Fantasma Games
Movers and Shakers: Creating noise in the shark tank: what it takes to build a successful slot studio
Fredrik Johansson, CEO and Founder at Fantasma Games, on the challenging environment and organizational focus it takes for developers to create a sustainable business amid ever-increasing levels of competition.
Five years ago, the market entry barrier for a new game studio was relatively low.
This, combined with the low cost of accessing global and local distribution networks through well-established aggregators, led to an influx of studios moving into the space.
The result? Today, there are more than 750 game studios that released close to 11,000 new titles during 2023 alone – on average, an operator takes content from more than 60 providers.
One of the main challenges is that game themes and mechanical similarities now exist between the vast majority of games, and this is impacting the wider competitiveness of the market, and ability to position a unique player experience.
The market barrier entry for a new game studio is now incredibly high and for those who can get up and running, actually staying in the game is almost impossible.
Why? Because studios need to build trust with their portfolio and product roadmap and have a proven track record of creating premium content that hits the market with players.
If you can’t achieve this, you quickly find there is no demand for your games.
Does this mean new studios can’t succeed? Of course not. Fantasma Games is proof that with a clear focus and strategic direction you can get in on the action and find meaningful and trustful place in the market.
We have been able to establish ourselves as an innovative and premium provider of player-centric games that go beyond gambling to truly engage players.
We also keep our promises, and our customers are confident in our ability to continue to deliver games that perform highly and generate outstanding player engagement KPIs.
For me, this is crucial to the success of any studio.
Studios must be able to deliver premium, high-performing games that resonate with a wide range of player audiences in multiple markets, but they must also earn the trust of their operator partners.
Operators need to be confident in the studio’s strategic growth agenda and ambitions and that they will not only meet but exceed the goals they have set.
Of course, the success of a studio’s games comes into this and that is why the product roadmap must be balanced.
For Fantasma, this means daring to innovate and try something new while at the same time capitalising on existing high-performing mechanical frameworks that we know hit the mark with players.
The studios that take this approach can find they quickly move on from being the new kid on the block to being a major player in the content provision space.
For Fantasma, this has been achieved by working with a clear strategic plan and having a truly talented and passionate team always willing to go the extra mile to make a difference.
Hard work, focus and dedication from all our teams have been key to unlocking the strategic milestones that have enabled us to become established in this industry.
Again, I can’t downplay how important it has been to foster trusted relationships with our customers who believe in our roadmap and organisational capabilities just as much as we do.
Of course, you must always ensure the business is moving forward and that’s why we recently launched our own remote game server, FantasmaXpand.
This allows us to capitalise on existing partnerships and expand our joint collaborative initiatives in a way that ensures our customers are integral to how our roadmap is prioritised and developed.
It means our teams can focus on enhancing the technology roadmap, tuned and calibrated to our customer’s specific needs which in turn allows us to bring even more value to our partners.
This includes being able to deploy our content into new markets – another important capability for a studio to not only survive but thrive.
It has been natural for us to expand our geographical footprint alongside our international customers, as well as build strong local partnerships in key markets such as the US.
This ensures we stay relevant and allows us to keep optimising our global and local games roadmap in tight collaboration with our partners.
So, when you look at what goes into making a studio a success today compared to five years ago, it’s perhaps easy to see why some companies simply don’t make it.
Thankfully, Fantasma is a success story, but it has taken a great deal of passion and hard work to get to where we are today – and this is just the beginning.
Fortune Coins Casino, owned by Blazesoft Ltd., announced a strategic partnership with Sweden’s leading casino content provider Fantasma Games to bring its players brand new titles and boost both parties’ influence across the North American social casino sector.
FortuneCoins.com, the top social casino with sweepstakes elements in the US and Canada, has grown massively since its inception, garnering over two million registered players. The secret sauce to its success is the wide collection of games by leading gaming providers around the globe, customer-centric approach, and generous rewards. Unsurprisingly, these features have served as a magnet for avid players of casino-style games.
This Stockholm-based game provider prides itself on standing out from the crowd in the oversaturated iGaming market. Fantasma’s “slots beyond gambling” have already found a home on over 200 prestigious operators, and more than 1000 gaming sites, and now they will also become available to Fortune Coins’ players. Fantasma’s graphics and themes are equally impressive as they feature diverse storylines from ancient Volatile Egypt to the adventure-packed Goat Rush and many others. The games come in various shapes and forms, including 5×3 and 6×4 reel-to-row combinations, and are designed with a mobile-first approach.
Fortune Coins players can look forward to a collection of 27 unique slot titles by Fantasma Games, each reflecting the team’s experience, expertise, and knowledge. These slots boast plenty of special features like multipliers, wilds, free spins, expanding reels, progression meters — you name it, Fantasma slots have it.
“We have great admiration for the accomplishments of Fantasma Games, and we believe that combining our respective strengths and expertise can lead to fruitful outcomes. As one of our key partners, we hope Fantasma’s unique slot collection will raise the stakes for our avid slot fans,” said Mickey Blayvas, CEO at Blazesoft Ltd.
“We are thrilled to launch our games with Fortune Coins, one of the leading operators within the social casino space. Our games draw inspiration from the traditional gaming industry to increase player engagement, and we are excited to offer our top-performing games to Fortune Coins,” said Fredrik Johansson, CEO and Founder of Fantasma Games.
Fortune Coins has also recently partnered with market leaders like Relax Gaming, Booming Games, EvoPlay, KA Gaming, Let Us Entertain You Inc., Mascot Gaming, and many other gaming providers to expand its gaming library with hundreds of new high-quality titles.
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Wins of Nautilus Megaways, Bounty Showdown slots available to BetMGM players in Michigan, West Virginia
Fantasma Games announced today that its games portfolio will debut exclusively on the BetMGM Casino platform in Michigan and West Virginia. The first games to be made available to players are Wins of Nautilus Megaways and Bounty Showdown, with additional titles set to follow. All Fantasma’s slots will be delivered to BetMGM via the studio’s US distribution partner, Light & Wonder, Inc. (formerly Scientific Games).
Wins of Nautilus Megaways, available on 5 May in West Virginia and 12 May in Michigan, takes inspiration from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and sees players embark on an underwater adventure where there are plenty of bonuses to discover. Bounty Showdown, available on 5 May in Michigan and 12 May in West Virginia, puts players right in the middle of a Wild West showdown.
The launch was facilitated by Light & Wonder’s OpenGaming Fredrik Johansson, Founder and CEO at Fantasma Games said: “This is a milestone moment for Fantasma Games and something we have been working on for almost three years, marking our hotly anticipated arrival in the fast-growing US market. Each of our games has been designed to deliver experiences beyond gambling and this is achieved by combining thrilling themes with edge-of-your-seat gameplay. To enter the US market in Michigan and West Virginia with BetMGM a leading sports betting and iGaming operator, is a testament that our games can attract the interest necessary for the US market, on top of all the proven markets in Europe. We look forward to BetMGM’s players enjoying the high levels of excitement and entertainment that our slots deliver.”
Oliver Bartlett, Director of Gaming, BetMGM added: “BetMGM, the top online casino operator in the United States, continually invests in its industry-best games portfolio. We’re pleased to introduce our players to Fantasma Games, exclusively beginning in Michigan and West Virginia.”
Steve Mayes, Director of Partnerships at Light & Wonder, said: “Fantasma Games is home to a creative team that produces highly entertaining and immersive games, and has already built a strong reputation among our OpenGaming
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Developer of slots beyond gambling to create a series of games that will launch exclusively via the tier one provider’s OpenGaming platform
Fantasma Games, the developer of slots beyond gambling, has entered into a milestone agreement with Scientific Games that will see a series of exclusive games made available via the tier one provider’s feature-rich OpenGamingTM platform.
The partnership will significantly increase Fantasma’s global reach, making the games developed under the agreement available to all operators on the Scientific Games network and in core markets such as the US, Canada, Europe and South America.
Fantasma plans to design and develop its first game for launch during the autumn of 2021, with this and all future titles launched under the partnership exclusive to the OpenGaming system for a minimum of 18 months and with the agreement running for up to four years.
This will allow operators powered by Scientific Games to offer players games that have been designed to provide a thrilling, entertaining and highly engaging experience ahead of their rivals, allowing them to differentiate through content and better acquire and retain players.
Fantasma Games was founded in 2017 and has quickly become one of the most in-demand slot developers thanks to its philosophy of creating slots beyond gambling and that offer an exceptional one-handed experience when played from mobile.
Fredrik Johansson, Commercial Director of Fantasma Games, said: “We are both happy and proud of the fact that as a relatively young company, we are now able to offer our games in North America and other key regulated markets around the world.
“We want to reach as wide an audience as possible, and this agreement and Scientific Games’ global operations give us that opportunity. We are working hard on a number of new game titles and look forward to presenting more of them through this partnership in the future.”
Steve Mayes, Partnership Director at Scientific Games Digital, said: “Our vision is to continue to drive the world’s most powerful aggregation platform with leading customers and game developers across every major regulated market, partnering on the development of cutting-edge content that players enjoy and can play responsibly with the necessary responsible gambling tools that come with our offering.
“Fantasma Games is a young, hungry studio and their ethos and vision make them a perfect new addition to the OpenGaming portfolio. We are very excited about this partnership and look forward to releasing the type of games we know our players love.”
The news comes shortly after Fantasma Games closed its over-subscribed IPO ahead of making its debut on the NASDAQ First North last month.
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