“The Future is 4ThePlayer” – Exclusive Interview with 4ThePlayer.com Commercial & Marketing Director Henry McLean
Every player who likes to stay afloat hot topics and releases in the industry has heard of 4ThePlayer.com. This up-and-coming casino game developer hasn’t been around the block for long, but its influence is already evident.
In our latest interview, we had the pleasure of chatting with Henry McLean, the Commercial & Marketing Director at 4ThePlayer.com. He was kind enough to introduce the company to our audience and even revealed some fun facts which we are sure you didn’t know.
Without further ado, here is what Henry McLean had to share with our team.
- Hello and welcome to BestCasinos.com! We, as well as our readers, are very excited to meet you! So far, we’ve learned that your company specialises in online casino games. Can you tell us more about your company? Who exactly is 4ThePlayer.com?
“Hi Guys, Great to speak to you too!”, McLean begins the interview.
“We are a relatively new games provider but with a ton of experience, the founders founded Ash Gaming before selling to Playtech then all held senior industry roles before reuniting to form 4ThePlayer.com.
“We might be ‘new’ but we’re not new to gaming!”
“As the name suggests we think about the player first, we are also players ourselves, so we know what players actually want from games. We want games to be fun and create memorable experiences!”
- Only two years after the launch of your company, 4ThePlayer.com counts as one of the brightest rising stars of the industry, even earning a place on the shortlist for EGR B2B Awards in the Software Rising Star category this year. To what do you owe such immense success?
“Thank you, very kind of you to say so! We are incredibly pleased with how well we have been received both by players and the wider industry. It’s hard to put it down to one exact factor but we think it’s due to a few factors one being ‘the need’ for what we provide, games that are fun to play, innovative and good value! All our slots can be played from 10p and have RTPs above the industry average up to 97%. We are also very transparent with our balances creating a diagram on the splash screen to help players choose the right game for them. Secondly, we innovate – the industry can be a little afraid to try new things creating the same old games time and time again. We don’t and this makes us stand out.”
- How does remote work affect the dynamics of your team? Would you say that remote work helps boost productivity more? Could you ever imagine 4ThePlayer.com work any other way?
“4ThePlayer.com was always designed to be a remote company with no office, even before the current climate with home working – we were built to work this way. The reason being is it means we can have the best global talent without worrying about all being in the same country or building. It also means we can focus on what matters, making amazing games rather than traveling too, and paying for an office – all that energy can be funnelled into the games.”
- 4ThePlayer.com specializes in mobile-first casino games. Could you tell us a bit more about your focus on mobile gaming and its importance for your company?
“Mobile has grown exponentially, both in handset tech but also internet speeds yet mobile casino games have not evolved as much as they can. For example, a lot of game providers still do not offer portrait play so we invented BIG REEL PORTRAIT MODE ®. To maximize the use of the screen and improve the experience.”
“We want players to be able to have the best entertainment experience no matter where they are, on desktop or mobile. It all goes back to our mantra of being for the player and improving their experience overall.”
- We could not fail to notice that all of your games share an interesting trait: all names start with a number. We are sure our readers would love to know more about this detail. Could you tell us more?
“Glad, you noticed 😉 there are so many games out there, it’s just an easy way for players to see its one of our games. It’s also just something a bit different and fun.”
- From innovative designs to ground-breaking game mechanics, your company is the definition of uniqueness and creativity. What would you say is your driving force for such ingenuity?
“Thank you, innovation is at the heart of what we do! The driving force without a doubt is Andrew Porter our CEO – he has an amazing mind that is almost overflowing with innovative ideas and concepts. We then bounce them around between us all and decide which ones will see the light of day and which ones will stay in the lab.
“We are not afraid to try new things, after all the first step of succeeding is trying”
The innovations all have the same purpose though, to improve the player experience and that’s what we always come back to, we always ask ourselves ‘Does this improve the experience, or is it just ego innovation’. If it’s just for the sake of it or for our ego we simply do not do it – we want the experience to be pure and entertaining without the bloat. We are not afraid to try new things, after all the first step of succeeding is trying!”
- Your company became one of the first members of the YGS Masters Programme. How did the deal affect your business after you became affiliated with such a powerhouse in the sphere of digital gambling?
“YSG Masters has been amazing for us, we spend a lot of time choosing our platforms to ensure they are right for us and we have the same principles. Yggdrasil is very much like us a forward-thinking powerhouse that is not afraid to innovate! Likewise, for Relax, we are proud to be working with the best platforms in the industry.”
- After everything we have seen so far from you, we have to say, we are quite excited to see what’s in store next. Can you share some of your plans for the future?
“The future is extremely exciting for 4ThePlayer.com – we have many exciting games up our sleeve for 2020 and beyond! We are also looking at the USA and the exciting opportunities it brings, we know there are lots of players in the USA that would love to take 6 Wild Sharks for a spin or sail the seven seas in 123 BOOM! – can’t wait till we can tell you more about that next year.”
- Could you single out one or two of your favourite slot games from the portfolio? And why?
“It is extremely hard to pick as I love them all, every new release I find a new favourite and that can be said with our latest game 123 BOOM!”
“I specifically like 123 BOOM! because it fixes that common frustration with cascading games I find very annoying, that there is a lot of noise but the wrong symbols build-up making the cascade almost pointless – you do not get this in 123 BOOM!”
“9k Yeti will always have a special place in my heart as well, probably because it was our first slot release but also because it’s just such a strong game with such epic big win potential. Also, I love Christmas, so the Santa enhancement is a big love of mine! Watch out as in the next few weeks Santa 9k Yeti will come out to play. 9k Yeti is also in the Huge Yggdrasil Christmas Giveaway so keep your eyes out for that too as there are lots of great cash prizes to be won.”
- And finally, you plan on launching 123 Boom in November. Knowing that each of your releases boasts an incredible engine and unique features, can you tell us a bit more about the release? What can we expect to see with the new pirate-themed slot?
“I gave it away a little earlier but 123 BOOM! Is our take on cascading games, but in true 4ThePlayer.com style we do it differently to improve the experience, cascading from the side – directly into the pay line!”
“This means that when wins are removed new symbols slide into the pay lines, meaning you can chain together far more cascades than traditional games. In fact, you can get up to 107 explosive wins from 1 spin! It also means that you can score bigger wins on subsequent cascades or explosions as well call them.”
“In traditional cascading games symbols cascade in top to bottom but pay lines pay left to right which leads to lots of ‘junk symbols’ building up and killing the cascades and also reducing the chance of bigger wins on subsequent cascades. We fixed this!”
“The bonus round is also great fun as the multiplier increases for every win up to an impressive x99.”
“It is a really fun game to play and very different to a lot of games out there at the moment where you are just spinning till the bonus, in 123 BOOM! you can have just as much fun in the base game as the bonus. It is medium/high volatility and the max win is 14,827 so why don’t you set sail and see what you think of it 😊” McLean concluded.
After our delightful chat with McLean, we have only one thing to say – the future is 4ThePlayer! We thank Henry McLean for taking the time to talk with us and we hope we’ll hear from them again very soon!
Our team also hopes you enjoyed our exclusive interview with 4ThePlayer.com and if you want to learn more, stick with us. We will bring even more details about the company (and their games) in upcoming weeks.
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