EmotiCoins, a new five-reel online slot from Microgaming, was developed through the company’s Idea Factory - a staff-powered innovation initiative.
The idea came from two members of staff, Anna McChesney and Rob Mercer, who first submitted the concept to the Idea Factory in June, 2016.
McChesney, PR manager for the gaming giant, said: “As a marketer, to me the use of emoticons in social media and communication is fascinating; they have essentially become a universal language.
“Ninety-two per cent of the world’s online population use emoticons, so developing a themed game would automatically target the demographic of our operators’ players.”
The themed slot idea was backed by Microgaming’s Business Intelligence team, helping McChesney and Mercer refine EmotiCoins by suggesting game features based on typical emoticon use.
Mercer, of the enterprise solutions team, said: “It was amazing to see what they did with the research and background we developed. We really love the completed game!”
EmotiCoins is now ready to offer players vibrant graphics, an upbeat soundtrack and exciting wilds, brought to life by a team of cheerful emoticons including favourites such as Tears of Joy, Kiss and Winking Face.
The Idea Factory initiative was led by Lydia Barbara, head of innovation strategy at Microgaming. “We are super excited to be taking live the first game concept driven from the Idea Factory by staff members who would ordinarily not be involved in game conception,” she said.
“And it’s a great game to be our first – the game studio did a fantastic job.”
Pictured (L-R): Anna McChesney, Lydia Barber and Rob Mercer
