By Roman Frymer, editor at G&M News, and Damian Martinez, journalist at G&M News.
Mancala Gaming has always stood out for its creativity and originality in the generation of its products to deliver top entertainment to players. How does the company apply this innovation in its products to offer added value to operators?
The creative process to bring a playful, optimal experience is not simple. There is an element of expectation on each new game that must be nurtured for the player to be attracted. The mix between the different nationalities of the executives that we have in the team, apart from our freedom of elaborating and sharing ideas, has helped us to define fluid proposals in the new solutions that we have developed. There is a clear vision to continually enhance the quality of our titles.
The company presents different genres of games to keep up with the various types of players. Currently, there are new generations of players whose unique tastes and demands must be satisfied. How are you facing this challenge?
At Mancala Gaming, we try to maintain some content with a classic style within our portfolio since we must satisfy all players. We develop games that are what one would traditionally expect from a slot machine. It is true that, in the past, we took the opportunity to innovate and make games with more casual themes that come from other worlds such as video game consoles. We want to achieve this feeling of “engagement” with both the classic and the new player to deepen their identification with our brand. We also increased interactivity with the gamification elements that we have implemented and continue to optimize.
Which have been the effective key tools to drive so much the company’s growth during 2023?
Hard work always pays off. We are in a harmonious situation between the sales, account management, integration, and marketing departments to achieve this desired effect. Much of last year’s growth was due to changes we made in account management that have resulted in a very positive impact for both the company and our partners. We not only seek to make games, but we also want to provide added value in the way we carry out business. We develop promotions for operators carefully looking at their organic traffic, and, at the same time, we want to make each operator evolve. Of course, we adapt to different audiences and markets.
What were your sensations after attending the last ICE London edition? What products did the company display?
ICE London has been a benchmark in the industry for many years. Being the last edition of the trade show in London, there was an element of nostalgia in the air as I saw different people who stopped coming to the city for many years and who have now returned for this great conclusion. Barcelona and its novelties will come, but, at the moment, there was a feeling of closure of a cycle and an era. However, we were there reaffirming Mancala Gaming’s position in the international market by having an expanded team in London, with much more product offering and accumulated experience. We anticipated the release of the new Epic Tower online slot, a funny game in which the player creates floors, and each floor adds new lines. It’s reminiscent of Android games where you constructed buildings, only this time we incorporated the mechanics of an online slot.
Your Bonus Tools are very valuable to your clients. How do they work and in what way do Mancala plans your strategy to boost income’s increase for operators?
Mancala Gaming starts from an operator’s organic traffic to create promotions and, to do so, we use our own tools. We do the calculations to be able to prove and project the possible profits that the use of them will generate. We have different tools to gamify the player’s experience by automating many rewards that can take different forms for each operator, whether through a wheel of fortune or a treasure hunt. For the future, we are planning to implement another way to display those objects to the player and create the most interactive experience between the player and the operator.
Besides its products, the company is improving its internal structure. How are you going to manage a very active production in 2024?
Thanks to the work we’ve done so far, we have been able to consolidate the development of a stronger team. We are growing in all business verticals. Currently, we are carrying out an important recruitment process in the company with a view to the work we are going to do this year. Last season brought very vertical growth since all the KPIs achieved were between 400 and 1,000% above estimates, whether measured month by month or year by year. In 2024, we want more. In 2023, we completed at least 50 integrations, and this year we started with 82. That’s not counting what we have achieved in London. Mancala Gaming went from being the ‘new kid on the block’ to establishing as a consolidated brand. We have fans in many markets, so what we must focus on now is continuing to grow and improve the product. We are going to focus on obtaining more licenses this year and continue expanding because Mancala Gaming is here to stay.