One of the biggest trends in online slots over the last few years has been the huge number of games based on licenses from movies, video games and comics. These games have been a great boon for operators and players alike, as players love winning money while interacting with their favorite franchises – while operators love having the players stick with those games again and again.
However, one area has largely been left out of this expansion: television. It’s not that there have never been any licensed slots based on television shows. In particular, if you walk around a live casino venue in the United States, you’ll see plenty of slots based on television programming, and games like Wheel of Fortune and Transformers (based on the 1980s cartoon) have made waves in online casinos as well. Still, there haven’t been many truly exciting television programs turned into online slots.
That looks like it’s about to change. Microgaming announced this week that they signed a licensing agreement with NBC Universal to create online slot games based on Battlestar Galactica, the hit series that originally aired on the SyFy network. The show, which started with a mini-series in 2003 and ran through 2009, was an Emmy award winning series that was both critically acclaimed and beloved by fans.
If you’re not familiar with the show, Battlestar Galactica tells the story of a civilization of humans that live on twelve planets, known as the Twelve Colonies. The humans are surprised to be attacked by the Cylons, a race of robotic creatures that were created by the humans before being driven away in a previous war. With the human race on the brink of extinction, a small number of ships – led by the warship Battlestar Galactica – travel through the stars in the hopes of finding the mythical 13th colony known as Earth.
With a great premise like that, there’s plenty of room to create one or more games, and Microgaming expects to have at least one slot machine based on the series out later this year. While details have yet to emerge, we’d expect to see at least some use of video and sound from the show, as well as pictures of the cast – a formula similar to the one used in The Dark Knight or The Lord of the Rings slot machines.
Both Microgaming and NBC Universal expressed excitement about the deal, and suggested that creating an authentic experience was important.
“We know we will do the Battlestar Galactica brand justice and that we will not only please our own base of players but exceed the expectations of the show’s fans,” said Microgaming CEO Roger Raatgever. “We plan to use our market leading software and years of expertise in the gaming industry to ensure that our video game slot will match the success of the show.”
NBC Universal’s Christopher Lucero echoed those sentiments.
“We’re confident that Microgaming can capture all of the action of BSG with the real-life exhilaration of online gaming,” he said.
We’ll have all the details on any Battlestar Galactica games as they become available.
