Eye Motion Slot Machines
Armenia isn’t known for being a hotbed of activity when it comes to the iGaming industry, but Eye Motion are one of the very few gaming companies based in the country with a determination to change that. Founded back in 2014 by Vardan Meliksetyan, who started out as a talented web developer before turning his attention to game development, the B2B software provider has headquarters in the country’s capital, Yerevan, where their small studio provides stunning views across one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities.
Eye Motion has been concentrating on the development of their Eye Engine, an HTML5 standard game engine which enables their casino slot machines to be played on desktop, tablet or mobile, with the Beating Slot app being their flagship product. This ever-growing app boasts a selection of slots that take players on an adventure to numerous ancient worlds like China and Egypt. Until recently, these games have only been available to play for free by downloading the app, however, you can now play them separately as real money online slots thanks to a partnership deal between Eye Motion and Vbet.com.
Viewing augmented and virtual reality as the future of online gambling, Eye Motion have been concentrating efforts on researching and developing games using these technologies under the banner of Game Lab, they offer their services to other iGaming companies who require Flash games to be converted to HTML5, plus they boast about having IP registered games in the US and Europe for both land-based and online casinos – they clearly have a lot of exciting stuff in the pipeline!
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Experienced players amongst you might be surprised not to have heard of Eye Motion before considering the company has been operating for several years, but it’s only in the last eighteen months that they’ve made a drive to increase their exposure and make new recruits in a bid to reach new heights.
They’ve been getting their name out there by making appearances at major events on the iGaming calendar as 2017 saw them mingle with industry giants at Russian Gaming Week, SiGMA and the Global Gaming Expo, while a more recent outing was ICE Totally Gaming 2018. It would have been easy for iGaming delegates to overlook the efforts of Eye Motion due to the minimal number of products they’ve developed and the sheer number of companies that attend these event, however, it’s clear Vardan Meliksetyan has been making a good impression with industry figures as he was selected to be one of the judges at the 2017 iGB Affiliate Awards.
We suspect this trip combined with the connections they made during the Armenian-British IT Business Networking Event that was held in London during 2017 cemented their recent announcement that they would be opening their second office on UK soil, plus we are also aware of their desire to open an office in Las Vegas.
In terms of recruitment, Eye Motion have hired several new developers, specialising in front-end development as well as the Yii and Laravel Framework, sales managers, QA testers and sound composers – clear signs of the company’s ambition and recognition that they must invest to succeed in such a competitive industry.
Released to the Microsoft Store in early 2016, the Beating Slot app is the flagship product of Eye Motion. It currently boasts eleven ancient worlds for players to explore – Old Egypt, Gothic Century, Ancient Greece, Secret of Aztecs, Old Armenia, Old China, Old Karabakh, Old Russia, Old Africa, Old Celts and American Indians – with the company harbouring ambitions to release around 40 different games in total.
These are free to play with the company profiting from in-app purchases, which range in price from a low limit of $2.99 up to a jaw-dropping maximum of $119.99 for the few players who find the games pulsating, although the recent deal with Vbet.com means that you can now play them for real cash without having to unlock levels to access other worlds.
Eye Motion will be hoping the games prove more successful amongst players at online casinos than they have on the Microsoft Store as the three-star rating from just five reviews is a clear sign that it hasn’t been very popular, plus the single user review stating it crashes and doesn’t keep the user’s score doesn’t bode too well.
Of all the worlds available, it was the free American Indians slot machine that grabbed our attention while reviewing the Beating Slot app. It might not be packed with exciting bonus features, but the five reels have been framed with bamboo sticks that are tied together with animal sinew, it boasts a unique soundscape which makes you feel like you’re amongst an indigenous tribe, volatility is low, plus the pay table indicates that the chief will ensure you’re richly rewarded for all the feathers, totem poles and wooden boats collected.
With one of Armenia’s most ambitious developers at the helm, it should come as no surprise that Eye Motion are constantly experimenting with different game devices and placing a significant emphasis on being at the forefront when it comes to the use of AR and VR in the iGaming industry.
We wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see Eye Motion announce the release of a slot machine powered by Oculus Rift as Vardan has embraced virtual reality technology to create games like Real Bike Driving and Football that require the lightweight headset, plus he has created several sports-themed games for the Microsoft Kinect. Whether the company will be able to create a unique product that can compete against the largest software providers in the iGaming industry, who boast astronomical budgets and lots more manpower, remains to be seen though.
The Eye Motion website also showcases the prototype design of a 3D gambling terminal, leading us to suspect that this is another area the company plan to focus on. Going from the simplistic design, we can only hope this is the first draft as it’s nowhere near as eye-catching as terminals offered by their would-be competitors – who also happen to be industry giants with extraordinary budgets.
In terms of the short-term future for Eye Motion, they’ve recently announced that you’ll be able to sink your teeth into some tasty wins on their upcoming Beating Fruits video slot.
A phrase which springs to mind when looking at the plans of Eye Motion is that they are ‘trying to run before they can walk’.
While we commend the company on their ambitions, especially for their desire to be at the forefront of AR and VR in the iGaming industry, it’s tough to overlook how basic their online slot machines are. If the company is going to make any significant impact in the industry and have their games released at online casinos that players consider to be the best, one must think they’ll have to add mathematicians and art directors to their list of vacancies as innovative structures and more eye-catching visuals are two areas where improvement is needed.
