“People Are the Foundation of Our Success” – Meet Switch Studios’ Head of Studio Tom David
The Ipswich-based Switch Studios game-maker might not yet be a household name, but we don’t doubt that moment is approaching fast. The insanely creative and innovative team behind Switch is bringing RNG table games to their days of glory – one table at a time. A pack of bright minds and born gamers keeps it real by always putting family first – and you are about to see how well that Switch concept works.
With us today we have Tom David, the Head of Studio at Switch Studios. We hope you’ll enjoy this interview as much as we did!
- After three years of enjoying your games and writing about your achievements, it is great to have you here for an exclusive interview. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us! What can you tell us about Switch Studios? What is your mission?
Switch Studios is a team of gaming enthusiasts, with some of the team having previous experience in the online gambling world, and others from the F2P gaming world. Some of us have been fortunate enough to have experienced both industries.
We’re based in the market town of Ipswich, which is about 60 miles east of London. The town has experienced somewhat of a boom in the technology sector over the past few years and is becoming more and more of a hotbed for fantastic talent, which we’re fortunate to be able to pool from.
Our mission as a studio is to provide the highest quality table games to the online gambling market. Our initial strategy was to supply Microgaming with a brand-new suite of classic table games using the very latest web-based technologies. The suite of games we’ve delivered over the past four years as a result now gives us a fantastic platform in which to deliver cutting-edge and innovative content to our customers.
- In the last couple of years, over 20 table games from your studio have reached international audiences via Microgaming casinos. To what do you ascribe your success?
The foundation of our success to date has been very much about the people who work for the studio, as well as the people we’ve been working with in order to get our content to market.
I’ve found it a huge privilege to be working with an exceptionally talented group of people, each of whom bring their own experiences, knowledge and dedication to the team. Without them we would not be where we are now.
We’ve also been incredibly fortunate to have been able to work alongside an experienced provider in Microgaming and it’s allowed us to get a real granular insight and understanding of what the market wants and what it needs.
- What makes Switch Studios an irreplaceable element of the Microgaming independent studio network?
I believe the consistent quality and usability of the content we produce has played a huge part in making Switch Studios the go-to studio for Microgaming for all things table games.
That overall quality is again borne from a team who are dedicated to their craft and who are all looking to achieve the same goal.
- Your work so far includes blackjack, roulette, sic bo, and Dragon Tiger RNG tables. Do you plan to explore other genres, such as craps, maybe?
Yes, we absolutely do plan to explore other genres and it’s something we’re actively working on now. Our main focus at present is to innovate on the core suite of games we’ve already built, however we’re not limited to only those game types.
In relation to your specific example, Craps is a really interesting one. It’s a hugely popular game in many US casinos. It’s also the sort of game experience that has historically been very difficult for providers to replicate in the online RNG space due to the social nature of the gameplay. Giving players that buzz of others watching and cheering whilst rolling the dice is key with a game like this – simply knowing the rules and playing an RNG version of the game on your own dilutes the experience that players would expect in a land based casino.
This is definitely the sort of game that would really play to our strengths due to our experience in the F2P gaming world so definitely something we are looking into.
- What about live casino content? Do you see yourself switching to live dealer tables in the future?
At this moment in time no, live dealer is not something we’re actively looking to produce. That said, this is a part of the table games space we keep an incredibly close eye on and will continue to do so.
Live dealer has experienced massive growth over the years – again due to the social nature of the gameplay. From a Switch perspective this is where we feel we can look to innovate in the future by bringing that social experience to a space that traditionally has not had that focus.
- What drives you to create such splendid, high-end table games for online casinos?
Firstly, I’m grateful that you view our table games as splendid and high end; you’re making me blush!
In all seriousness though, a desire to be the de facto provider of online RNG table games for operators and casinos around the globe is one of many drivers behind what we do.
We are competing in a marketplace that houses some of the finest providers of table game content in the industry, so continuing to produce high-end table games and innovating on them is something we will always aspire to do.
“Exciting times for the studio and our players alike.”
–Tom David, Switch Studios
- What is the most important thing that keeps the Switch team together and keeps ideas flowing non-stop?
One of our most important values as a studio is family-first. Giving people flexibility and understanding with personal situations helps our staff feel comfortable in the knowledge that if life throws you a curveball, the studio is there to support you through those challenges.
On top of this, an attitude of not taking ourselves too seriously is massively important as well. Prior to the covid pandemic our office was seldom quiet, with lots of banter going on throughout the day. This has been more of a challenge with the remote nature of how we work at the moment, so we’re very much looking forward to returning to the banter once we’re all able to get back into the office.
- When it comes to innovation, would you say that table games are trickier or easier to experiment with than slots?
I would say it’s a bit of both. On the one hand you have a diehard contingent of players who have historically played standard rule table games and it can be very difficult to get them to move onto games they’d consider more “out there” that may dilute that experience. These players like what they like and are unlikely to change. That’s the tricky bit.
On the other hand, the global landscape has changed dramatically since the advent of the smartphone, which means playing table games (or any online casino games) is now something that’s accessible to all players, whether they are seasoned veterans or new to table games. It’s with those new customers that we’ll see the fruits of innovation, and in some way this is the easier part of us innovating.
- As Switch Studios is a UK company, could you please share your thoughts on the gambling market in your country? Where does the UK stand in comparison with the global industry?
In the UK we’ve been fortunate (certainly in my lifetime) that gambling has not been the taboo industry that it has been historically elsewhere.
That has allowed the country to be at the forefront in terms of regulatory policies and has offered a degree of protection to players and providers that until recently has been unrivalled anywhere else.
It’s also my experience that regulation has also driven studios globally to really up their game with the quality of the games they produce, which has been a really positive side effect of the whole regulation subject. There’s some really fantastic and engaging content out there right now as a result.
My view in terms of the UK vs the rest of the global industry is that I believe the UK will continue to set the trend for the rest of the industry for the foreseeable future.
- Slots are undeniably a trendy category, and Live Dealer games are slowly taking off. Where do RNG table games stand in this ever-evolving gambling industry, and what about in the future?
RNG table games are nowadays considered a niche area of the market compared to slots and Live Dealer, however there are elements of this category that neither slots or live dealer can match.
In the case of slots, all but a select few will go live, be popular for a little while and then fade from existence. RNG tables tend to have the longevity with players that slots generally don’t.
In the case of live dealer, its well known that players will get a more sociable experience playing these games, however there are ongoing costs associated with keeping these games up and running for their audiences by means of having to pay for dealers, tables, buildings, etc., in different locations round the globe.
We don’t have that problem with RNG games, so they are inevitably cheaper for the studio to build, distribute and maintain.
- Thanks for talking with us; we had a blast! We hope we will get to hear from you soon. Do you have something else to add before the end of this interview? Perhaps a message for our readers?
Thank you for taking the time to chat with me and hope you found my comments interesting.
Please do keep an eye on releases from Switch; we’ve got some exciting and unique table games being released over the next few months, which we really think players will enjoy being a part of.
Exciting times for the studio and our players alike.
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