Having warmed players hearts with the cosy, Christmas classic, Chessmas, last month, January sees the Elysium Studios – Driven by Swintt line-up return with an altogether frostier take on winter in Wild Wild North. 

Swintt is entering the year with January’s release of Wild Wild North. To begin, could you talk us through the thoughts behind and premise of this latest release?

Although Wild Wild North and Elysium Studios’ previous release, Chessmas, both have obvious winter themes that fit perfectly with the current season, the contrast between the two slots couldn’t be starker! Whereas Chessmas was all about playing cosy Christmas games in front of a roaring fire in Santa’s workshop, Wild Wild North sees players brave an altogether bleaker setting as they journey through the lands of the never-ending winter in search of epic multipliers and god-like prizes. As such, Wild Wild North has a much grittier theme that’s focused more on action and exploration, with the game’s icy mists and snow-topped mountains serving as a harsh and unforgiving environment that only the toughest slot players will be able to traverse and tame.

Theme and design can be key in capturing the imagination and attention of players. Why do you believe a wintery, Viking-inspired concept will achieve this?

As we know players are attracted to well-crafted slots that feature engaging themes and eye-catching aesthetics, using an unforgiving winter setting and filling it with bold, visually striking characters really does help Wild Wild North stand-out and offer something new. Add to this the fact that when an in-reel bonus is triggered, symbols are cleared with a dynamic animation that reflects the weapon carried by one of the three warriors and it really is an immersive title where you can see a lot of attention has been paid to every detail.

A cluster mechanic alongside an array of features are evident within the title. Why was the decision made to take this approach and why do you believe that it will resonate?

Elysium Studios slots always seek to deliver an exciting gameplay experience to players and using a cluster pays mechanic is a great way of doing this, as it’s both different from the standard “fixed payline” approach and has the potential to keep players engaged for multiple symbol cascades during each round. That said, I believe the decision to add three progress bars that can trigger in-reel bonuses relating to the specific warriors is what has really helped Wild Wild North take this popular mechanic to the next level. This is especially true in the game’s main feature, where each new round is guaranteed to start with one of the warrior bonuses already activated, thereby increasing the excitement for players and boosting their chances of prolonging the spin further.

It is almost one year since Swintt expanded its portfolio via the acquisition of Elysium Studios. This was hailed as “a huge step for the company”, so, with this in mind, how would you assess the progress made during this 12 month period?

The acquisition of Elysium Studios by Swintt really was a perfect fit for both companies, as it blended Elysium’s expertise in cutting-edge game design and performance with Swintt’s well-established framework of operations, technical support, commercial and marketing know-how. Looking back on our first 12 months working as a joint venture, I’d say the development of the new Elysium Studios line-up has really helped to diversify our portfolio, which has in turn allowed us to expand our reach and strengthen our market presence in regions where player preferences favour bold designs and innovative features. Certainly, it's made our offering more exciting and also ensured we fulfil our ambition of catering to even more customers.

What further additions to the portfolio can we expect from Elysium Studios that will cause excitement both internally and among players?

You can definitely expect to see more titles that blend creative themes with innovative game mechanics, while also pushing the boundaries of what’s possible from a modern video slot. Elysium Studios first came to our attention due to their ability to produce high-quality visuals and unique story-driven concepts within their games, and that will certainly continue to serve as the blueprint for all future releases in the Elysium Studios line-up. In terms of specific games that are worth getting excited about, I’m very much looking forward to Pirate Pledge Hold & Win– which promises to be swashbuckling slot adventure filled with bold characters and buried treasure – but there’ll be plenty more engrossing slots that we’ll be able to announce soon.