Game studio interview: CT Interactive about its origins, people, trends, and responsible gaming

Hi! Can you introduce yourself and the company please? Yes. Sure. My name is Monika Zlateva. I am the Chief Commercial Officer of CT Interactive, a casino slot game provider. Actually, we are one of the leaders on the market. When was the company founded and what was the idea behind it? That's a very good question. The company was founded back in 2012. So, quite a long time ago. This is the online division of one of the well known industry names from the land-based gaming: CT Gaming. (also called as Casino Technologies) So back in 2012, the company adapted and taken advantage of all the experience and know how from the land-based operation. And CT Interactive is paving the way to innovation for online casino games since then. Can you highlight some of the milestones, events, and growth stages of the company please? Wow, sure. It's been a while since 2012. There are a lot of things which happened with the company. We've acquired a lot of licenses: Producer license in Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Malta. We have a lot of certificates. So, over the years the company has done a lot of things. Starting with the idea of the land-based Mega Jack. We adopted that mehanism using new techniques. Now cluster game systems are in the focus and new "buy bonus" mechanics. These are some of the things we do. Of course, we visit all the major events in the industry. Because our focus is to go there to meet our partners to understand their needs, and what players want. Because they're the ones who speak with the players. And we aim to create something that they really need, want and would enjoy. Can you help us understand the scale that CT Interactive operates in? Like the number of licenses, offices, staff, and so on. Yes, sure. So, we have currently more than 250 games. We produce at least two games per month. We also do some exclusive titles. I think we have 21 certificates, so we are in 21 jurisdictions. The main office is in Sofia, Bulgaria. The company is Bulgarian in its essence. But we have a big office in Romania, Peru, and also in the Czech Republic. And I think more offices are going to be opened at some point soon. What personally interested you to join this industry and CT Interactive specifically? All lright, so I'm kind of a Dinosaur. I joined this industry back in 2006. Then online gaming was at its dawn. I was young, ambitious and really intrigued to try this new online gaming world. This is how I started. Well, I was one of the first people to deal with online gaming, especially as a female. A lot of things happened since then. What personally attracted me to CT Interactive is that I was moved and triggered by innovation and by great leadership. So, for me it's very important who I work for, and I'm really happy. I was attracted to work for the company by the great minds behind the company, the visionaries. I'm really humbled and honored to work for them, for the founders. At the moment I'm heading a team. After so many years in the industry I'm really passionate to share my know-how, experience, my enthusiasm with my team. And I aim to bring the company to achieve new milestones and victories. Any favorite among the games? And do you have any fun memories related to it? Alright. I actually really enjoy our games. Some of them seem really simple, but they can make you spend a lot of time with them. I guess I'm a recreational player. My personal favorite is Lucky Clover. This happens to be one of the best performing games among all the jurisdictions worldwide. But there is a new title as well, which is gaining its way towards my heart. It is called Wild Rhino. And there is a fun story with it. I have a two year old girl and she saw the game on my mobile. She recently started talking. So she saw the Wild Rhino and she started saying "King Rhino! King Rhino!" I think it is because of the beautiful artwork behind the game. It reminds her a bit of Disney's Lion King. So, I think this is why she is calling it that way. It's not the correct name, but an idea for next title maybe. So there is going to be a follow up game with King Rhino then? I will pass it as an idea. Who knows? Maybe we make a full series out of it. Why not? In your view what makes a game popular, exciting, and how do you incorporate those elements into the product development? Well. Game production and has changed over the years because of the taste of the players changed. What really attracts players are a combination of different mechanics, lot of ways to win, and a lot of ways to make the game fun. Players are trying to escape the boredom. The game needs to offer multiple ways to win, multiple ways to increase the anticipation to win. I think players currently want to have their heartbeats really up and high. Whatever winning combination and mechanics are doing that: bonus buy, cluster game, or crash game. The players want to go there, they want to experience something exciting and different. Something unique. That's why every studio is trying to come up with their own mechanics and ideas for innovation. Do you see any new themes or any new mechanics coming up and gaining more popularity these days? I think cluster games will still be in the focus and cascade games as well. This is why our company is focusing a lot on cluster and cascade games. New mechanics for "buy bonus". This is one of the things. We do different levels of "buy bonus". Let's put it that way. And I guess the spirit of the crash game will keep on growing. What does responsible gaming mean in your words and what can a game development studio do to support it? Okay. In simple words responsible gaming is a way for our industry to make a balance between the player risk and the game internals. This impacts player spending. So, responsible game development for a studio means following certain directives and rules. We make sure that the games are fair and they are paying according to their specific RTPs. There are different mechanics and ways to keep the players informed about the game rules and risks, and to let them monitor spending. So responsible gaming methods are means to mitigate the risk from developing some unhealthy patterns or addictions. Instead, the aim is to embrace the fun and entertainment part, which is what this iGaming world supposed to be all about. Perfectly said. In terms of game studios, I've been thinking about what more can be done. There are different in-game tools that different studios are developing. I think we should meet more and speak in different forums. We should exchange ideas about these tools and means, so we can offer those to players. Perfect. And how do you ensure that the games are fair? Well we are working with RGS (RNG), which means the games are paying according to RTP (Return to Player). Our RTP is quite high. These are mechanics, mathematics behind it. So, there are like external companies who are auditing how the RNG works? Of course, of course. There are companies which are auditing that. And we make sure that our games are paying according to the RTP. Overall our average RTP is about 96% and above. Which is quite high. Of course there are differences between the different jurisdictions. But, we want to make sure that the players know that the games are fair and they are paid accordingly. What message do you have for those who haven't tried your games yet and to those who are already enjoying them? First of all, I would like to thank all the players who are enjoying, trying our games, and giving us the chance with each and every title. I would like to thank our partners, who are there for us promote our games. And I would also say that there are a lot of new things coming in 2025 that we develop. We have a lot of surprises for the players. And for those who haven't tried: well go to our corporate websites ct-interactive.com Choose a title, play the demo. If you like the demo, try the real deal on your favourite website. Thank you very much for the interview. Thank you very much for having me.