The sequel
“There were actually so many ideas that we thought we could iterate on that mechanic, and that’s where Money Train 2 came through,” he explained. “Since then, we’ve also looked at the game and gone ‘okay, with the regulator landscape that we have, it’s quite a feature-buy-heavy game and people want to fast track to the free spin feature’ - so we created something called Bonus Reels which is totally unique and innovative in the business. “The game flow allows so much iteration essentially, and that’s why we are looking at expanding the franchise even further to be honest.” Highlighting the impact the addition of the Bonus Reels mechanic has had, Hammon explained that “it’s opened up the money train mechanic to a market where it wants to fast-track to the action but doesn’t have a buy feature available to do that and bypass that.” Moving onto his thoughts on the impact sequel titles might have on player retention and acquisition and whether they affect the popularity of original titles, he noted: “In some cases I would say it can, more often than not, negatively affect the original title, especially if the follow-up isn’t strong. “Money Train 2 is actually one
58 SBC LEADERS • MAY 2022
that did completely the opposite. It helped the original game and it didn’t cannibalise on the original traffic because the sequel was so good. “Once you have something really great it’s difficult to create an even better variant and I think Money Train 2 was one of those examples where, if you’re going to do a sequel, you’re going to do it well and put the love in and create something different rather than just trying to use the IP for some leverage.”
I WOULD SAY IT’S TOUGH TO MAKE A GOOD SEQUEL THAT IS GOING TO CAPTIVATE A NEW AUDIENCE AND ACTUALLY GROW ABOVE AND BEYOND “I would say it’s tough to make a good sequel that is going to captivate a new audience and actually grow above and beyond.” He continued: “I think what you need to do is ensure that the sequel has some familiarity, but what you need to do is ensure that you really try and differentiate the second or third offering with new features, new functionality, new win potential, new flow, etc. so that it’s different enough
that players find it interesting. You’ve really got to invest time to make that sequel strong.” Looking forward to the CasinoBeats Summit 2022, Hammon noted: “Obviously it’s always nice to be recognised for great game design and great product development and we hope that the players and community appreciate what Relax is doing on that front. We try to produce high-quality stuff ultimately.” Concluding on what players can look forward to seeing from Relax Gaming for the rest of the year, Hammon revealed that the company has got “a lot cooking”, adding: “I think that one of the main undertones from Relax is that we want players to look forward to the productions Relax is coming out with. “That’s why we don’t do skins, we always invest in unique mechanics, volatility and interesting designs so none of our games typically look the same or have the same flow. “This year we’ve got some pretty exciting stuff coming. If we’re talking about Money Train 2 - and I’ve alluded to the fact that we have so many great ideas and so many different extensions - then maybe there might be another one coming this year… who knows?” •
