Hi Malcolm. Thank you for joining us in this interview. We’re super excited to talk all things Nolimit City, so let’s dive into it straight away. You’ve been with the company for almost 6 years now. Can you tell us a bit about how your paths crossed and how your career has progressed since then?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

It was as if I was always destined to work for NLC. Throwback a few years, when I was still a young, plucky recruiter barely dipping my toes in the industry. I clearly remember seeing the profile of a then CEO for Nolimit City Ltd, which popped up and piqued my interest – it was then that I first discovered a brand new provider with barely just one game live (this was going back in 2014 I think!). That said profile was for someone I helped recruit for in the past…. Fast forward a few more years, and I came across a random Facebook ad; Nolimit was looking for a Key Account Manager to join their Malta team! Little had I known I would be the very first Malta based employee to join, and that’s where my journey began.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Indeed feels like it was destined! Nolimit City must have been a completely different company back in 2017. If you were to describe stepping into the office back then and now, how would that look and feel?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

Yeah, it definitely was. The team back then derived mainly from the Stockholm team, with both founders being based there and the rest of the development team – we’re talking around 13 people max, if that! We barely had 4 games live and just about 4 client integrations; that’s pretty much it. I joined without really having an office, just a desk in a remote space, but that’s all I needed. My goal was to see this business grow no matter what, and it was precisely the scenario I needed – start from scratch(ish) and build on from there.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Looking at Nolimit City today, it’s clear the goal has been achieved. What about the overall strategy and ambitions? Are the same values driving the studio now as they did back then?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

Absolutely, I’d say more so now than before. We’re still the same core people that joined over 6 years ago with the same passion for delivering fresh and exciting experiences in our games. We’re back to experimenting with new ideas and trying out new themes and concepts. Nolimit wasn’t always a success story; we took some time to find our groove and find our identity. We definitely hit the jackpot at a point and are still riding on that success, yet we need to keep pushing forward and not relax. Competition eventually catches up – what’s fresh today is stale tomorrow – adapting and adjusting must be a constant thing. Our values still remain the same behind our development mindset – just do different!

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

What were the first products/games developed by the studio, and how challenging was it to sell them to operators?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

I wasn’t there at the very start, but I’ve been told of the old ICE conference days, walking around with just a tablet and the one single game being showcased. Those days were definitely tough and quite different. I remember joining with just 4 games to showcase, and that was a hell of a sales pitch – it’s natural to catch someone’s interest for a call but to get them to commit to direct integration was a whole other thing. It took some time, but it all came together bit by bit; aggregators definitely helped get the product out faster, but we pride ourselves on quite a few direct integrations in the early days.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Even though the competition was not so numerous then, there were already established providers leading the industry. What were the biggest hurdles an up-and-coming studio had to face in order to move forward?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

Pricing, quantity of games and standing out, to name a few points. Even back then, the market was considered already saturated. I remember clearly when videoslots.com celebrated 2,000 games – they’re at 9,231 today – yet this doesn’t ever seem to be a deterrent for new Studios to pop up; operators always want new content with the hope they hit the new hot jackpot. That new big supplier to create the next ‘must-have’ title and be the first to have them. But yeah, Operators would always push back on the lowest pricing possible and never fail to remind you that you don’t have enough games yet, which was annoying!

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Let’s move more towards the Nolimit City product. Judging by your portfolio, the first half looks like the one of a traditional studio that is trying to find its niche and direction. Many different themes, mostly positive and slot-like, so to speak. The second one feels way more consistent and narrowed down toward unusual and gritty. What was the turning point in this case, and how did it come to happen?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

It was just the turning point we needed. Looking back, our games were cute, soft, low volatile, and just plain average. We needed to change things up if we were to survive and stand out. We dabbled in a grittier style during this journey with our title ‘Hot Nudge’ where we first designed the xMechanic ‘xNudge’ without even realizing it was our ticket to greater success – we took the plunge to try out that mechanic once more on our now iconic ‘Tombstone’, and that’s what cemented it all for us.

We instantly saw a change in narrative and eyeballs towards the more volatile impactful title. It wasn’t necessarily an instant hit, but that definitely was the turning point, as well as the launch of our first Bonus Buy entry, ‘Punk Rocker’ – besides being just a completely bonkers theme of a game with fantastic music and art, we introduced an epic bonus buy concept which just turned heads. That’s when we knew we had found our new direction and genuinely etched who we are in the name ‘NO-LIMIT-CITY’

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Hot Nudge is definitely still one of my my favorites because of the exceptionally unique art and hard-core volatility. Was it already clear back then that you wanted to develop that idea of X mechanics and end up with multiple proprietary features?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

Not at all. As mentioned above, we didn’t even realise this game and that mechanic was the ticket to something much bigger, so much so that Hot Nudge wasn’t really that well received, or it was, but we just weren’t that well known and exposed enough for the game to truly blow up. xNudge remains the one true mechanic that identifies us as the heavy-hitting supplier with impactful potential in our games – Hot Nudge was the seed to start it all…. It only took a little while to realise that truth.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Were there ever any signals from other providers expressing a desire to use your mechanics in their games? Would you consider licensing them out?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

There has been direct interest as well as glaring signs of direct ‘inspiration’ of specific titles of ours. However, we never went in with the idea to fully open the doors to our xMechanics; we always felt that by letting them go out in the wild, we might be diluting our own identity and perhaps oversaturating the market with repetition. With that said, clearly, there have been other success stories out there with the same concept in mind, but we don’t think this is something that can be easily replicated. With that said, you never know, things may always change at any point.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

When you started producing the more controversial themes, like Tombstone RIP, Mental, or Serial, were there any rejections from the operators’ side? We are in an 18+ industry, so theoretically, there shouldn’t be any limits, but perhaps people felt offended or disgusted by some of the imagery.

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

There’s no denying there have been some – at times a staggering number – of clients who rejected a few of our titles for being TOO out there in the opinions of some; however, we will always retain our stance that no one should censor what people find offensive.

Nothing we produced hasn’t already been displayed in other expressive mediums such as film, comics, music or video games. Of course, we need still be aware of this glaring pushback – we have now found a balance – remain true to who we are but maybe just adjust a teeny tiny bit when it comes to specific topics and imagery. Yet don’t be too surprised when might just shock a little bit more here and there.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Do you think the appetite for such shocking themes will continue? Is Nolimit City’s long-term plan to stick to this strategy?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

Absolutely. This has proven to be true so far with our most recent and even upcoming titles. As I mentioned above, we’ve dialed it down a bit but still want to push different unseen themes. We believe strongly that players want to see this and are far more accepting than a few operators tend to believe. Take Tombstone R.I.P., a game that really pushed the concepts of death and public hanging in any slot game, and yet it’s one of our most played and requested titles.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Nolimit City hardly ever did any bespoke content, which is undoubtedly a common practice in iGaming. The only example I can recall is the collaboration with bet365 on the Mercenary X slot. Can you elaborate on why that is and caused Nolimit to make an exception?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

Well, I guess we buckled to the idea of offering our xMechanics to one of the biggest names in the industry. We’re not against this practice really, and as far as bespoke titles for Operators, we would love to, but delivering the highest quality titles takes time and resources, which we need to be very precious and selective towards. Bespoke titles will always distract from bigger projects, but this may change in the future.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Was there ever an appetite to follow the trend and make a Megaways slot?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

It’s been discussed, of course, but capturing that level of success and status is just too rare. We love Megaways and believe what BTG created is simply unlike any other concept out there, yet we always preferred to do our own thing and maybe keep it to ourselves. Again, this may change.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

What are your general thoughts on the shift within the industry over the last 5 years, and how does it reflect on Nolimit City? There’s much more content, many more studios, and a lot of repetitiveness, but the number of online gamblers also must be growing, so perhaps it’s just keeping things proportional?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

I’d say the industry has changed tremendously, mainly thanks to streamer and crypto worlds taking over. There’s no denying the absolute goliath of sheer eyeballs that comes with Twitch and now even Kick audiences, something that was somewhat minuscule back then, but these days, we’re looking at thousands of daily viewers watching their favourite personalities play their favourite suppliers.

Players have also accepted much higher exposure and volatility in games – it’s somewhat expected to have more than 5,000x in any game release, or it’s pretty much considered to be a no-go for most. I believe that we capitalized on this and even, dare say, changed the game (literally) when it came to introducing insanely volatile gameplay as well as huge, realistic payouts. There’s been some adjustment here and there, but generally, players still seem to have an appetite for this formula. Although I do see the next significant shift happening quite soon – what that may be, we can’t say just yet.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Who do you consider your current direct competition in terms of quality and innovation? Any shoutouts to companies doing a good job of keeping the bar high?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

Sure, I’d have to tip my hat to Print Studios and Push Gaming; they seem to be on significant trajectories – Push has been in the mix for a while now but is delivering solid bangers. Print seems to be doing things right at a very early stage, so big props to them. I’d also need to give the nod to ELK Studios, who also have been in the game for a while but look to be producing some great titles.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY

Thank you kindly for taking the time to speak to us. That was a lot of interesting information about one of the hottest studios in the industry. Any final words to our readers?

Martin, GAMBLINGTON

We have so much in store for our fans and haters. Nolimit will keep evolving and subverting expectations – we want to capture more players of all kinds, even those that pushed us aside for being too volatile or too tough to bonus; we know we can offer more and will be mixing things up more and more.

Malcolm, NOLIMIT CITY