Exclusive Interview with Nolimit City

Published: July 3, 2020 |Updated: September 18, 2020

“Sticking to the classic 5×3 pay-line or 243 ways style games just doesn’t cut the mustard anymore”.

If you’ve looked around slot sites then you might now that Nolimit City has been one of the most featured and talked-about game developers for the past year. Their hit games Punk Rocker xWays and Deadwood xNudge have been off the charts recently and admired for their unique and innovative game mechanics. Are they going to stop there? What other features do they have in store for players in the coming months? And how do they want to stand out from the competition?

To find out I interviewed Malcolm Mizzi, Director Commercial Operations at Nolimit! As you’ll see below, he was very open and honest about the things I was curious to find out, including a sneak peek at their upcoming games, his favourite bonus features and recommended slots for players who are less familiar with their work. Hope you enjoy reading this interview as much as I did.

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Q) Hi and thanks for taking the time to do this interview. It has clearly been a very difficult year for everyone but despite everything that’s going on in the global economy, Nolimit games are now more popular than ever before. Could you tell us how you have come to develop new innovative slot mechanics like xWays and xNudge which have been incredibly popular in slots like Punk Rocker and Deadwood?

A) The demand for innovation has never been more present from both young and mature studios. Sticking to the classic 5×3 pay-line or 243 ways style games just doesn’t cut the mustard anymore and studios need to always be grinding to come up with something fresh that sticks. Besides the obvious mechanic which everyone knows has taken the world by storm, players want to explore what else can be considered to be a fun alternate mechanic to the norm. Punk Rocker and Deadwood are undoubtedly great examples to mention but we’re also super proud of being able to merge the two and create hybrid games with both mechanics incorporated! (Dragon Tribe, Pixies vs Pirates and more to come…)

Q) Speaking of xWays and xNudge, could you give us a hint about the third xMechanic or the next big thing that you have in the works? Any hints as to when players can expect to see it?

A) That’s a good question and it seems you may have been listening in on our brainstorming sessions – it makes sense to continue our ‘x’ series and make our own version of a triple-x slot series! We’re experimenting with a third possible mechanic that’s more focused on connecting a winning symbol into a full way which then evolves into something further. I’ll keep it at that for now, but we’re hoping all the stars align and players enjoy what we offer. You can expect to see the ‘xMechanic’ by Q3 this year.

Q) Many iGaming studios have been experimenting with cluster slots recently. Can we expect Nolimit to release more games like Dungeon Quest in the future?

A) The idea of a cluster game always intrigued us, although I would not use Dungeon Quest as the best example – it’s a lovely mobile oriented slot-game, however we didn’t quite hit a home run with that one (being totally honest!). We are definitely keeping in mind what could be a great Nolimit cluster style game. No plan when that might be though 🙂

Nolimit City office in the sunny Malta.

Q) How do you want Nolimit City to stand out in the players’ eyes among the increasing competition?

A) When we started Nolimit the hope was to always stand out as an underdog that’s highly competent in delivering a great experience with a second to none technical foundation at a fraction of the operating cost. I’d say it took us a few years but we are now seeing the fruits of our labour flourish and the likes of players, operators and streamers seem to enjoy our most recent titles. But the ultimate goal is to be best known for a genuinely enjoyable library with a variety of games that offer something to everyone – not just the one style of slot. Competition hasn’t dampened in the slightest but we seem to have found our footing and have built what seems to be an audience that appreciate what we do.

Q) Nolimit City has unique tools that let players watch and share replays of their wins and keep track of the biggest wins to date. How important is engaging players beyond just what the game has to offer? Do you think there’s room for more features like that?

A) Absolutely! We’re working on more in the background and believe that this is only first evolution of the replay tool or what’s known as the ‘Nolimit-Winners’ tool – the aim is to deliver something that can be utilised by all parties; end-user, affiliates and operators alike. Utilising a slightly different version of the same product, but the goal is to focus on a lot more player facing ‘tools’ standing strong along our games.

Q) Does much does licensing and regulation limit game creation and thinking outside the box?

A) It’s definitely an increasing distraction and drain on resources, but we say it is not only a challenge you want but the catalyst to weeding out the weak from the strong. The market continues to evolve at a neck braking pace but delivering innovation will never stop, all studios have to just adapt and work towards continuously delivering through tighter deadlines, with stricter confinements. With the rate of European markets being licensed, one needs to be careful to pick each market entry strategically and be ready to work twice as hard to deliver the revenues needed to recoup the expense of entering. Trying to be everywhere all at once is not impossible, though it requires an immense amount of liquidity and resources.

Q) Some of your games have more than one RTP. Punk Rocker xWays, for example, comes with dual RTP setup at 96.11% and 94.18% (DX1). Could you explain players what does it mean and how much should they pay attention to it?

A) We do not try to hide the fact that all our games are being offered with two RTP variants at the operators’ discretion to choose from. We have a standard and DX1 (refers to lower variant) variant. This was a conscious decision in order to survive and thrive based on a couple factors; we firstly knew that the demand to offer lower RTP games has grown and become a serious decider for operators to consider new suppliers and launch and promote suppliers. The other factor was that we felt the experience does not really change in short term – yes, there’s a statistical change in overall average in the course of thousands of spins across a lengthier period, however big wins and player return never stopped on our DX1 variant, if anything they’ve remained at a constant. Additionally, I’d like to highlight that we refuse to go any lower and always ensure that the player can find the RTP listed down in the game rules easily.

Q) What is your opinion on the “Double Up” or “Gamble” feature? Do any of your games offer it?

A) A classic feature that has existing for a very long time by now. Probably one can argue that it has had a recent surge in popularity. We haven’t yet released any one game with a ‘gamble’ feature, although players that enjoy the feature will be happy to know that we’re due to showcase our own version for first time on an upcoming title this coming August! That said, we’re also prepared to be ready to disable it in any market that deems it to no longer be acceptable. It is the reality of today’s gambling climate and we accept that this may indeed be the case, however, we would still like to try it out.

Q) What is your favourite Nolimit bonus or feature?

A) It has to be Punk Rocker – absolutely unpredictable, totally insane and every session is completely unique & different to the other. In itself you can even state that Punk Rocker’s bonus game is a completely separate experience to the base game, so the love grows strong on this one. Even if it’s quite the volatile one. I do have to make an honourable mention to Dragon Tribe which has recently received our bet-panel revamp and we also added bonus buys to the game, and no doubt Deadwood/Tombstone, which are undoubtedly our leading mega-titles.

Q) High or low volatility slots? Why?

A) High is definitely the hot trend, we even made extreme category to stand out and offer a face melting experience to those who dare (Deadwood, Punk Rocker, Dragon Tribe…). One simply just can’t deny this is what players seem to want today, the idea of just having a max potential win of a 1000x is simply unheard of these days – of course this does not mean that having a volatile game with a mega max exposure will make the game more successful than others, but it definitely is the pull factor. That said, we’re also keen on mixing it up a bit and offering a more varied range of Mid volatile slots – we do believe that there’s a huge audience that just prefer the softer approach at games that pay out a bit more frequent and aren’t that harsh to the wallet – denying this would be arrogant. Maybe we’re not too fond of low volatile games and will probably hold-off on those for now.

Q) How important is the relationship between affiliates and game developers in iGaming right now? Where do you see this is going in the future?

A) We believe it’s as important as managing and keeping your customers happy. There may not be the same immediate ROI but it definitely is a worthwhile investment that will yield a lengthier return by building the right relationships. I see the relationship between the two becoming a far more harmonious affair and far more effort will be made by both parties to drive mutually beneficial growth.

Q) Finally, which games would you recommend starting with to someone who has never played your slots?

A) Depending on the player’s liking on volatility I would suggest; Tomb of Nefertiti, Manhattan Goes Wild, Tesla Jolt and Dragon Tribe for the Low-Mid range and Deadwood, Punk Rocker and Barbarian Fury for the High-Extreme range. It’s a pity we don’t highlight our older library enough though our more recent games have just evolved so much since we started out and they’re most players know us by. That said, my personal go-to’s have to be Casino Win Spin, Tractor Beam and WiXX!

Thank you!

Visit Nolimitcity.com for more information about the company.