Studio Spotlight: The future’s bright for Northern Lights Gaming

In our latest interview with our network of seriously talented studios, we shine the spotlight on Northern Lights Gaming.

With two stunningly designed new creations set to hit the Games Global platform in the space of just a couple of weeks, they’re certainly shining!

CEO Andrew Goodale reflects on this vibrant studio’s achievements to date, and looks ahead to an even brighter future...

Q. Tell us about the studio and your team.

A. Northern Lights Gaming was founded in 2017 by a small team with over 50 years of experience within the online gaming industry. Five of us were based in Stockholm and two of in Manchester. Since then, we have expanded to build a strong team of creators, developers and designers from around Europe and now have offices in Stockholm, Manchester, Krakow and Timisoara. Everyone that joins the team instantly understands our mindset and shares the same goal of creating the most innovative and fun video slots on the market.

At Northern Lights Gaming, we have strived to create truly innovative gems wherever possible and our back-catalogue of titles really showcases this primary aim. With originality at the heart of what we do, we brandish a portfolio of unique games, and with a stunning roadmap for 2023-24, we have not yet reached our peak!

Q. What are your standout titles and what made them successful?

A. Monkey Bonanza is just a great all-round playful game, with lots of bonus games, bright cheerful artwork centralised around a cheeky chimp character, and a softer profile for the player. Then I’d say Bison Moon, which was inspired by the hugely successful Assassin Moon from our friends over at Triple Edge Studios. We worked closely with the team at Games Global to identify opportunities for bringing fresh new themes to their portfolio. We then combined the North American plains and moon themes with the popular Link&Win™ mechanic, and it proved resonate well with customers and players alike.

Q. What is your personal favourite title from your studio?

A. Ooh tough one…of the ones that are out now …probably Monkey Bonanza. But my favourite one of all has to be our upcoming crime caper Unusual Suspects, which is set to take players to the mean streets of New York. It’s a real goodie with a great name, great theme and cast of characters, and those all-important great mechanics. The team have created a suitably gritty, pulse-pounding journey through the seedy underbelly of the city, complete with sticky wild frames, breakout exploding wilds, and a free spins featuring an upgrade trail.

With all the making of a player favourite, it's already shown great performance during an exclusive release period, particularly for retention, spins and wagers per player - we can't wait for global go-live on 13 September.

Q. What is your favourite part of the game development process?

A. I love the very beginning where you explore ideas, looking at the market to see what's working, what we like and how we could improve on it. Then when you get first pass of the simulator, then artwork… well nearly all of it really!

Q. What trends do you see for the future of our industry?

A. If you look at the cadence of game releases now, there are only a few games that really hit the mark with players and then only a few of those games actually stick. It’s pretty tricky to try to predict what the players are going to want, but you always hope that you will find the next iconic mechanic. At Northern Lights, we are consistently looking out for trends and ensuring our titles are the right ones at the right time – finding that perfect marriage of theme, mechanic, gameplay, volatility, and so on.

Personally, I like the community game idea for online and I think there is lots of room for innovation in this space. I also see potential in interactive games that are less volatile and that give the player more of a gaming experience.

One area that will surely change how we develop games in the future is AI. With the influx of all the new AI products in the marketplace and more importantly, the rate at which they are progressing, I think it will completely change how we develop games going forward. It's an area that we just can't ignore, whether we like it or not – but I also see great potential.

What can we expect from the studio roadmap?

Ahh the good stuff… it’s a step change for us. I know all studios say our future roadmap is amazing, but I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved! We have focused so much more on what we think players want, and what’s working in the current marketplace. I truly believe it’s our brightest and best future roadmap yet, with a mixture of brand-new mechanics, player-favourites with a twist and brands that we know players love. We’re hitting the beach with the global release of Tiki Tiki Boom at the end of month, which features an extended Link&Win™ style bonus game and offers a slew of different customisation options. Then there’s Unusual Suspects, and I can’t wait. There’s so much more to come!

Stay up to date with all the latest from Northern Lights Gaming by following them on LinkedIn here.