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Can any of the upcoming slots dethrone Starburst in 2021

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Starburst is the video slot created by NetEnt back in 2012. Despite its age, it is still one of the most popular slots currently, and probably the most played video slot game of all time! What makes this classic 5×3 slot so special that is still played by millions today, and can anyone find the secret behind its success, and create the slot which can dethrone Starburst in 2021? We will analyze the facts of what makes Starburst that popular, and take a look at some of the upcoming slot releases from the first quarter of 2021 and try to give an answer to that question. Also, if some of you, by any chance, still haven’t tried this amazing slot, Starburst free play is available. Try it now and see why it is so popular.

 

The Building Blocks behind Starburst Popularity

At first glance, we can see that Starburst’s graphics and design are impeccable. It is still modern, although it is more than eight years old! Although this is just makeup, it is very important for slot longevity.

With the fast evolution of technology and the fact that graphics are becoming more sophisticated, even slots that are only two or three years old can look outdated. After that, their player counts go to the abyss. With Starburst this didn’t happen, and we even believe that it won’t, because graphics are that sophisticated, and yet so simple, that we won’t see a huge dip in their popularity anytime soon.

The second reason behind Starburst slot popularity is its simplicity. Some of the slot game providers experiment with a huge number of reels and rows, many different features, and various cosmetic additions to keep the players entertained and happy. Starburst makes all the things simple, with its classic 5×3 design. Some players argue that Starburst is boring, but it is not a coincidence that the 5×3 design is the most popular slot design ever. It is not too plain and boring, and not too complicated as well, because slot game players want to win some cash, and not feel overwhelmed by design and gameplay.

Starburst has a huge betting range, from €0.01 to €100. That allows both casual players and high-rollers to play this slot. Although high-rollers don’t like this slot very much, because it is not volatile, casuals adore it. There are many more casual players than high-rollers, so they again targeted a broad audience.

We mentioned that Starburst has low volatility and therefore is not that popular with the players who want to win big. However, casuals love to see many small wins, because they have a feeling that they are generally winning, although they actually don’t – the wins you will get will often be smaller than the bet you made, but some of the players somehow don’t notice it. The sessions are usually long if you play for the smallest amounts, so you can have fun, even if you lose money.

For all these reasons, Starburst retained its popularity over the last eight years. Although it is not the best slot in terms of the chances of winning big, all the reasons we mentioned make it appealing for most players, which happen to be casuals.

We will now take a look at some of the upcoming slot releases and try to guess whether or not they have a chance for dethroning Starburst.

 

The Most Anticipated Slot Releases 2021

January is not over yet, and we already got some exciting slots this year. For example, we got an exciting video slot from Gamomat, an independent slot game provider, called Crystal Strike. It is a highly volatile slot, beautifully designed, with classic features such as respins and wilds.

Nolimit City released San Quentin xWays. This slot is based on the infamous US jail, which is a theme that wasn’t widely used, so it can be hit or miss, but we expect to be popular, especially among the younger audience.

iSoftBet, another award-winning games supplier, released Mighty Stallion Hold & Win, the Wild West theme-based video slot. It is another slot that uses their Hold & Win mechanic, but the theme is not inventive, nor the slot itself is offering something new – it is basically the type of slot we get from them all the time, only with a slightly altered theme.

Play’n GO released Miner Donkey Trouble, while Pragmatic released Mysterious Egypt. These slots feel like they were already seen before, and there is no chance that slots that use the same, boring theme, such as the Ancient Egypt flourish and dethrone Starburst.

Pragmatic Gaming has a more interesting release scheduled for February – Dragon Kingdom: Eyes of Fire. This slot should be way better and way more popular than Mysterious Egypt because it has a flawless design and many features attached. Dragons are still a popular topic, and they aren’t overused in video slots such as Ancient Egypt, so we can see this release gaining popularity right off the bat.

Another highly anticipated release should be the Playtech Age of the Gods series’s next release – Book of Oracle. This slot should be the first to come from Playtech in 2021, and they decided to go big right away. Age of the Gods series gained a significant amount of players which is getting bigger with every new slot release. We expect that this slot will be masterfully done in terms of the graphics and interface (since we still didn’t have an opportunity to see it), and the features should be similar to the ones from the previous slots. This is a volatile, progressive jackpot slot, so it will draw attention from the high-rollers.

 

What Features Should a Slot Have to Beat Starburst

Since we know what is behind Starburst’s popularity, and we saw what the first slot releases are in January 2021, the question arises – does any slot from this list have the features and traits required to dethrone Starburst? We can never know for sure, but the answer is probably – no.

To be as popular as Starburst, the audience must be predominantly casual players. There are some amazing, volatile slots you can make a fortune on, but there are not enough people who would risk big money to try it out. Long, interesting sessions, with lots of small wins, which give you the false impression that you are an overall winner, are the key to the slot popularity.

After that, the slot must have an impeccable design that will age well, so it can stay relevant with time, and must have simple, but yet unique and interesting features. You should overcomplicate, but the slot can’t have a dull theme or average graphics.

 

Summary

We eagerly expect more great slot releases in 2021. In January and February, we should get several amazing slots from the biggest slot games providers, but in terms of popularity, we don’t think that any slot will be able to dethrone Starburst anytime soon.

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try out new slot additions, especially if you are a high-roller. There is a trend of more progressive jackpots, mega ways, and other great features incorporated in new slot releases, and in general, it seems that the average volatility is getting higher, which is excellent news for the ones chasing big wins.

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Interviews

Scaling With Purpose: RedCore’s Tech Vision Explained

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At SiGMA Central Europe in Rome, European Gaming Media sat down with Yevhenii Yankovyi, Vice President of Technology and Deputy CTO at RedCore, for a deep look into what truly powers RedCore’s large-scale engineering operations.

RedCore is known for innovating at enterprise level, yet moving with the agility of a fast-growing tech company. In this conversation, Yevhenii breaks down how the organization manages that balance: how engineering teams maintain both speed and reliability, how automation empowers creativity, and why culture must remain a daily practice rather than a one-time achievement.

 

Can you introduce yourself and RedCore’s approach to engineering at scale?

Sure. My name is Yevhenii, I’m the Vice President of Technology at RedCore and Deputy CTO. RedCore is a large company with many products and projects, so everything we do operates at a significant scale. And when people hear “enterprise-level engineering,” the usual assumption is that scale automatically means slowness: slow decision-making, slow implementation, slow testing, slow time to market.

That’s the mindset we challenge. We don’t believe speed and stability are opposites. In our experience, at this level of complexity, the two actually reinforce each other. When you build the right processes, the right technical foundations, and the right organizational structure, speed becomes a natural result of stability – not something that contradicts it.

We plan for scaling from day one. For us, that’s a fundamental requirement. We build products with the expectation that they will grow, and growth means scale. So we design with that in mind from the very first line of architecture.

But that doesn’t mean disappearing for six or ten months to design the “perfect” system. That’s the common mistake people make when they hear “design for scale.” Our approach is different: we keep the long-term vision in mind, but we move fast, iterate, and make sure the product can evolve without slowing the team down. Stability and speed working together – that’s the engineering culture we build at RedCore.

How does RedCore balance speed and stability in daily engineering?

I will explain this with a simple metaphor: think about a car. Everyone talks about acceleration and top speed, but none of that matters if you can’t take a corner. Speed alone is not the winning formula – you also need control.

That’s exactly how we look at engineering at RedCore. We want to accelerate, make decisions quickly, and develop fast. But we also need the ability to slow down at the right moment, change direction, and stay agile. Balancing speed with stability is the only way to move at scale.

There are many layers to this – it’s a topic I could talk about for days – but in a nutshell:

at a big scale, you must have strong standards, clear policies, and a high level of automation. We rely heavily on automation: infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and all the tools that remove repetitive, routine work from engineers’ daily lives. When the routine disappears, people can focus on what humans actually do best: creativity, problem-solving, and innovation.

However, automation doesn’t build the software for you. It creates a safety net. It catches mistakes, guards quality, and supports engineers when their creativity pushes boundaries. In other words: tools give freedom, and also protect that freedom.

And of course, this includes AI and many other modern tools. We use whatever helps us keep the balance: give people space to think, create, and experiment, while ensuring the system stays stable, predictable, and high-quality.

How does RedCore’s management keep teams aligned yet fast?

First of all, we provide clear goals. As I mentioned earlier, we always design for scale from day zero – but you can only do that if you know exactly what you’re building, for whom, and why. We have a very strong business team that understands the market and what needs to be delivered. The technology team works side by side with them, reinforcing them.

Once the goals are clear, we begin small. If you try to build a huge system from the beginning and get it wrong, you create a nightmare: something no one can support, change, or grow. Complexity grows exponentially, and humans don’t think exponentially; we think linearly. That’s where companies often get lost.

So we avoid that by validating early and validating often. We start with small steps, keep a close eye on every direction we take, and confirm that what we’re building is truly needed by the market. When we see that the direction is right, then we scale – and by that point, the foundation is already in place. It’s like preparing a launchpad so that when the time comes, the team can accelerate immediately.

We build block by block and work in iterations. We take a small team – one, two, maybe three people – and let them experiment for a week. We test the idea fast, get quick feedback, and bring it to the business side: “Do you like it?” If the answer is yes, then we continue, still following all the proper engineering practices before anything goes into production.

This constant loop between business and technology keeps everyone aligned. We give feedback, we receive feedback, and we move together. That’s how we stay both fast and coordinated, always ready to scale when the direction is confirmed.

How does automation empower engineers without slowing them down?

When we talk about automation, we’re really talking about optimization at scale. It doesn’t make sense to over-engineer small things, but at the scale we operate, the cost efficiency and speed gains are enormous. And people often assume that big systems and automation automatically slow everything down. For us, it’s the opposite.

The tools we introduce are not meant to tie engineers’ hands with bureaucracy. We don’t force strict guidelines or heavy processes that kill creativity. Our tools exist to help: to prevent mistakes, to collect feedback quickly, and to give teams the shortest possible path from idea to validation.

Here’s a simple example: we start experimenting with a small feature. We build a tiny prototype to see if the idea works. If it’s promising, the next step is testing, pipelines, deployment – all the things that normally take time. In many companies, engineers would try to do all of this manually because “building the tools will take too long.” But with us, the tools are already there. The infrastructure, the CI/CD, the automation – everything is ready to use. Our engineers are essentially customers of this internal platform that supports fast, safe delivery.

We have many different teams that have different great ideas. If one team tries something new and it works better, great – we learn from it. If another team has a different approach because of product specifics or release schedules, that’s fine too. We give freedom to the teams to work, share their experiences, and then scale.

Of course, there are non-negotiables. When it comes to security and data privacy there is zero tolerance. These are areas where strict rules are absolutely necessary. I always tell the security people: everyone should be a little afraid of you, because these things must be perfect. But outside those critical areas, we don’t impose rules that slow teams down. We experiment, gather feedback, adjust, and keep improving.

We’re constantly researching, experimenting, and customizing our automation depending on the product and the market. But when it comes to system design, we don’t reinvent the wheel. We choose globally recognized tools and industry-validated technologies. So yes, we empower engineers with automation and the right tools, built on a solid, modern foundation.

How does culture work for you – is it an achievement, or part of your routine?

Culture is a critical element in balancing speed and stability. Tools and processes matter, but culture is what truly empowers a team and keeps everything together at scale.

For us, culture starts with giving people freedom: the freedom to experiment, the freedom to make mistakes, and the freedom to challenge ideas. We don’t want engineers to be afraid of trying something new. We build a culture where mistakes are acceptable and manageable. If we try something and it doesn’t work, great – now we know better. We learn, adjust, and move on.

We encourage ideas from every level. Some of our most interesting insights come from developers who notice something while working on a small task. They can come directly to me or to the CTO and say, “I see a problem here.” It’s completely okay. A small detail in one corner of the system can become a huge issue at scale, so we listen. That’s how we avoid blind spots.

We also give teams autonomy. Small teams can make their own decisions and experiment in their own ways. If different teams want to do things differently, that’s fine – as long as they validate everything and share their findings. We want people to help each other and to understand that even top engineers have ups and downs. Even senior management makes mistakes. I constantly ask my team: “If I make a wrong decision, tell me.” It’s not about transparency as a buzzword – it’s about behavior. People observe how you respond, and they learn from that.

The biggest mistake any leader can make is demotivating people. We work with intelligent, educated, passionate professionals. They want to contribute. You just need to give them the space to do it. That’s when you see people shine and bring forward brilliant ideas.

As for the question of whether culture is an achievement or a routine – for us, it’s definitely a routine. People often talk about “building a strong engineering culture” as if it’s a success. We treat it as a routine as a process. Culture is the daily interactions between people in an organization. Those interactions change: people come and go, someone has a bad day, someone disagrees with a decision. Culture is shaped every day by how we communicate, how we argue, how we respect each other, and how we resolve differences.

Going to a colleague in the kitchen and asking, “Hey, what do you think about this?” – that’s culture. Anyone can talk to anyone, openly. And when engineers realize they can make a real impact, that they are heard, that they can influence the product — that motivates them. That’s what keeps the culture alive.

How do you balance standards with creative freedom?

The first thing is that we don’t pressure people. We set strict standards only where they are truly critical for the business. Security, data privacy, stability at scale – those areas demand clear rules. But everywhere else, we try not to push people. And when we do introduce a standard or guideline, we listen carefully to feedback. If the team tells us we made the wrong call, that’s okay – we rethink it and look for better approaches.

The second thing is that as the projects grow, the teams scale as well. Even in the design phase, we don’t start with a huge team. I prefer a small group: one key person who leads the design initiative, plus two or three contributors who constantly review, test, question, and give feedback. If three or four people align in one direction, that’s a good signal we’re on the right track. Then we take that proposal to a larger group – people who might use it or need it.. We refine it again based on their input. The idea evolves, but we don’t need to start from the beginning.

Finally, when we have a strong direction, we present it to the entire tech team. And even then – even if top management already supports the decision – it’s completely acceptable for a mid-level developer to raise concerns. Maybe they’ve seen something before, maybe they read an article, maybe they faced a similar issue. We listen, because at scale, one overlooked detail can cost millions.

So once again, balancing standards with creative freedom is about scaling the processes step by step: we start with a small group, validate in small cycles, and then scale the decision up gradually. This approach protects creativity, ensures high quality, and keeps us aligned. And combined with our culture, it makes the process both fast and safe.

The post Scaling With Purpose: RedCore’s Tech Vision Explained appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Alinda van Wyk

Super Group Comments on United Kingdom Autumn Statement

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Super Group (SGHC) Limited, the parent company of Betway, a leading online sports betting and gaming business, and Spin, the multi-brand online casino, notes the United Kingdom Autumn announcement:

In this Autumn Statement, the UK government announced increases to gambling duties: Remote Gaming Duty (iGaming) will rise by +19 percentage points (from 21% to 40%), effective April 2026 and General Betting Duty (Online Sports Betting) will rise by +10 percentage points (from 15% to 25%), effective April 2027.

Neal Menashe, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Super Group supports the reasonable taxation of online gaming in the UK. We rely on the government to ensure that today’s very substantial increase should be paired with robust and strict enforcement against non-paying offshore operators. This is essential to protect the regulated sector’s investment in jobs, technology, and responsible gaming in the UK.”

Alinda van Wyk, Chief Financial Officer, commented: “Going forward, we estimate that these new tax increases will have an impact of approximately 6% to our 2026 Group Adjusted EBITDA. However, Super Group already has several mitigation levers in motion, which are intended to offset the tax impact. Our strategy remains unchanged: sustainable growth and disciplined capital allocation. We don’t expect today’s news to alter our long-term trajectory nor our capital return priorities.”

The post Super Group Comments on United Kingdom Autumn Statement appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Andy Greaves

TVC Completes AV Installation at ScotBet

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TVC Technology Solutions has completed a comprehensive AV installation for leading Scottish bookmaker ScotBet. Reinforcing how cutting-edge audiovisual technology can dramatically elevate customer engagement, brand impact and operational flexibility in betting shops, ScotBet is another in a list of betting shop makeovers for TVC, including a significant number of independent bookmakers throughout the UK.

The project saw TVC partner with ScotBet to modernise digital infrastructure across a number of stores, delivering high-quality visuals, streamlined content distribution and a unified signage platform. The aim was to create a premium experience that draws in customers, enhances dwell time, unlocks in-shop promotional opportunities and underpins ScotBets’ competitive positioning.

TVC’s campaign started with a deep dive into ScotBet’s existing estate, identifying inconsistent screen sizes, dated display technologies and poor content manageability. Working alongside ScotBet’s retail operations and brand teams, TVC created a future-proof AV design plan encompassing ultra-slim large format displays in key customer zones, dynamic digital signage driven by branded content and a centralised control system for roll-out calability.

In each store, TVC installed industry-leading large-format commercial LCD and LED displays, including high-brightness 75″ panels in customer-facing zones, complemented by multiscreen TV gantries above key counters to deliver live odds, race streams and promotional content. These displays were mounted via low-visual-impact brackets to preserve the sleek interior design while maintaining full service access. The project also included a dedicated network of digital signage screens in foyer spaces, driven by the MySign digital signage platform. This enabled ScotBet to push up-to-the-minute messages and odds, event-based campaigns and third-party partnerships with minimal delay.

What sets the TVC-ScotBet collaboration apart from a typical AV and digital signage installation is the seamless integration of content and infrastructure from a single company.

Beyond hardware, TVC delivered a tailored content-creation service, to produce a range of dynamic content. This included templated campaign animations, in-store clock-in of live odds tickers, game-day social-feed overlays and fast-paced screen-fillers that mirror the fast-moving world of wagering.

Andy Greaves, sales director at TVC, said: “Our employee-owned structure means everyone at TVC is passionately behind every project. We instantly become partners to our betting shop customers, rather than just supply vendors, and the ability to supply and install an end-to-end video, signage and content integration seamlessly makes for a smooth project from start to finish.”

TVC brings nearly three decades of experience to the AV installation in hospitality, leisure, gambling, gaming and retail spaces. The portfolio spans F1 gaming arcades, bars and pubs, hotels, care homes, boardrooms and retail spaces, with specialist knowledge in the complexities of high-traffic public environments and the regulatory demands of leisure and betting retail. From bespoke mounting solutions in confined shop-floor footprints to full networked AV infrastructures across multiple sites with cloud-integrated content, TVC tailors its system design to each customer’s requirements and backs each project with ongoing service and maintenance support.

“With surveys showing increased dwell time, engagement and sales through digital signage advertising, and with many better retailers seeing over 10% of their revenue attributed to virtual and e-sports, now is the time to maximise your AV impact and ROI,” said Greaves.

The post TVC Completes AV Installation at ScotBet appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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