Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has become a hotbed for creative minds and companies. In particular, the chilled-out city of Cape Town has seen an explosion in media and technology firms playing their trade across Africa and the whole world.
The city was named World Design Capital in 2014. Couple that with a nation that's crazy about its casino gambling, and you have the perfect breeding ground for new and exciting software firms.
Bla Bla Bla Studios might have a flippant name, but there's nothing casual about its output. The South African company has been busy churning out some of the best online slots for gamblers. Bla Bla Bla's focus is on innovative graphics and animation, and the sort of game design players want in the 21st century. Let's take a closer look at this Cape Town success story.
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Bla Bla Bla was set up in 2013 to provide clients in the gaming industry with the best graphic animation expertise and cutting-edge game design. The company boasts offices in the heart of the media capital of Africa, Cape Town, and continues to employ the freshest design talent from all over the continent. Many of the firm's designers have years of experience working in the film industry.
The firm was the brainchild of Carmen Granger, a South African businesswoman who began the company as a start-up animation house with a skeleton staff. Within a few years, Bla Bla Bla has grown at a wild pace. It now boasts clients in the UK, Australia, and Europe and games are found at many top-performing sites, including online casinos with no deposit bonus offers.
Looking at the developer's output so far, it seems to have succeeded. As well as meeting external clients' briefs, Bla Bla Bla Studios also produces games of its own for play on PC, smartphone, or tablet. Games are produced in HTML5, Flash, or Javascript to suit all platforms and operating systems.
The company was awarded a UK Gambling Software Operating Licence in 2017 and has put the time since to good use. Bla Bla Bla's output in 2018 has been extensive, with many slots heading into the portfolios of the biggest slot providers on the web.
It's not only online slots that Bla Bla Bla develops. In 2016, the company signed a deal with US developer Slot Game Lab to produce games for the land-based casino market.
Many of Bla Bla Bla Studios' top slots were designed for third-party developers, with Leander and Microgaming having been recipients of the design team's output, among others. In 2016, Bla Bla Bla began designing games for Microgaming's Quickfire platform.
2017 was a busy time for Bla Bla Bla Studios, with well over a dozen new slots making it to market. If you're a fan of 3D online slots with the slickest design and are looking for something fresh, this SA developer might be for you.
Fortunes of Asgard: Released in 2018 on Microgaming's Quickfire platform, Fortunes of Asgard taps into the current vogue for Norse-themed slots. And if you've played and loved Microgaming's Thunderstruck II or NetEnt's recent Norse-themed game, Asgardian Stones, you're in for a treat.
A medium-variance title, Fortunes of Asgard puts you in control of Norse god Thor or the brave Helia. This determines which special wild symbol comes into play later. The game features free spins and stacked wild symbols for players to hit.
Naturally, Bla Bla Bla's character animation stands out here. It reminds us of Playtech's Norse-themed Viking Mania slot, but the graphics are a cut above anything in Playtech's arsenal.
Champion of Champions: Tapping into the retro arcade game craze, Champion of Champions is a good example of Bla Bla Bla's artistic skills. This online slot with an Asian theme features a range of Street Fighter-style heroes and villains battling it out on the streets to win players coins. There's even an arcade-style battle round where you pick a character to win the fight.
Similarly, Lucha Libre Wins takes the classic Mexican wrestling craze and puts it into a slick 5-reel slot for mobile. The Amazing Alchemist slot machine comes with multiple, magical bonus features.
Finally, Bla Bla Bla Studios' commitment to character design comes to the fore in Little Red. Produced for Leander Games – who is no stranger to original slots games, Little Red is based on the classic Red Riding Hood fairy tale. It forms part of a trilogy of Leander slots that includes Three Blind Mice and Little Pigs Strike Back.
Set against a beautiful countryside backdrop, we follow Red Riding Hood on her way to Granny's house as the reels spin. During the free spins bonus, the player has to "uncover" items of the wicked wolf's clothing to reveal his disguise. It's similar to Cayetano Gaming slots and KA Gaming slots themed around the same fairy tale.
As well as designing its own slots and games, Bla Bla Bla Studios puts its graphical prowess to work on external clients' projects. The studio provides both 2D and 3D graphics and animation to slots aimed at clients looking for something special in their games. The team also comes up with game concepts and character development for external providers.
Bla Bla Bla Studios has pledged to branch off into other casino offerings like card games. However, for now, players will have to make do with some sumptuous online slots to gamble on.
In a crowded gambling marketplace, it's important for developers to stand out. With a firm commitment to graphic design and animation, Bla Bla Bla Studios is definitely achieving that.
Boasting some breathtaking animated sequences and graphics, Bla Bla Bla is a slot designer to watch closely over the next few years. We haven't seen slot design like this since BetSoft launched on the scene, providing 3D games.
As technology improves, Bla Bla Bla's games will surely be more widely played on the next generation of computers and smartphones – and all this from a small studio in the South African gambling center of Cape Town.