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Challenging iGaming Norms: An Interview With Fugaso
By Ivan Potocki Jul 11, 2019 InterviewsWe sat down with Niko Mazger, CEO of Fugaso, to talk about his company’s values, biggest achievements thus far, and plans for the future.Fugaso is one of the rising stars of the iGaming market. The company has been around for only a few years but they’ve managed to make a big mark on the industry and they continue to come up with new ways to stay relevant in this highly competitive environment.
We were curious to know what comes next for Fugaso, how does the company see the future of online gambling, and what are their proudest achievements so went straight to the source and asked one person most likely to have answers to these and other questions that crossed ours and minds of our readers.
1) We are interviewing Niko Mazger, CEO of Fugaso , thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Please tell us a little about yourself and your position in Fugaso?
I’m currently the CEO of Future Gaming Solutions – or Fugaso – the name by which most players and partners know our company. I’ve been involved with the online gaming industry for a better part of 17 years thus far and there is definitely a growth trend that’s been visible in the past few years, which we, as a company, have been trying to capitalize on.
Fugaso was launched back in 2016, featuring a team of experienced professionals from the industry, many of whom used to work in other large iGaming companies. This sort of experience made it possible for us to start producing high-quality slots and table games right from the start.
2) iGB Live! in Amsterdam is taking place very soon; do you have any special plans for the event? Is there anything that you are going to announce or releases, which affiliates should know about?
Our team is coming to Amsterdam to meet media partners and we also want to use this opportunity to network with affiliates. On top of all that, during the conference, we will launch a new game called Magic Spinners. We’ve been growing rapidly and that's a part of the reason that we've decided to come to iGB Live this year. It is important to stay in touch with the industry and stay in the loop and meeting such as this provide an excellent opportunity to do just that.
3) As a game developer, can you tell us from your experience, what are the things in games that are most attractive to players? Themes, special and innovative features, bonuses, etc.?
I’d say it is the mix of all these things combined together in just the right way. Fugaso has garnered a lot of attention from the players right from the start thanks to creating titles with high-quality designs, rich features, progressive jackpots, and high RTP numbers, ranging from 95% to 99.5%. Of course, it also helps our games are certified by the UKGC, Malta, and Curacao, with more licenses to come in the future.
When it comes to selection of themes, we have a group of specialists working within the company tasked with coming up with the ideas for future releases. Themes are figured out based on the specific goal market, average player age, previous demands and requests from the existing customers, as well as the time and budget we have available for a particular release.
4) We really like your Trump It series of slots, it's a refreshing and interesting idea making fun with world leaders (and ballsy as well if might add). Can you tell us what made you create Trump It, how it came to be?
You’re correct – creating Trump It was a ballsy move but the idea behind the game reflects our company’s core values, i.e. providing players with the next level of excitement and entertainment. In fact, our Trump It Deluxe slot has been through a number of revisions, making the entire development process last six months, which was the longest ever for any of our games thus far.
5) It would be interesting to hear of any feedback you received about Trump It, from players or maybe other sources – can you share some feedback with us?
When we presented Trump It at ICE Totally Gaming, the overall feedback from everyone who came to see and try the game was very positive. The slot combines familiar faces and characters presented in a unique way and in funny situations with high RTP and the progressive jackpot feature. All of these elements combined have made our Trump It series into a big success.
6) When you start creating a new game, what is the most important factor standing in its core that guides you through development?
Developing a casino game is a complicated process. If we’re talking about slots, one of the first steps in that process is defining the number of lines and reels in the game, how many symbols there will be on the reels, etc. Then, we also need to decide if the game will be part of our progressive jackpot system.
Then, there is the whole process of coming up with the theme and the design of the game. This can be quite tricky, depending on how complex the game is from the visual standpoint. Sometimes, it can take a couple of months, sometimes up to six months – it is really hard to tell ahead of time.
Of course, throughout this entire process, we try to keep our eye on the ball and deliver a finished product that will actually provide players with an entertaining and enjoyable experience throughout. More importantly, we focus on keeping our promises in terms of RTP and other important elements so that all of our releases correspond with relevant technical rules and requirements by our licensing authorities.
7) Finally, do you have any goals or planned releases for the rest of the year that you would be willing to share with our players?
We have quite a few things planned for the rest of the year. First of all, there is Book of Tattoo II slot, which is bound to come out soon and represents a sequel to our original Book of Tattoo game. We believe this game will experience just as much success with the players as the original, if not more.
Clash of Gods is another new release that we have in a pipeline that we believe will be accepted very well by the players. Finally, there is Magic Spinners slot, a fresh title that should be going live soon, featuring the classic fruity theme but with some interesting and exciting twists.
Thank you so much for your time and for answering our questions. It seems like there is a lot going on right now at your company so we’ll definitely be keeping an eye out to see what Fugaso will surprises us with next. We wish you best of luck with your future endeavors and hope to have a chat again soon!
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