Slot development is a tricky art form, and there is no exact science to making a hit. For every Starburst, there are dozens of games you’ve never heard of and probably never will. Developers will look for every advantage possible to create the next big hit, and one new avenue for revolutionising the slot development process is AI.
Companies can use AI in all areas of slot development, from the initial pitching and creation of the product to adding the artistic elements, and making changes once the game is launched to keep players engaged. You can view more at Gambling.com to learn about the latest pokies and slots innovations. Or read this complete guide to discover how AI can help create slots and pokies and some drawbacks.
Areas Where AI Could Impact Slots and Pokies
Several areas could benefit from AI-supported slot development and creation; more details are provided below.
Coding and Game Creation
While players see a fun and colorful set of reels playing online slots, most games are built in code. Like many writers can now use AI for assistance, coders can use AI tools to develop slots faster and with fewer mistakes.
IBM suggests that coders use generative AI to produce high-quality coding recommendations based on user input and auto-suggest coding to help complete projects faster. The company has developed its generative AI code generation tool, IBM Watson X Code Assistant. Other prominent coding support systems include Gemini Code Assist from Google and GitHub Copilot.
It can go even further. XGENIA has created a prompt-driven AI slot generator that will create slot games in under 20 minutes using prompts. While this technology is not yet available, it shows where the industry is going.
Game Design Optimization
Once a developer has a game idea and works to fill out the details, AI can be handy for finding what players want. AI can crunch data far faster than humans, quickly finding patterns in player behaviors across many different data points. Game developers can use this to refine design choices to best suit players.
For example, AI analytics may show that players who enjoy progressive jackpots seem to enjoy games featuring cascading reels more. A design team could choose to implement that feature in the slot. The choice of whether to include features and how to incorporate those features still rests with the team creating the game, but AI can give them the complete picture.
Personalization
One area where AI is already being used in online gambling is in personalization, as this Forbes article noted. Many sites now run AI systems to track player behaviour and provide personalized game recommendations or bonuses. Developers can implement that same technology into games to offer more personal experiences and boost player engagement and retention.
Creative Asset Generation
Slot development uses many creative assets, from symbol design to background design and music and sound effect choices. Developers can use AI to support the development of these features. As AI can create art and sounds so quickly, companies could use this to train AI models to mimic an art style and quickly implement aesthetic changes to a game to suit player preferences or current trends.
Shortening the rollout time will make these games feel far more connected to the pulse of modern life, where most content is instant.
AI is also handy before the development teams get to the final product. Developers can use these tools to provide rough ideas early in pitching, which may help companies develop games with a more focused vision.
Challenges and Limitations of AI in Slot Development
While AI presents an exciting opportunity for slot developers, some pitfalls and challenges must be considered. Of course, while AI can examine human behavior and use a data-driven approach to deliver game designs based on statistics, it misses one thing: creativity. AI can’t replace the creativity and novelty that can come from the human design process, which may result in a lesser end product.
Additionally, if a slot game tries to capture an emotion or cultural point, AI may fail as well as a human. Some game themes may be inauthentic if AI is used only in development. AI games may face more challenges when it comes to getting regulatory approval.
Finally, AI development tools will be limited by a slot’s complexity. While simple slots should be easy to create with AI assistance, slots that require more technical and unique features will not be produced well. Remember, AI uses existing data to answer questions and queries. It can’t create new data from an idea a designer has had.
Should Slot and Pokies Developers Use AI?
Like any tool that helps create art, game developers can use AI to enhance and speed up the creative process, but not replace that creativity completely. Yes, AI can suggest code itself and make suggestions about what features to include through research, but it’s the human choices to combine these factors that make a slot game. This means that a broader and more personalized range of games should be available at online casinos around the globe.