Sigma Gaming

About the Company

Sigma Gaming Ltd. is Yorkshire, UK-based online casino game developer located in Cumberworth. The company has a Remote Gambling Software license from the Gambling Commission in the UK under their current trade name. The company, registered in England 17 September 2014, was founded by current directors Kevin McGovern and James Ramshaw.

The duo also registered a company with a similar name, Sigma Games Limited, on 23 January 2012, with Mr. McGovern listed as director and games designer and Mr. Ramshaw acting in the roles of director and executive manager. That company does not currently hold a separate license from the UKGC. Both businesses are located at the same address and all software elements are handled by the licensed company.

The founders' histories of gaming development reach back 17 and over 30 years each. One industry name we find in common for both men is Barcrest. Ramshaw was a director at IGT subsidiary, Barcrest Group Ltd in three escalating positions from 2003 through late 2011 before launching Sigma Games with McGovern in 2012. Ramshaw was at the leading edge of IGT's breakthrough from traditional reel slots to video game based gaming throughout those years.

McGovern is also an experienced game designer and manager. Anyone who has ever played Rainbow Riches from Barcrest has played at least one of his games. Further developments he has helped to pioneer include the satellite-fed virtual racing games found at betting shops, the original FOBT terminals by Inspired, the development of Cat B3 and C games that appeared after the UK Gambling Act 2005, and numerous internet, mobile, and digital TV games found in the US, UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Russian markets.

While Sigma Games would seem to be a development lab and consultancy service which may be a source of design output for the UKGC licensed company, it is most likely the company's outsourcing vertical to supply bespoke games to other providers. Understandably, they present some of the same games as the licensed company to showcase their design talent. As industry observers, we would find the greatest value in that company to be consultancy services offered by industry veterans with over 40 years combined experience. They would be an invaluable source of strategy, maths, and design sense not to mention regulatory knowledge across a wide spectrum of jurisdictions.

Software and Games

Having already developed the world's most popular non-casino slot at Barcrest with Rainbow Riches, the software developers have gone on to produce highly innovative content with feature mechanics and maths working hand in hand to create excitement and a desire to play the games again. Most games do not simply provide 'randomly' triggered game events to get the maths to work out in the long run through RTP only. When they use that technique in games such as Kites Kingdom, they employ the mechanic for all its worth with thrilling results.

All games are now designed in native HTML5 for lean execution on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

We find Hi Lo Roller at BetVictor and Videoslots. The brilliance of this game is in its simplicity and ease of play mixed with non-stop anticipation and a masterful breaking of the monotony of many spinning games.

The theme is loosely based on traditional fruit machines with bonuses utilizing a Hi-Lo feature. When the "Gambler" character appears on the game screen players can gamble slot line wins in a single reel gamble game. Triggering the bonus activates a Hi-Lo Wheel Bonus with a two-sided gamble wheel that awards cash up to 17x and up to 15 knockouts. The multi-level jackpot wheel can result in a trip to the bonus game, single, double, and triple 7 awards, and if configured for huge jackpots, a pot of gold is placed on the wheel to award a progressive win.

Other games include a number of HTML5 slots including Tower Treasure, Bollywood Party, Lucky Fairy, and Golden Money Frog to name a few.

Kites Kingdom is an Asian-themed 20 pay line slot with a randomly triggered Kite streak bonus with triggering symbols held in place and the remaining symbols replaced until there are no new winning lines. Stacks of triggering symbols on the first three reels act as a gargantuan mega-symbol with a bet multiplier awarded. The feature repeats when the 4th reel fills and awards are generated for the 5th reel as well.

The Final Analysis

The day of single-platform provider casinos has mostly passed, and none were bigger than Microgaming and Playtech. Microgaming saw the future when they launched Quickfire in 2010. Now highly talented developers like Sigma Gaming can get their content out to many casinos, as they have done since they launched on the platform in May 2017. Open platforms are critical for smaller developers. In addition to Quickfire - Leander, OpenBet, and Pariplay also distribute their games.

Keep an eye out for more games from these guys and search for them by the provider (usually under Microgaming) or by game name at your favorite casinos like Videoslots, Bet365, or at BetVictor.

External Links

Official Web Page
Official Facebook
Official Twitter
UKGC License