In the industry since 2016, Ganapati recognized an opportunity to introduce casino goers and online players to Japan via the look and feel of its slot games. With offices across the globe and an impressive portfolio, it’s difficult to imagine that the industry was unknown during the early days. Intrigued by the approach as well as the look and feel of the products, we reached out to Yutaka Iwakiri, who is the Chief Creative Officer of Ganapati PLC, to give us a written tour of the company and where its headed.
Q: Please tell us where the passion for “delivering amazing gaming experiences” began.
A: It came from the aspiration of attracting as many players to our games as possible. Once we started seeing results, it encouraged us to keep moving forward and to push the boundaries.
Q: Did you see a gap in the iGaming market in terms of Japanese culture and what has been the response to your products?
A: Yes, we did. When we first started up, casinos, both land-based and online, were a relatively unknown concept for us. But one thing we do know is Japan. There are several games out there based on Japanese culture and with Japanese themes, but which don’t deliver the true flavor of Japan. So, something we make sure to do with our games is provide a glimpse of the real, unique Japan, in a natural way. In addition to that, we try to put playful features into our games. The originality of our characters often receives positive responses.
Q: Slot games are the company’s focus, right? Do you intend to produce other types of games in the future?
A: Yes, we intend to produce other types of games, but unfortunately I can’t share the details just yet. Whilst we have largely focused on slot games so far, from now on we will be providing not only different types of games, but also brand-new types of games. That is our ultimate goal. To be market leaders of an entirely new category of casino games.
Q: What is the process for developing in-house games from concept to official launch?
A: As we have multinational offices, our concepts come from around the world, then we discuss and choose the best ones among us. After that, we work on specific elements in our respective offices preparing the games for their official launch. Simply put, there are no games which only one single office creates alone from start to finish. Each game contains input in certain areas from our different offices, who get involved together to fuse cross-cultural ideas and concepts into one product – this multicultural approach is one of our main strengths.
Q: Which game has seen the most success to date and what’s the reason for this, in your opinion?
A: There are a few titles competing for the position of most successful – the Cryp series, Samurai Girl, Onmyoji, Great Beauties of China and Cai Shen Four are all in the running. However, it is not easy to guess what the specific reasons are to be successful in this industry.
One point these games all have in common is that their artwork is a Japanese style of graphics, which is naturally seen as unique in this industry. People tend to be drawn to our games created in this style.
In addition, our global fusion amongst our development team is one of the main reasons behind the success of our games.
Q: Can you share any upcoming projects or game releases planned for the rest of the year?
A: Yes, we have just launched Ganapati’s strongest IP yet: Pacquiao One Punch KO. This game is the official game of legendary boxer, Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is boxing’s only Octuple Champion and is regarded by many as being the greatest boxer of all time. It is not just his physical strength, but his mental strength which we really admire about him – not only in the ring but in his role as a senator of the Philippines. In addition, a portion of the game’s proceeds will go to his charity, the Manny Pacquiao Foundation, which is doing incredible work to help children’s education in his home country.
For all of these reasons, we decided to make the fast-paced, action-packed, Pacquiao One Punch KO, which promises players a whole lot of fun!
We are also working on a lot of new themes for our upcoming games, which we have never done before. From now on, we will not only be creating games which centre around Japanese culture but will be developing games with a variety of other themes as well. Watch this space!
Q: From all of us here at LCB, we thank you for the interview. Is there anything further you’d like to add before we end?
A: This is just the beginning!!
