Exclusive Interview at SBC Lisbon 2026: Christoph Härtel of Readyplay Gaming

Abigail Welch: Hello, Abigail Welch here, the Editor of iGaming News, coming to you from SBC Lisbon 2026. I’m thrilled today to be joined by Christoph Härtel from Ready Play Gaming. Thanks for taking the time to speak to us.

Christoph Härtel: Thank you for your time.

Abigail: For operators who are new to Ready Play Gaming, how would you describe the studio and the type of games that you set out to create?

Christoph: The company started almost 25 years ago with bingo. Since then, we’ve developed into slots, and what we’re offering now is a hybrid.

We have slots, and all of our slots have an overlay game, which is bingo, crash and several other categories coming up. We’re addressing a niche that hardly anyone else is addressing and attracting several genres of players at the same time.

Abigail: Fantastic. Could you tell us a little bit about Blazing Buffalo Reel Crash, and what made you decide to combine a video slot with that kind of crash game element?

Christoph: This is a slot game, and the slot game triggers a mechanic that starts an overlay game, which is the crash game.

Crash is a few years old already. It’s massively growing, and Africa is a very interesting market. With the niches that we address, we always try to combine two genres of players.

It combines the slot mechanics with the crash overlay, meaning that we address the interests of crash players and their needs for a game, and combine that with the needs of slot players. Through that, we’re creating a new niche of games.

Abigail: How does that work from a player’s perspective? What makes it different from switching from a slot and then going towards a crash game next?

Christoph: The most important part is that they don’t have to switch. They’re not going out of one game, going into another category, picking a game there and starting it.

They start this game and can enjoy the slot game, but also the thrill of the crash game, all at once without exiting.

With our bonuses, bonus buy and jackpots, we also add even more than the classic two games would offer.

Abigail: Were there any design challenges when trying to combine these two styles and make it feel like a coherent game?

Christoph: It’s not that big a challenge. We have a lot of experience from all the games we’ve already made with the bingo overlay and jackpot overlay.

Then we have Reel Triples, another part of our Reels family, where we have three jackpots in the overlay.

We have the experience. It was changing the topic and, instead of triples or bingo, putting in the crash game.

Abigail: Do you see Reel Crash as a new kind of game category?

Christoph: I wouldn’t say it’s a new category. It’s adding value.

Usually, an operator has perhaps two or three games in the crash category, which looks a little bit empty. Putting our game in there adds more variety for players.

At the same time, the game can additionally be placed in the slots category. It’s serving those two categories, rather than creating a new category.

Abigail: What has the response been to the game from operators?

Christoph: So far, a massively good response. It shows that it works for players. They enjoy it and spend more time in there, especially as we have bonus buys with different factors integrated.

So far, the numbers show that it’s highly accepted. Most importantly, of course, is getting the right positioning — for example, getting into the crash category so players can find our games and enjoy this new type of game.

Abigail: How do you balance experimenting with new mechanics against the familiarity of slot games, for instance?

Christoph: All our games are user tested. There’s a lot in our pipeline that we create, then we do user testing.

After the feedback, we decide where to focus, what to develop further and what we shouldn’t focus on.

It’s not that big a gamble or risk. There’s a lot of testing and work behind it.

Abigail: Looking ahead, will Reel Crash become a wider series for the studio?

Christoph: Yes, we will bring out more crash overlay games.

We have this Reels family: Reel Bingo, Reel Triples and now Reel Crash. There are even more categories coming up, so everybody stay excited about that.

We will add more crash games, but there’s also a lot more to come in the other categories of our Reels family.

Abigail: Exciting times ahead for the brand.

Christoph: Absolutely.

Abigail: Wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to speak to us today. It’s been really great to learn about yourself and the studio. Thank you for your time.

Christoph: Thank you.