20+ years in the gambling industry including 13+ years playing and reviewing slots.
In 2010, Greentube became part of the NOVOMATIC Group. The digital or online division for Novomatic slots, they offer many land-based and Las Vegas favourites including the likes of Book of Ra Deluxe and Lord of the Ocean. With over 400 games, they are available at most UK slot sites.
My exclusive Q&A-style interview is with Director of Games Production and Operations, Bernd Baumert. Having worked for NOVOMATIC since 2010, we discussed mobile play, the slots creation process, how they leverage their land-based heritage, their most popular slot games in the UK, Book of Ra, the upcoming Piggy Prizes Wand of Riches 2 and what to expect in the future.
Q: Can you tell us a little about Greentube and how is it influenced by parent company Novomatic?
BB: “Due to the fact that Greentube is the Digital Gaming and Entertainment Division of Novomatic, there was initially a strong influence on a product level, based on the land-based presence of Novomatic. Over the years, Greentube started to increase the share of its own development within the portfolio significantly and today, we can proudly say that a large portion of this new portfolio originates from in-house development.”
Q: What % of players play on mobile vs desktop/ tablet devices? Has this influenced the design in any way?
BB: “On a global scale, mobile takes the lead with roughly two thirds of the traffic. Even more so, the player’s prefer portrait mode which inspires us during the game development process, to make the gaming experience appealing for both landscape and portrait mode.”
Q: How are new slot games created? What’s the process?
BB: “Creativity knows no limits and we take our sparks for ideas from our own experience in the industry (B2B and B2C included) in addition to new mechanics that pop up. That provides an excellent base in creating exciting games for our players.”
Q: How does Greentube harness Novomatic’s land-based presence? Who decides which Las Vegas favourites are available online?
BB: “Players want to experience the games they played in one channel (online or land-based) also in another. Hence, we choose the games for cross-selling based on data to ensure that we bring proven performers across to increase market penetration and game recognition.”
Q: What are Greentube’s most popular slot games in the UK particularly?
BB: “Besides the Novomatic Blue Chip games like Lucky Lady’s Charm Deluxe, Sizzling Hot Deluxe or Book of Ra Deluxe, Greentube was able to position some new mechanics in the Top 10, such as Charming Lady’s Boom and Piggy Prizes: Wand of Riches.”
Q: With Book of Ra being such an iconic slot game, are they plans to create more slots in the series?
BB: “Having such an iconic game demands attention to what players really enjoy in that game and then build on that. New iterations were for example Cash Connection – Book of Ra, Cash Connection – Golden Book of Ra and we will carefully add additional strong mechanics to this iconic game.”
Q: Can you tell us a little about the upcoming Piggy Prizes: Wand of Riches 2 slot?
BB: “After the success of Piggy Prizes: Wand of Riches, it was very clear that we want to keep the main character but give it a little twist or enhancement, if you will. Hence, the idea to add a Super Magician in a golden suit to provide our players with more excitement which would drive their engagement because there are now 2 powerful symbols that will help in their journey through the game.”
Q: What was it about this Piggy Prizes: Wand of Riches that led you to develop a sequel?
BB: “Piggy Prize: Wand of Riches is a perfect example for a very successful addition to Greentube’s games portfolio which originated in-house. Naturally, the next question we had to answer was how can we take the key aspects that players enjoyed - like the magician, the Piggies and mechanics such as Magic Rewind – and add more excitement to the game? So, we decided to add an exciting sequel which will make the Piggy Prizes Family even more interesting for our customers.”
Q: What else can we expect from Greentube in 2025 and beyond? Can you give us an insight into upcoming releases?
BB: “Greentube is constantly striving to improve the games portfolio for our partners and players. So, you can expect additions to our successful families like Diamond Link – Mighty Cleopatra plus adding more games with new and exciting mechanics like 3 Pot Games. 3 Fortune Wishes and Trinity Treasures – Wukong would be examples for that and this is only Q2.”
Q: Do you have a particular favourite slot from Greentube? If so, why?
BB: “That’s a bit like asking which one is your favourite child but I usually find something in every game that excites me. I’m a bit more focused on exciting graphics and/or feature rich games. So “Golden Roar Boom” appeals to me from a theme perspective while “Diamond Link – Mighty Buffalo” or “Diamond Link – Mighty Dwarves Inc.” catches me with the different features within the game.”
