After Virginia Lottery became the first lottery in the US to offer progressive jackpot enabled e-instant games, we caught up with IWG CEO Rhydian Fisher to understand more about how the supplier’s jackpot module is driving the ilottery sector forward through this innovative concept.

Lottery Daily (LD): What was the thinking behind launching a progressive jackpots module for e-instant games?

Rhydian Fisher (RF): We launched progressive jackpot enabled e-instant games with the intention of evolving the ilottery experience to a new level. It’s well-established from lottery draw games how the prospect of winning a progressive jackpot prize is of great fun to players. We’re taking this key element of traditional lottery and incorporating it into digital e-instant games with our new jackpot module. Now players can experience within our games the excitement of continuously increasing jackpots alongside the fun gameplay that they’re already accustomed to with IWG titles. 

We’re proud to have made history by becoming the first supplier to offer progressive jackpot e-instant games to the ilottery sector in the US. The first IWG title to feature the new jackpot mechanic is Jungle Tumble Jackpots, based on our hugely successful game that is already live with lottery partners across North America. Combining an existing popular game theme with the new functionality ensures a strong launch. 

We congratulate our partner Virginia Lottery for going live with Jungle Tumble Jackpots. They just launched their ilottery program in July and they are already breaking new ground for the industry with the launch of IWG’s progressive jackpot enabled games.

LD: Talk us through the product itself, how frequent are the wins and what are the prize amounts?

RF: The IWG progressive jackpot module can be added to any of our games, with a real-time jackpot meter displaying the exact value of the in-game jackpots during the gameplay. The version we launched in Virginia is configured with a mini jackpot that is expected to be awarded multiple times each day, a mid-tier jackpot that is structured to be awarded weekly, and a top-prize jackpot that could land once per month. Of course, the actual frequency will depend on the volume of play.

Players have the opportunity to win these jackpot prizes from any purchase amount of their choosing. To us, this is the responsible way to offer progressive jackpots to lottery players. In the case of Jumble Tumble Jackpots in Virginia, players can choose to play for as little as $0.50 or as much as $20. 

LD: How do you deliver progressive jackpot functionality to your lottery customers? How does the integration process work?

RF: The entirety of the progressive jackpot module is contained fully within our Remote Game Server (RGS). This was really important to us when developing the product and will be hugely beneficial to our lottery partners. The process of adding progressive jackpot enabled games is no different to that of any other game we supply, which means there’s no technical support of any kind required at the ilottery platform level. The solution’s API also provides lotteries with the capability to show real-time jackpot values across their websites, mobile apps and email campaigns.

For us, this is the true brilliance of our innovative jackpot module. We’ve created an exciting new game genre for the e-instant games sector that can be seamlessly added to a lottery’s online offering and instantly made available to a wide range of players.

LD: What customization features are there to the product and how can they be adapted to each lottery’s requirements?

RF: We have plans to roll out the module to lotteries across North America, so making the functionality configurable was critical. Having worked closely with multiple lotteries, we know through first-hand experience how they operate and how they can differ from state-to-state. To meet the requirements of each lottery partner that wishes to launch our progressive jackpot enabled e-instant games, the module and prize structure can be adapted to ensure that jackpots are won on a regular basis taking into account each lottery market’s population size and play volume. 

LD: What’s been the feedback so far from the lotteries? 

RF: The response from our lottery customers has been extremely positive. Of course, they fully understand how the prospect of winning a progressive jackpot prize drives playership. And, they appreciate that the modularity of IWG’s RGS architecture facilitates rapid innovation. Launching brand new game technologies, like progressive jackpots, without needing to orchestrate the work across multiple technology partners is critical to lotteries competing in the fast-paced digital world. 

The ilottery sector is evolving quickly and lotteries must keep pace with consumer expectations by regularly delivering new concepts. We’re looking forward to introducing our progressive jackpot enabled e-instant games to more states in 2021 and beyond.