BetMGM Casino has chosen Michigan as the first market to receive two new pop culture slots: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Cheers. London-based Atlantic Digital supplies the slots, based on the 1994 Jim Carrey comedy film and 80s sitcom of the same names. Both slots feature voice clips and images of their iconic characters, plus bonus features inspired by their stories.
Oliver Bartlett, BetMGM’s Vice President of Gaming Product & Content, highlighted the casino as a destination for the most recognizable movie and TV show slots and added:
Taking popular movies and TV shows and reimagining them for iGaming is a great way players can experience them in a different and exciting way. Our partnership with Atlantic Digital has added an element of exclusivity and entertainment to our already expansive library of games.
Meanwhile, Sam Hobcraft, CEO of Atlantic Digital, said the two games “really show off the brands to their fullest extent” and expressed his delight at the continued partnership with BetMGM.
BetMGM Michigan is Atlantic Digital’s exclusive partner in the US. The studio debuted in December with the Godfather slot and later added Star Trek: The Next Generation and Charlie’s Angels.
BetMGM expects to roll out the games to other states once Atlantic Digital obtains the necessary licenses.
BetMGM Sees Value in TV & Movie Branding
Atlantic Digital’s strategy of focusing on TV- and movie-based content resembles that of another European content provider, White Hat Studios. Like Atlantic Digital, White Hat made its US debut in Michigan, with BetMGM as its first partner.
Since then, the studio has expanded rapidly and is now one of only two studios with content available in all seven iGaming states.
The rapid expansion lies in the success of its interactive pop-culture slots, branded after famous movies and TV shows. Based on these partnerships, BetMGM may believe these pop culture tie-ins hold particular resonance with its player base.
That, in turn, might say something about BetMGM’s demographics. Ace Ventura and Cheers are likely most familiar to Gen Xers and older Millennials. The same can be said of many White Hat titles, like The Goonies, Inspector Gadget, and Beavis and Butthead.
TV & Movie Tie-Ins Inspire Thematic Bonuses
Another similarity between the two studios is that the games are heavy on thematic bonus features.
Ace Ventura was Jim Carey’s breakout movie, and his iconic lines form the basis for many of his slot’s mechanics. These include:
- Four fixed jackpots
- Mini wheel respins
- Free spins with cash-on-reels
- Multiplier wilds
There are two scatter symbols. One triggers the free spins bonus feature, where wilds carry a multiplier and collect cash value symbols. The other scatter symbol triggers the mini-wheel bonus spin, which includes the chance to win one of the four jackpots.
Cheers is a more traditional three-reel slot but still heavy on bonuses, with nine different features named after the show’s characters. The Cheers logo is the wild and appears only on reel two. Landing at least two of these earns a respin.
During the respin, a random symbol is chosen. A winning combination with that symbol triggers the Boston Wheel, which will select one of the nine bonuses. The player can then accept that bonus or gamble on getting a better one—at the risk of receiving a slightly worse one instead. These bonuses can be anything from free spins to a matching game with beer mugs to a prize wheel spin.
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