“A Lower RTP Is a Lower Risk, but if Your Business is Long-Term, It’s Better to Always Have a Higher RTP.” — Interview With Chief Commercial Officer at Gamzix Lida Kosohova
We continue our series of interviews with prominent figures in the world of gambling. Our guest today is Lida Kosohova, the CEO of the Chief Commercial Officer at Gamzix.
We’ll learn several facts about Gamzix; for example, how this company, founded only in 2020, constantly struggles with circumstances beyond its control. We will also discover the company’s best slots and the most exciting bonus features. We will find out how the slot creation process in Gamzix is arranged and how long each stage takes. We’ll also discover why slots are part of Lida’s job rather than entertainment. Learn about this and much more with our today’s guest.
— Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself.
— I am Lida Kosohova — Chief Commercial Officer at Gamzix. I am absolutely in love with the iGaming industry, and my current passion is Gamzix, where I’ve been working for 2 years. Furthermore, I’m responsible for the company’s development within the framework of existing contracts, market analytics (competitors, products, emerging markets), and search for new clients. Also, I am coordinating the work of Account Managers and Sales Managers’ teams. Among my responsibilities is interaction with all departments with the aim of working on processes optimization and achieving better results.
— You have quite an exciting career path: you’ve owned an atelier for over 5 years, and you’ve been involved in nanopowders. How you got into iGaming, and what do you like most about working in the industry?
— Wow, I am really surprised that you know about my previous experience. Nice research 🙂 Yes, my professional path was different, sometimes unexpected, but always useful.
No matter what I did, I’ve taken the most of it. I was only 18 years old when I got into sales! And 3 years ago, I started my career at Gamzix; I fell for it immediately. Since then, I have never felt as much in the right place as I am now. The iGaming industry is a perfect mix of opportunities, professional and self-development, trends, and pure success. And it constantly opens from different sides, so you literally never get bored.
— Gamzix is a young company that was founded in 2020. Tell us about how hard it is to compete with other providers.
— Gamzix was established in March 2020. Soon, after multiple rounds of the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine started. I would say that we are competing not just with other companies but with circumstances beyond our control. And it takes all of our attention and priority.
Talking about other providers, we are learning from them, for sure, but making things with our own perspective. For example, Gamzix has inviolable values which help to stand out from the crowd, like cherishing and supporting our team, following trends, creating new in-game features, and being open to new opportunities/choices/ideas. And, of course, being flexible. With the latest world changes, this is one of the most necessary things for the company.
— You received the Rising Star by SiGMA award a month ago. Our congratulations, and share the secret to your success.
— Thank you! This is a huge and significant achievement for us. Gamzix is developing rapidly! The secret is not a secret at all. I’m ready to say it over and over again. Are you ready? The team and every specialist who is working with us is a part of every Gamzix’s success. I couldn’t do it by myself; our CEO, Alexandr, couldn’t do it by himself. Only doing your best in your own field and hiring people with the same values are the recipe for outstanding achievements.
— Tell us about a game or games from Gamzix that every player should try.
— I would start with one of my and our players’ favorite games — 3X3: Hold the Spin. This is a classic fruit slot with simple rules, a Hold the Spin feature, and a popular main idea, so it’s the same enjoyable for new and experienced gamblers. From the first weeks after release, it broke all the records and became one of the most popular in our portfolio. And we even have decided to make more 3X3 slots: 3X3: Hell Spin and 3X3: 27 ways.
We couldn’t leave our players without something magical during the holiday season, so we decided to release 2 winter slots:
Bonanza Donut Xmas is a festive reskin of the main Bonanza Donut version. Original Bonanza is tasty by itself. But the Xmas version with gingerbread men, colorful candies, and red and green cupcakes give the game a real taste of the holiday.
Buffalo Ice: Hold the Spin is a traditional 5-reel slot with 3 types of jackpot: Mini, Major, and Mega. In design, we focused on adding specific colors and elements to make the atmosphere of the wild winter forest even more realistic.
And our latest game with so many rich mechanics is Dogs and Tails, with animated design, favorite pets, and a bunch of features: 243 ways, 2 bonus games, and Wild multipliers.
— What interesting features do you have in your slots?
— Gamzix has a diverse portfolio of 50+ games that can boast various in-game features, such as bonus games, Hot Bet and Super Hot Bet, buy bonus, Run-on Reels, Gamble Game, Magic free spins, expanded and sticky wilds, and so on.
We’re always trying to enrich our games with exciting features that entertain players. I advise checking out Buffalo Coin: Hold the Spin with 4 types of jackpot, bonus game, and rustic design.
Bonanza Donut slot can boast a bonus game, Buy Bonus feature, Hot Bet, cascades, and clusters. And our latest release, Dogs and Tails, with 243 fixed pay ways where a player can choose one of two bonus games: cats or dogs.
And I cannot but mention Pilot — the first crash game of Gamzix with simple rules, light weight, and an ability to change skins.
— All of your slots have a high RTP of at least 96%. Why have you decided to release slots with such an RTP? Some other providers’ slots can have RTPs less than 90%, but they are still popular among players.
I think that a player will not spend more money than he has, and an attempt to lower the RTP over a long distance does not lead to an increase in profit. A lower RTP is a lower risk, but if your business is long-term, it’s better to always have a higher RTP.
The RTP is the payout percentage to the player, and in my opinion, a fairly high RTP in slots looks more attractive to the player as he wins more often.
We use this approach in our slots to give the player a higher RTP for his maximum retention, enjoyment, and experience from the Gamzix games.
— Tell us about Gamzix jackpots. Has anyone won the jackpot yet? If so, could you tell us how much money was paid out?
Yes, we have many jackpot winners. It’s difficult to remember all of them, but I can reveal the biggest one — €250,000!
I have to say that we love our players to win because this is the main point of gambling. I mean, the entertaining part is important, no doubt, but everyone wants to achieve big results. That is why more than half of our games have jackpot mechanics.
— Tell us how the slot development process works at Gamzix. How long does developing one from an idea to its release take? How many people are involved in the development?
— Every game is special, even in the development process, so it always depends on how many mechanics we have inside.
First, we started with market analysis and management consulting. This helps to understand what direction and trends to follow. We always have brainstorms with the team to hear all the ideas and find a perfect one.
Then we go to creating a technical task and developing visual and mathematical components of the slot. It takes 1-2 months for graphics and up to 1 month for mathematics.
The next step is about Back-end game development and testing. We develop the game on the backend (up to 1 month) and the frontend (2-4 weeks). Then the testing process begins and lasts 1-2 weeks.
Last but not least — the final slot review by Gamzix CPO and CEO. Afterward, we make a game presentation to the whole team. We check everything a few more times, add necessary edits and, finally, release the product.
— Now, you have only slot machines in your portfolio. Do you plan to release other games in the future? If yes, which ones?
Actually, Gamzix’s portfolio contains not only slot games! For example, GOGO Spinner with non-typical slot mechanics. GoGo Spinner is a multiplayer game in which you need to place bets on sectors.
In 2022 we started to enlarge our portfolio with Crash games, and Pilot became the first of them. Then we added 2 relevant reskins.
This year we want to, and we will make more crash games and games with new mechanics. This is one of our biggest goals — to become more diverse. Give us a few more months, and you’ll see it on your own.
— Your slots are tested by iTech Labs’ independent auditor. Do you plan to get a license in the future? If yes, which one?
— Gamzix is in the process of getting MGA and Italian licenses. We want our games to be global and available in all countries and continents, but not all at once. Also, we are researching the markets of Asia and Latin America now. Hopefully, we will be there soon.
— What markets are your products more popular in? For whom do you develop your slots, and who are your target customers?
— As we have a diverse portfolio varying from classic 3X3 fruit slots to more complex ones with bonus games, Buy Bonus, and other features, there are different portraits of our target audience — from newbies to experienced players. These are gamblers 20-45 years old, preferably, who like to have fun by spinning and winning. Many of them play after work, while others can be obsessed with a game all day long.
Talking about the most popular markets, I will mention Eastern Europe, Middle Asia, and Latin America.
— Tell us about an exciting marketing campaign you ran to promote your slots.
— Once a new game is launched, we try to promote it by using a lot of tools in order to make it popular among partners and players. Have you heard about Gamzix’s Rich Granny slot? It became extremely popular both online and offline!
Firstly, it was an online promotion. There were more than Media reviews of the slot and press release publications. We launched 2 advertising campaigns of Rich Granny video teaser and big wins. Streamers with a big and active pool of audience were playing in Rich Granny. Gamzix made noise on Twitch, YouTube, and Telegram with its tournaments; everybody was playing and talking about the Rich Granny slot. Only in social media, Rich Granny’s general coverage was 600,000 reviews!
Secondly, speaking about offline promotion, these are iGaming exhibitions. Gamzix had Rich Granny merchandise — different souvenirs with the Granny and its Doggy and branded stands at IGB Live 2022, SiGMA Balkans&CIS, and SiGMA Europe.
As the marketing campaign of the Rich Granny slot was very successful, one of the main characters of the game, Doggy, is still one of our symbols both in the online and offline promotion of the Gamzix brand.
— You are a woman who holds quite a high position in a predominantly male-dominated industry. Have you ever faced any difficulties or prejudices in your work because you are a woman?
— Gender bias often becomes an obstacle to desired work and professional development, especially when it concerns women. I’m grateful to be surrounded by people who are mature enough not to be affected by these stereotypes. But I’m sure that gender bias is still very prevalent in both gender-balanced and female-majority fields.
Women have long proven that they can work no worse than men in any position and in any field. The main thing is desire, motivation, diligence, perseverance, and setting goals.
— Do you gamble, or are you just working in the gambling industry? If you play, what games do you play?
— I won’t lie, I like to play slots sometimes. But primarily, I’m looking at every game as the product I have to sell. So it’s more about a professional glance at everything that Gamzix releases. But, for sure, I test every game like all the specialists in Gamzix do because sometimes, people who have been working with it for months can lose some details. As a non-professional gambler, I can give helpful feedback. So slots for me are a part of my job, but not an entertaining thing.
