At ZOOT Studios, we have deeply invested in our AI game development capabilities (Carbon) to enable our team to quickly and more efficiently build quality Deep Custom Instant Games for key operators around local holidays, cultural events, or even certain VIP customer interests (e.g. usually cats or aliens). Being able to build a high quality game in less than a day is a game changer for this sector.
Most of our team has been in traditional video games for 25+ years, so we have been through many waves of game innovation, but we always fondly remember the early Flash gaming days where for the first time, a single developer could make and deploy a digital game to a website with almost no friction. This gave rise to the infamous and insanely popular Zidane Headbutt game on Shockwave.com right after the 2006 World Cup.
We have re-created that feeling with our Carbon AI process and we feel it will broaden the reach of iGaming beyond the current audience by expanding the content categories and by reacting to recent relevant events. Soon we will even start to open up our Carbon AI tool to a set of gamers and operators to unleash their creative potential.
iGaming vs General Gaming
However, because this is iGaming and not general web gaming, we all need to ensure that every game hits desired RTP and volatility goals, and that each one is rigorously tested before it ships to an operator to ensure there are no bugs or obvious exploits as this is Real Money Gaming, not Free to Play.
That process has been a lot of the foundational work we have done in the past 12 months – deploying AI-developed games on rock solid iGaming infrastructure which builds on our own experience with a Sweepstakes site to test the game engines and tournament functionality.
Aggregator partnerships are key
Deploying 10+ games a week across 6 genres can be a strain on the overall system, so clear communication with our current aggregator partners Hub88, Vegas Software, Alea and Casimba is key to making sure these games are correctly categorized and made available to operators in a timely fashion, like our World Champions game launched around the World Cup in June.
I personally can’t have another conversation about deployment delays due to Game Thumbnails not being ready – that’s what API’s and AI can easily solve and we’re working with partners to speed up the process. We also need direct feedback from operators about what types of content would work for their gamers, so working with our aggregator to enable that communication is important versus being a road block.
Increasing graphical and audio fidelity to broaden reach
I often compare the current state of Instant Games to the Asteroids or Space Invaders era of arcade games, with low graphical and audio fidelity – we all know that Fortnite will eventually arrive, but it currently feels like a long time away in most Instant Games.
Using our Carbon tool, we’re now able to have animated backgrounds in every game, and we are steadily increasing the audio components, including having streaming music in some of our games.
Our AI tool ensures that we can keep the game payload low enough for emerging markets (we used to develop for much more primitive devices), but that we can increase the overall enjoyment and FUN of these games because we’re in the entertainment business at the end of the day, and iGamers should enjoy the experience.
Avoiding AI “slop”
As we’ve seen in other media categories, the rise of AI tools is going to lead to a massive surge in content production as it will be easier than ever to churn out clones of popular iGames. At ZOOT Studios, we focus on making culturally relevant content that will resonate with an operator’s audience vs making increasing numbers of generic games.
For example, we built a Hipica (horse racing) game for a Peruvian partner and we built a Swamp Buggy-themed game for a partner whose CEO races those machines. In a swamp of undifferentiated content (hello Greek-themed slots), we believe this Deep Custom approach will resonate more with partners.
Helping marketing with UA and monetization
At ZOOT we have learned that pairing a new game with a key marketing message can increase ROI by 17% or more vs just offering some type of coin or crypto package.
This means making sure you have a suite of St Patricks Day games in March along with your special offer, or it can be sending out an “Odyssey”-themed offer along with our similarly themed games.
New content isn’t just for monetization – it also should help your marketing team with reduced Customer Acquisition Cost as you can stand out from the crowd.
Conclusion – AI is coming quickly, so start adopting it
Historically, iGaming moved slowly due to regulatory challenges such as having every new game be certified over a multi-month process.
With the rise of AI, we’re going to have to move faster across the entire chain, from developer to aggregator to operator as our gamers will expect to have access to fresher and more fun content on a much faster cadence, no different than how they scroll through an Instagram Reel feed every day.
Some operators will stick with the same 100 or 1,000 games, but many will be looking for fresher content that can lower their marketing costs and broaden their appeal to a much larger audience through differentiated content that is relevant to local audiences.
At ZOOT Studios, we believe using AI to deliver quality, Deep Custom Instant Games will be a key differentiator for us and our partners, so reach out to me at [email protected] if you want to talk partnerships.
Sean Ryan is the CEO and co-founder of ZOOT (getzoot.us/ZOOTStudios.us). He is a video game, music and payments executive with a long history at the confluence of media and technology. He helped start the original Facebook games business, previously worked in console gaming at Sega, and has had start-ups in the metaverse, social casino, web3 and now, iGaming sectors with ZOOT Studios.
