As the entertainment industry has grown into a sprawling behemoth that spans countless platforms, it’s simply not enough for a franchise to exist in one place. The key to growing and gaining mass attention in the modern age is to spread out in as many ways as possible. With the online casino industry booming, the slots market has emerged as one of the best outlets for franchises to branch out and get in front of a huge audience.
Franchises Have Broken Out into the Slots Market
There are now millions of players logging on to play slot games at online casinos, and this is reflected by the vast range of games on offer at these sites. The themes on offer span everything from ancient history to modern pastimes, with titles like The Legend of King Arthur and Lucky Bass Mega Collect among the top games in these genres. With so many people playing the reel spinners, developers from other areas of the entertainment industry realized that this was the perfect place to gain recognition.
Caption: A trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road
There are now dedicated sections of slots lists that feature franchise games, with titles based on popular television series and movies. These include offerings such as Mad Max Fury Road Megaways, Rocky, and Deadliest Catch. This has often served as an excellent way to boost franchises and get them more attention in other areas of the mainstream. The games feature imagery and color schemes from the films and television series, giving people another way to enjoy them.
There are also plenty of unofficial slots that have been influenced by famous franchises, with developers perhaps using these to jump on the popularity of other offerings. For example, John Hunter and the Book of Tut is clearly aimed at people who enjoy the Indiana Jones movies, while Release the Kraken could have been influenced by the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
This trend is likely to continue long into the future, as the online casino industry is continuing to expand and attract more players. The online gambling market is projected to be worth more than $153.57 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.7 percent between now and then. Slots are constantly evolving and bringing in new features, meaning that they will keep attracting new players. This will offer franchises from other sectors of entertainment an outlet for reaching wider audiences long into the future. In the next few years, games could be more immersive than ever, giving people new ways to enter the universes of their favorite franchises.
Which Franchises Started it All?
The idea of a television series or movie spanning way beyond its original medium is nothing new. Indeed, the concept of a sprawling franchise dates back decades, with major blockbusters often using merchandise to get their names in front of wider audiences.
Star Wars was one of the earliest blockbuster franchises, with various related products helping to boost the original George Lucas trilogy. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was one of the first games based on a movie, and it helped start a trend that has continued to this day. Recently, the space opera has expanded in other innovative ways, including spinoff series that explore minor characters and settings.
Even though Star Wars arguably helped influence modern blockbuster franchises, the concept of branching out beyond the screen can be traced much further back. Indeed, the original Universal Monsters pictures of the 1930s and 1940s enjoyed great success thanks to their expansion into other popular media of the era.
The likes of Dracula and Frankenstein were expanded into radio dramas and pulp magazines in their early days. Later, when television became more widespread, these characters were represented in shows on the small screen. Since then, they have become ubiquitous and are instantly recognizable among people of all generations.
Caption: A video about Dracula.
Other characters such as Batman have been adapted in countless ways over the years. The Caped Crusader made his big screen debut in 1943, and has been one of the most popular characters in the mainstream ever since. The Gotham City dweller has been in loads of films since, along with related television series and games. Batman content is generally well-received as well, with the recent Penguin offering on HBO garnering solid reviews.
Slots Franchises Now Big In Their Own Right
It’s clear that film and television studios value the slots market as one of the best places to expand into in the modern age. That’s because the online casino industry attracts such a diverse range of people, meaning that it’s an excellent place to get the attention of mass audiences.
Slot developers have seen the power of franchises in full effect, and have been inspired to adopt it for reel spinning games as well. Some of the biggest slot games have become series, as this is an excellent way to corner more of the market and reach a greater number of players. There are some slots franchises that have already become well-known throughout the industry using this strategy.
The Age of the Gods series is arguably one of the best-known franchises in the sector, setting a great example for others to follow. The games use legendary characters from mythology, with games based on Zeus and Poseidon among others. Playtech also expanded the series into the roulette market, with Age of the Gods Roulette Live there to tap into the thriving live casino audience.
The Big Bass franchise is another highly recognizable brand across the iGaming sector. It began with Big Bass Bonanza in 2020, and expanded into various other titles in the years since. These include options like Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake, Big Bass Amazon Xtreme, Big Bass Day at the Races, and Big Bass Bonanza: Keeping it Reel.
The online slots market has become the perfect place for franchises from other areas of entertainment to branch out and get representation. This trend will continue long into the future, as the popularity of slots is never going to dwindle.
