Continuing the tradition of first-hand info straight from the horse’s mouth, Casino Chick delivers another exclusive interview with online gaming industry leaders. This week, we had the honour of talking to Andrea Schultz, CPO at SpinPlay Games. SpinPlay is a popular independent gaming studio joining the winning Microgaming team in 2020. This prolific studio is responsible for some of the most popular Microgaming slots, such as Amazing Link Apollo and 9 Blazing Diamonds.
Read our entire talk with SpinPlay’s Chief Product Officer in the piece below.
First, let me start by saying thank you for having me. I’m Andrea, CPO at SpinPlay Games. I’ve been working in the gaming industry for over a decade. I started in land-based gaming, and then joined online gaming about two years ago. My roles have always been centered around game design starting with a mathematics role, then producing, and finally management. I love what I do and feel so fortunate to call this my career.
Young. Up and coming. We are a new studio, but we bring a lot of experience. We are a team made up of industry veterans.
Our games are born from math, and we take great pride in every part of our game. We are extremely fortunate to have an amazing team of artists, engineers, testers and musicians that all work well together and support each other. Every game is a team effort. I’d describe our studio as a round table made up of different experts, each with a strong sense of pride and ownership of the game.
We start with the math model first, then we attach an appropriate theme as we are working on the math. The theme should be a good reflection of the volatility so it’s key to get these aligned. Artwork is the next step, and the game really starts taking shape. Every element that influences the player’s experience is hugely important in the development process: it needs to all holistically come together.
There’s a lot of history here that allows us to work really well together. Serena and I went to grad school together. Serena and Anton started their land-based gaming careers together at WMS, while Anton and I worked together at Konami. Several SpinPlay team members did social gaming together. Our artists have previously worked side-by-side, as well as a few of our engineers. It’s like one degree of separation here at SpinPlay Games. This history has allowed us to ramp up quickly and create fun, cohesive games.
Oh yes! Due to my location, online gambling isn’t available to me. I really enjoy land-based gaming and really take advantage of being here in Las Vegas. I can’t say I have a favorite physical slot, but I do have my favorite casinos mainly because of the variety of slots they offer – they keep the classics but also work to keep their floor fresh, which is really important to me. I’m always on the hunt for the newest product to play.
I think it’s a great, timeless theme and we really enjoyed creating the game. It’s our spin on Atlantis. There is something hypnotizing about this game in particular that can be very immersive. Thanks to the players that love it and continue to play it.
It definitely has to be Amazing Link™ Zeus, which debuted our Amazing Link™ feature and paved the way for more games featuring the mechanic.
We have high hopes for both games. WOWPOT™ is a hit with players with the potential of massive wins, and Amazing Link™ Zeus showed that the Amazing Link™ feature is wildly popular among players. We have no doubt that players will enjoy Amazing Link™ Apollo and the new features it brings to the Amazing Link™ library.
Be on the lookout for Alice in WildLand and Mustang Riches, which are both being released this fall.
Alice in WildLand is played out on two reel sets and focuses on stacks of wilds and multipliers.
Mustang Riches debuts our new BlazingWays™ feature, where players collect coins to grow the number of BlazingWays™ to win.
I got my break in the gaming industry over 10 years ago as a mathematician right out of school. I was one of two females hired into this role, and we were the first mathematicians the company had ever hired. I will say that it didn’t go without notice that the first mathematicians were female. It was exciting to pave the way for this role within the male-dominated R&D department and to feel empowered by our fellow colleagues and management as we did so. This has also spilled over into SpinPlay Games. We have several managing roles filled by females. I know in past years succeeding as a woman in this industry was tough, but I do feel the mindset has shifted. We are heading in a good direction, and it’s humbling to be an example for future females looking to get into STEM careers.
Mimi is a Content Writer and Graphic Designer, a double threat of the team. She works hard to provide visually pleasing content for all Casino Chicks out there. Mimi is all about no-nonsense business but delivers jokes like no other. In her free time, she listens to metal, goes thrifting, and hangs out with her niece and nephews.
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