Light & Wonder exclusive interview with Craig Turner

Slot Gods sat down with Light & Wonder for a friendly catch-up

It's almost been six months since SG Digital rebranded into the powerhouse that is Light & Wonder. Despite it only being a short-time, Light & Wonder has achieved an incredible amount in this time with the creation of Mighty Ways, the release of a new branded slots and even a fresh Rainbow Riches slot.

Deciding it was time for a mighty catch-up, Slot Gods spoke to the UK Creative Director at Light & Wonder, Craig Turner, to gain an exclusive insight into what the company has been doing for the past six months and what players have to look forward to for the rest of the year.

It’s fair to say that the studio’s transformation from SG Digital to Light & Wonder took everyone by surprise. Was there much upheaval in terms of your 2022 roadmap during the transition?

Craig Turner: If I’m honest, there wasn’t much upheaval thankfully. We were prepared for the transition well in advance. We’ve essentially pivoted from a one-size-fits-all strategy at SG Digital to having three work streams at Light & Wonder. We have a Creative Director for the UK, one for Europe and one for the United States, and we’re all building games for those specific markets.

Before the rebrand we would build a game and release it globally, but certain games were designed exclusively for a specific player base. Take Dancing Drums for example. This game is perfect for a North American audience, but we were releasing it everywhere – even in markets where it wouldn’t do well. Now we’re solely building games for dedicated markets and are thinking much more regionally focused.

What would you say have been Light & Wonder’s most popular slot releases in the last six months, particularly in the United Kingdom? 

Craig Turner: Our biggest release in the last six months is Rainbow Riches Rainbow Frenzy. It was a no-brainer for us, as up to this point we didn’t have any games in our portfolio that have the classic ‘cash collect’ mechanic commonly found in fishing games. Adding that mechanic to the Rainbow Riches franchise was a perfect move. It’s a simple yet fun slot that’s quickly become our best performing game of the last six months in the UK by far. 

Name:

Rainbow Riches Rainbow Frenzy

Developer:

SG Digital

RTP:

95.00%

Max payout:

2,000x stake

Reels:

5

Win lines:

10

Theme:

Irish

Release date:

31st Mar 2022

Play Rainbow Riches Rainbow Frenzy here:

Behind this in number two is Blazing Hot 7's Big Bonus. Up until this release we hadn’t done any classic fruit games for some time. My favourite thing about this slot is the guaranteed win mechanic. When you trigger the bonus round, every spin has the minimum value of your previous win. Players have naturally taken very well to this, and the game has flourished as a result.

Name:

Blazin Hot 7s Big Bonus

Developer:

Light & Wonder

RTP:

95.98%

Max payout:

2,300x stake

Volatility:

High

Reels:

5

Win lines:

40

Theme:

Fruit Machine

Release date:

27th Apr 2022

Play Blazin Hot 7s Big Bonus here:

It’s not at all surprising these are both games you might find in a betting shop, pub or casino. One of our strategies in 2023 will be to launch more games from our retail estate, as they do incredibly well in the UK. Again, it’s not something we’ve done for a while and I’m keen to work closer with our team in Manchester, as they have some spectacular land-based games coming out that I’d love to bring online.

You’ve released a handful of truly creative slots in the last six months including Direct Hit and Stargate Megaways, just how much of a challenge is it to innovate in such a crowded market?

Craig Turner: It’s a huge challenge, because with innovation comes cost and risk. We are often criticised for the amount of Rainbow Riches games we release, but we do this because players enjoy this franchise and continue to spend money playing these titles. Often, when we do innovate with these games, they don’t necessarily hit the mark, so it’s important to adopt a cautious approach.

Name:

Cluedo MightyWays

Developer:

Light & Wonder

RTP:

96.00%

Max payout:

50,000x stake

Volatility:

High

Reels:

6

Win lines:

262,144

Theme:

Gaming

Release date:

10th Jun 2022

Play Cluedo MightyWays here:

It’s all about managing that risk. Every three to six months, we’ll develop what we consider to be a truly innovative game and take a punt on it. Our biggest innovation this year was the Mighty Ways mechanic that we launched with Cluedo Mighty Ways. We want to differentiate ourselves from Megaways and Mighty Ways does that while still giving the customer a similar style of gameplay.

We’ve got 300 Shields coming out soon and we’re also going to refresh Invaders Megaways as a Mighty Ways game. We will then finish the year off with Raging Rhino Mighty Ways.

What do you think has set Light & Wonder apart from the rest of the iGaming industry in the first half of the year?

Craig Turner: I would say it’s our regional focus. I don’t think there are many other studios out there that can dedicate entire teams to building games specifically for the US, UK and European markets at the scale that we have managed. 

What’s really exciting is that our mindset is changing. We are not happy to simply churn out the same old games, and for us it will be all about pushing the boundaries and improving what we do as a team. 

We have had a strong six months. Our next step is to aggressively go after our target markets by producing strong games that feature themes and mechanics we haven’t implemented before.

Which slot features and mechanics do you think will be popular amongst players for the remainder of 2022? 

Craig Turner: I’m most confident that our Mighty Ways portfolio is going to be very strong. European customers want high production values, multiple ways to win and big, dirty wins. Mighty Way delivers on all three counts, while operating within a responsible gambling framework.

I also believe our guaranteed bonus games will be popular in the UK. With the economic challenges that people are going through, gambling funds for many will be limited. If, for argument’s sake, a £2 maximum bet is implemented, this will limit how much customers can spend on each spin. When players hit a bonus round they want to know that they are getting a reward from it, and these games ensure that.

Be sure to check out all that Light & Wonder has to offer, including the latest slot release of Wild Showdown, right here: