From the start of the pandemic to now, has Lightning Box matched its post-Covid expectations?
I don’t know if we had any particular post-Covid expectations. Like everyone, we have had to adapt to working remotely from time to time and keep a creative team together in spirit when they are miles apart in reality. But I don’t think it altered too many of our plans, nor the online casino industry’s expectations. Markets have been opening up and online gaming has been fairly robust over the last few months, certainly compared to some industries
which have really struggled.
Do you feel like the quality of Lightning Box’s products has improved since:
I) The pandemic?
We’ve always tried to create a consistent level of quality in everything we do. I wouldn’t say that that has changed either way, which is a credit to the team who have had to adapt their working conditions. Perhaps it gave us a little more time to think and decide what we wanted to do going forward. It may well have been the inspiration behind the creation of some of our unique game features.
II) The SG merger?
I don’t think so, especially. We had a road map in place and have consistently delivered content before and after the merger. The reason it came about was that Scientific Games liked what they saw and had the vision to say that it would be great for more people to enjoy our games via their network. There was no desire to change what we did, nor any pressing concern that we needed to up the quality of our output. It has been a very smooth transition – and we’re doing what we’ve always done, which is: producing popular and very playable games.
As America steadily becomes regulated across further states, has the acquisition by Scientific Games altered or changed the content you provide?
We were providing content in the US long before the Scientific Games deal, be that in regulated online states, land-based casinos, or on the popular social casino scene. In fact, long before Lightning Box was even founded, Peter Causley and I were creating games for US players. Obviously, not that many states have regulated online casinos yet, but we’re hopeful that more will follow the likes of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan sooner rather than later. When they do, we will be well-placed not only because of our experience in the market but because of the increased distribution reach our partnership with Scientific Games gives us.
What have you found to be the best benefit of joining forces with Scientific Games?
Given their size and reach they obviously have the ability to open a lot of doors for us, particularly within their existing operator partnerships. There are obvious economies of scale to be had from working under a large umbrella organisation too, which we have been using to our advantage since the deal was announced. We have the independence and flexibility to keep creating our own unique content, which is really encouraging. But we know it will now be enjoyed by players further and wider than we’d have been able to provide for when we were on our own.
What is the future for Lightning Box now and are there any big plans for 2022?
We have some exciting games in the pipeline and we’re looking forward to discussing those with clients at ICE in April. As fans of our games will have noticed, we’ve also been developing some exciting new features and mechanics. As well as creating unique new games, we will be giving some of our players’ favourites a makeover with these features.
It’s a really exciting time and, thanks to the Scientific Games partnership, I think we will have a far bigger presence in far more markets than ever before in 2022. Watch this space!
