This article covers the following topics:
Why Jackpots
The gaming industry is all about creating excitement and there are few better ways to achieve this than by offering customers the chance to win a jackpot, huge or small.
Many players are relieved and motivated by the fact that their non-winning bets feed the jackpot prize and that even though that spin resulted in a loss, the jackpot prize is still in play. This second bite at the cherry brings its own anticipation and excitement.
The big cash reward up for grabs, in addition to the gameplay experience provided via the volatility, bonus features and RTP are all crucial elements of any strong slots proposition.
Jackpots provide a huge marketing opportunity for operators, bringing in major benefits across both acquisition and retention. Player activity on these slots tends to increase in correlation with the jackpot.
However, offering viable jackpots comes with its own challenges – liquidity being one to overcome.
Jackpots Types
Fixed Jackpot
Fixed Jackpots have a fixed jackpot amount that is approved and funded by the operators and doesn’t increase with game play.
Players know exactly how much they can win if they hit the jackpot giving them a clear goal to aim for.
Their appeal is their accessibility to a wide range of players. Unlike high stake games or progressive jackpots that often require substantial investments, fixed jackpots cater to the needs of players with varying budgets, providing transparency and fairness when it comes to odds. Amounts are smaller but more attainable.
The payout structure and winning combinations are clearly refined, enabling players to understand the potential return rate on their wagers. This transparency builds trust and confidence among players, as they can make informed decisions based on the odds presented, enhancing their overall gaming experience.
Fixed jackpots also offer instant gratification, which is highly sought after by players. Players can revel in the joy of winning substantial amounts without waiting for an extended period of time.
Progressive jackpot
A progressive jackpot is a prize that increases every time somebody plays a slot game. It will keep on rising until a lucky player wins it.
In progressive slot games, a small percentage of every qualifying bet wagered (often called an accrual) goes toward the jackpot. It can be won at random or by navigating a special bonus game.
This is what gives players the chance to win big while spending little.
When the win happens, the jackpot resets to a seed amount and the process starts all over.
The jackpot total can climb to huge amounts because it can have thousands of players from multiple slots, locally or from all over the world (across several operators), contributing to it.
As an RGS provider, it’s important to architect your jackpot system to be scalable and more so to be flexible enough to support the “standalone” progressive model as well as the wide area progressive (WAP) model through simple configuration.
- Standalone progressive jackpot is a jackpot that increases in value each time the game is played, but only on the specific slot game on which the jackpot is configured on. In other words, the jackpot is not linked to any other slots, and it resets to its starting value once it is won.
- Wide Area Progressive jackpot (WAP), on the other hand, is a jackpot that is linked to a network of slots, which can be on the same operator; across different operators; or even across different jurisdictions. Each time any of the slots in the network is played, a portion of the wager is added to the jackpot. This means that the jackpot can grow much faster than a standalone jackpot, as it is being fed by the wagers of many more players. Once the jackpot is won, it resets to its starting value, but the contributions from all the slots in the network continue to build it up again.
Jackpot Triggers
Below are some of the triggers of jackpots
Must-Drop Jackpots
These are programmed to trigger by a strict deadline. Therefore, they usually attract more money as the deadline approaches and more people will be playing the game at the same time.
Random trigger
These jackpots may be awarded after any spin. You won’t have to play a special bonus game or hit certain symbols. The RNG determines when a jackpot is going to be triggered. In some cases, a minimum bet amount is required to qualify.
Bonus Game
Some progressive slots include a special bonus round that can be triggered during the base game. You may have to spin a prize wheel to determine your jackpot size or pick cards from a selection.
Building a Jackpot System
What should you consider when building an RGS Progressive Jackpot System?
General considerations
As a RGS provider, you must determine the minimum amount of the seed and how it is funded.
Where a jackpot is capped at a ceiling value, a mechanism should be in place to handle subsequent player contributions (for example, the operation of any redirected overflow or reserve pools).
Technically, the focus should be in describing how the prizes are determined and awarded, including edge cases when two or more players simultaneously trigger the same jackpot, or appear to simultaneously trigger the jackpot, for example due to network latency issues.
High Level Design
For a start, promote good software engineering practices such as abstraction, encapsulation, and separation of concerns, leading to more maintainable, scalable, and testable system through well define interfaces.
Since your games are likely to be developed modular (good practice), due to separation of concern, you should follow the same pattern and add a new jackpot module within your gamelarger system.
Like all other modules, your jackpot module would provide all the needed infrastructure for handling the jackpots (jackpot definition, math, marshaller, game data, …).
Your Jackpot module is responsible for executing the math logic and triggering a jackpot win.
The Jackpot wins are then sent to the game client by the game wrapper within the action results.
Your Jackpot System holds the different pots with unique identifiers and manages the pot accruals, currency conversion, strategy payouts, etc.
It exposes interfaces to get the jackpot values as they accrue, to return the amount won and reset the seed.
In a scenario of a win, getting the jackpot amount and resetting the seed need to be an atomic transaction to guarantee reliability and data integrity.
Key Technical Challenges
Scalability: Progressive jackpots can attract a large number of players, especially when the jackpot reaches a substantial amount. Handling this sudden surge in traffic and ensuring the system remains responsive can be a significant challenge. Scalability concerns arise both in terms of the underlying infrastructure (servers, databases, etc.) and the software architecture.
Real-time Updates: Progressive jackpots constantly change as players make bets and contribute to the jackpot pool. Ensuring that these updates are reflected in real-time across all players’ interfaces (such as web browsers or mobile apps) is crucial for transparency and fairness. Eligible players should be able to see the current jackpot values (jackpot tickers), and these should be updated as frequently as is practicable, particularly after the amount has been reset following a win.
It’s recommended to have the Jackpot tickers sent periodically (every 5 seconds is a good frequency to keep the excitement going) and handled by the RGS server, with no game implementation required.
This requires efficient communication protocols and robust backend systems.
Fault Tolerance: Progressive jackpot systems must be fault-tolerant to prevent any potential loss of player data or jackpot contributions in case of system failures. Implementing redundant systems, automated backups, and failover mechanisms is essential to minimize downtime and data loss.
Security: As progressive jackpots involve significant sums of money, they are attractive targets for hackers and fraudsters. Ensuring the security of the system against various threats, including hacking attempts, data breaches, and cheating, is paramount. This involves implementing robust authentication mechanisms, encryption protocols, and regular security audits.
Regulatory Compliance: Progressive jackpot systems must comply with various gambling regulations and standards enforced by regulatory bodies in different jurisdictions.
Cross-platform Compatibility: Progressive jackpot games are often available across multiple platforms, including desktop computers, mobile devices, and even physical slot machines in land-based casinos. Ensuring seamless integration and compatibility across these diverse platforms presents technical challenges related to software development, user interface design, and data synchronization.
Jackpot Triggering Mechanism: Implementing a fair and transparent mechanism for triggering the jackpot payout is crucial. This mechanism should accurately determine when the jackpot is won based on predefined criteria, such as specific combinations of symbols or random number generation. Ensuring the integrity of this mechanism is essential to maintain players’ trust in the fairness of the game.
It’s also about striking a balance between a jackpot’s growth rate/payout frequency in setting the right probability for the jackpot win and its entertainment factor. It should be rare enough that the jackpot can grow to significant amounts but not so rare that it discourages players.
Data Analytics: Progressive jackpot systems generate vast amounts of data related to player behaviour, jackpot contributions, and payout patterns. Leveraging this data effectively for business intelligence, risk management, and optimizing the gaming experience requires robust data analytics capabilities and scalable data processing infrastructure.
Addressing these technical challenges requires a combination of expertise in software engineering, cybersecurity, data management, and regulatory compliance. Moreover, ongoing monitoring, testing, and optimization are essential to ensure the reliability, security, and performance of progressive jackpot systems.
How can Pocket Rockets Gaming help?
Pocket Rockets Gaming have technical and product expertise spanning across Operator/PAM and Games so we’re your first point of call if you are struggling with technical challenges with your jackpot system or you need help to build or buy a Jackpot system.
If you are looking to buy a Jackpot system, it’s worth noting that the capabilities of these systems vary and so you should conduct a detailed due-diliengce on these systems. If you’d like a quote then please get in touch.