What matters more in iGaming: Theme, jackpot, or mechanics?

The iGaming sector of the gambling industry gets bigger and bigger each year, growing with its ever-increasing library of games and expanding audience. Despite classic gambling games like roulette and baccarat having high-quality live gaming titles at online gambling platforms, one type of game rules them all: slots.

In the UK alone, the slots category of remote casino gaming (online casino gaming) made up £2.1 billion of the £14.4 billion total gross gambling yield of Great Britain. There are many draws to slot gaming. Not only are the games simple to play, but the selection boasts a wide range of themes, jackpot potential, and the mechanics vary from game-to-game.

So, every slot game is different in one way or another, but which way matters the most?

A popular theme for players to enjoy

Source: Pixabay

For many slot games, the only chance to impress prospective players is with an enticing tile on the landing page of an online casino. So, it needs to be bold and appealing. To achieve this, many game developers turn to popular themes, such as those derived from ancient mythologies.

As has also been seen in video gaming, developers can draw from the mythology of Ancient Egypt with ease as the subject is popular, it has a long history of stories and interesting characters, and there’s just enough that’s unknown to allow for a lot more creative licence.

As such, games like Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead and Eye of Horus Megaways have become favourites at online casinos. However, given that the likes of Diamond Mine Megaways, Fishin’ Frenzy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Da Vinci’s Mystery Super Lines are currently the most popular games, it’s fair to say that the theme doesn’t matter too much over the long term.

A jackpot to aim for when spinning

One of the most intriguing factors of the slot machine is that you pay a relatively small amount to be in with a chance of winning the jackpot. While this is the case in all gambling games, in online slots, the difference between a stake and the potential jackpot is amplified a great deal compared to other games.

Source: Pixabay

However, online slot players have begun to drift away from the big in-game jackpots on offer, looking for titles which still do offer a nice jackpot in the game, but are also tied to a much larger prize.

Now, online gambling games for real money is often aimed at landing platform-promoted jackpots alongside in-game jackpots, with the Daily Jackpot, Cash Booster Jackpot, ad Monster Jackpot giving extra winning potential to any of the selected slot games to which they’re tied. The size of these jackpots and the drop rate have become very important for iGaming operators.

The game mechanics within the tech

While jackpots are the ultimate aims for slot players, the return to player (RTP) and volatility ratings are also of importance. These values allow players to know, roughly, what kind of slot gaming experience they’ll have while on each title.

RTP used to be the most coveted number in slots, indicating the overall percentage of money paid into the game that is paid out to the players over time. However, as the scene became more competitive, almost every game moved into the 90 per cent-plus region, and so it started to become a bit redundant.

Volatility is now the most trusted value for gauging what kind of gaming awaits the player in an online slot. It’s a measure from low to high, with low meaning more regular payouts but often of a lower value on average. High volatility means that payouts are less frequent but are more often of greater value.

In iGaming, the theme means very little if the game isn’t backed-up by either a big on-site and in-game jackpot or doesn’t conform in RTP and volatility values in accordance with what the greater player base prefers. More often than not, that means having a 92-plus RTP percentage and high volatility. That being said, the most popular titles are those that find the perfect balance between all three aspects.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.