A Halloween lobby starts in August
Published
Players notice a seasonal studio change within seconds of opening the table. Stanislav Kriuk, Head of Studio at ICONIC21, explains what goes into it beforehand and why a decorated studio should still look like the operator’s own.
Most players will see our Halloween studios for the first time in October. By then we will have been talking about pumpkins for around two months. From the player’s side, seasonal decoration should look like the lightest part of live casino. Behind the camera it works more like a small broadcast production, on a set that stays open for business the whole time. For operators planning a lobby refresh for the holidays, that gap is worth understanding, because it affects what you ask of a supplier and how early you’re asking.
The brand comes first
The easy version of Halloween is a box of identical decorations put up at every table, and it’s an approach we try to avoid. A dedicated studio is built around one operator’s brand, so in October it should still feel like that operator’s room, with the season dressed over the top. Our first conversation with a client is therefore about the experience they want and how it fits the brand they already have. Design develops a concept from that, and production then checks whether it will hold up in a working studio with its cameras, lighting, presenters and game visibility.
Plenty of good ideas change at that second stage. A live casino studio is a broadcast environment with a real game running in it, and something that looks great when you stand in front of it can look completely wrong through the lens. When that happens, the camera wins the argument, so every concept is tested against the actual shot before it is approved.
What the camera does to a decoration
Materials catch people out more than anything. Glitter, LEDs, glossy surfaces and very saturated colours tend to look wonderful in the room and then turn up on stream as reflections, or as colour that bleeds across the shot. Placement is just as unforgiving. A beautifully decorated wall sitting just outside the frame does nothing for the player, while moving a single object 20 centimetres can change a shot completely.
The dealer also has to feel as comfortable at a decorated table as at a plain one, and deal exactly as before. Our rule is that the creative work never interferes with the game, which means sightlines, monitors, microphones and the visibility of the cards are all settled before any decoration goes near the table. Alongside that sits the work nobody pictures when they think of Halloween – fire safety, ventilation, cable routes, emergency exits and access to technical equipment.
Changing the set without closing the table
For an operator, the main concern is usually downtime, and our aim is to cause none. As much as possible is produced, pre-assembled and tested away from the live environment, and the installation order is planned in advance, so that fitting everything is the shortest stage of the process. We coordinate with Operations, use maintenance windows or quieter periods, and where we can we work table by table instead of closing a larger area.
Operationally, the best version of this is quite boring. A player leaves one day, comes back the next and the studio looks different, with no idea what happened backstage. Getting to that point still takes time after installation, for camera, lighting and sound checks and a quick test with the presenter.
What players see
Players pick up on the atmosphere straight away, usually through the background, the lighting or one strong visual element that tells them something is different. What they don’t see is probably 80% of the work: camera tests, lighting adjustments, rehearsals, dealer scheduling and, now and then, five people debating why something needs to move five centimetres to the left.
This year, selected games in our live studios are dressed for Halloween for a limited period. Separately, our games team has released a four-title Halloween Pack – Ghost Road, Spooky Blackjack, Capy Cauldrons and Sugar Kingdom Halloween – for operators who want to give the RNG and slots side of their lobby a seasonal refresh as well.
For operators already looking ahead to the end of the year, our usual two-month lead time for Halloween is a fair guide to when that conversation should begin. Our job is to take the idea, adapt it to the brand and deal with the technical and operational problems behind it, so that the player opens the game and simply thinks, “Oh, this is cool.”