTP on it, ok. If it is hard or you can buy it, say the RTP.

May I add jackpots to this? Personally I don't mind the jackpot taking big part of the RTP as long as that is stated in terms.
It definitely takes billions of spins and months of play to win one.
but surely, even the most basically seasoned of players know, the rtp is tied into a JP and like a lottery, its highly unlikely to hit and the 'dream' (assuming a high-end JP, not a 100x 'pot')
 
Starburst 2 with Megaways by Netent ... max win 500x ... feature: wilds spreading up to 0-4 times, 3 spreading wilds triggering 10 free spins (feature in free spins: wilds spreading always 4 times)

Have fun.
 

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