This time, we’ve spoken to Andrew Reader, director of RNG Foundry, who walked us through gaming accelerators and investments in the slots industry. We’ve also talked about how do studios get funding, the key perks of partnership with gaming accelerators, and how it helps to reach success with your company. Welcome, Andrew! Please, tell our readers what exactly is RNG Foundry and what is the company’s mission?
RNG Foundry is a gaming accelerator which was set up to help start-up studios and aspiring studio founders. It is one of the most active investors in the casino content ecosystem and we believe has the most compelling combination of distribution and technical resources on the market. The accelerator has grown significantly in the last 4 years and now counts a portfolio of over 12 studios in 9 countries producing world-class content.
Our mission is to find the best talent out there and help them achieve their ambitions with their studio.
What are the key benefits the studios get from investments and from being in the RNG portfolio?
In addition to the capital, the most obvious benefit is the market-leading distribution we have through the Quickfire platform. Studios have a fixed cost to produce their games and ensuring they have the broadest possible revenue opportunity when publishing is crucial. We also provide access to an extremely powerful proprietary BI system which offers our studios insights into game design, technical optimisation and game performance. Lastly, there is access to best practice and learnings from the other portfolio studios, our various partners and numerous technical teams through networking and specialised events which has proved to be invaluable to studios when starting out.
How do you choose which studious to fund and what do you think is a perfect candidate for making an investment?
When selecting our investments, we focus heavily on pedigree. Top game designers working for established suppliers and looking to start their own studio are a priority. We also like studios who are struggling for distribution through some of the other smaller networks and can benefit from our offering. We strongly believe in what we call a ‘slots nerd’ – a founder or executive who is passionate about slots design. There is also typically a strong capability on the maths side of game design and the combination of the two makes for a very compelling founding team.
We tend to avoid studios that want to produce high volume lower quality games, which in some cases I am sure has been a profitable model but it is not in our DNA, which is seeking to create premium content.
What common mistakes do slots studios make and what advice would you give them?
Appreciating the time it will take – often over 12 months – and having the funding in place to carry the studio over that fallow period, is crucial. It’s also crucial to appreciate how long it will take to build a team and the impact of delivery of the first and second games. Trying to rush the first game out the door too quickly is another common mistake. The market doesn’t reward you for speed but has a long memory for those who demonstrate craftsmanship and attention to detail, even if it’s a basic 5x3 slot with a simple bonus feature. We also like a DNA of thrifty, which usually means avoiding the big trade shows as a start-up and going light on promotional materials and videos and 3D printed figurines!
How much do you invest and on what conditions?
Every situation is different, we work with each studio to identify what their funding needs are and typically find a solution to provide all of it. We are long term partners and understand we are starting a journey with each new investment so the relationship needs to be well-balanced and fair.
You’re currently working with 12 different game companies. Tell us a bit more about some of your most successful studios.
We are excited about all the studios in our portfolio! Our friends at JFTW have been the poster child for our investment program since day 1 given their continued success. More recently, less mature studios such as Spinplay and Pear Fiction have found their groove early and are producing some top-performing content that really demonstrates to us the potential for our investment program married with exceptional talent. Other studios such as Gold Coin, Neko, Snowborn Games and Northern Lights have also moved up the gears in terms of performance and their roadmaps are looking fantastic so we are extremely optimistic about what’s to come.
What comes next for RNG Foundry and what are you looking to achieve in the future?
We want our RNG Foundry studios to become market leading suppliers and grow into large and attractive businesses in doing so.
We think we have the most compelling offering in the market for new studios to succeed in this journey and can’t wait to find our next founders to welcome into the portfolio.
Thanks for taking the time to join us, it was a pleasure! Finally, if someone’s thinking about taking an investment from RNG, how do they get in touch?
Thanks to you too, it’s been a pleasure! For anyone looking to get in touch please check out our website for more details (rngfoundry.com) or alternatively find me on LinkedIn.