Lightning Storm, the latest live dealer game show from Evolution, is now available in Ontario, Canada, via an exclusive partnership with BetMGM Casino—a partnership that bodes well for the odds of an eventual US launch. Through the deal, BetMGM’s Ontario players can experience Evolution’s newest “high-voltage game show” featuring five new “never seen before” bonus games.
Evolution calls Lightning Storm its most complex offering to date. It’s a significant development that it has chosen to debut the game in North America rather than Europe, which remains its most important market. US audiences got their first taste of the company’s cutting-edge game show content when Crazy Time launched earlier this year.
In its press release, BetMGM’s gaming product and content vice president, Oliver Bartlett, said Lightning Storm offers players a “fantastic experience.”
Live dealer is a key focus of our iGaming business at BetMGM. Lightning Storm brings together the social aspect of live dealer, the excitement of a game show and the popularity of Lightning games to create a fantastic experience for our players. Evolution’s reputation in the live dealer vertical is unmatched and we are honored to exclusively debut their biggest game yet.
Will Lightning Storm Launch in the US?
If Lightning Storm proves successful in Ontario, Evolution and BetMGM will likely eventually debut the game in the states where the latter operates its online casino.
To do so, Evolution would have to begin streaming the game from its US-based live dealer studios. While Ontario gaming regulations allow streaming from international live dealer studios, US operators can only stream games from within each state.
Jacob Claesson, Evolution’s CEO of North America, wouldn’t say definitively whether a US launch is in the works. However, he told Bonus in an email that the company is excited to see what Canadian customers think of the game and that their response will factor into that decision:
We’re always keeping a close eye on how new games perform in other parts of the world to help guide us in the decisions on what to introduce here in the US. Lightning Storm is the most complex game that we’ve ever built, and we’re very excited to see how players will receive it.
However, Evolution’s US focus is on introducing Crazy Time in all online casino states, he said.
We’re now live with Crazy Time in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and West Virginia – and working hard to bring it to the remaining states.
BetMGM told Bonus that it’s not at liberty to discuss the possibility of a US release or the details of its commercial agreement with Evolution.
What makes Lightning Storm so ‘Electrifying’?
As Evolution’s newest title, Lightning Storm is an offshoot of the wildly popular multi-award-winning Lightning series of games.
Set in a dark laboratory-like studio with a mad scientist aesthetic, The “captivating” live game show revolves around a money wheel backed by patented DigiWheel technology. The action begins when the player places a bet, and the live dealer host spins the 39-segment DigiWheel.
Each spin of the game wheel creates new opportunities for players to land on one of 20 randomly assigned bonus symbols.
Depending on where the wheel lands, players can win instinct cash prizes or unlock one of five new, “electrifying” bonus games, each with guaranteed multipliers. Based on the multiplier received, players can boost potential winnings anywhere from 2 to 50 times the initial prize amount.
Players also have the option to place special ‘X Chaser‘ and ‘Storm Chaser‘ bets to boost their luck and ramp up excitement. Further, each of Lightning Storm’s “high voltage” bonus games offers additional chances to win.
Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from each bonus game:
Monster Mash
With three horizontal reel spins, players craft a Frankenstein-inspired monster from a selection of dismembered heads, legs, and torsos—each randomly assigned multiplier.
Hot Spot
This game challenges players to pinpoint the hottest spot on a massive, interactive 108-tile multiplier wall.
Battery Charger
In this game, players attempt to supercharge their multipliers with ten batteries “ready to explode” to their advantage.
Fireball
This bonus has players launch a fireball at a 149-tile multiplier grid in hopes of landing on the highest multipliers.
Lightning Storm
This titular bonus transports players to a roof with a 100-foot-high billboard with eight regular and three global multipliers looming above. Players can take home up to 20,000 times their original bet by selecting one of three lightning strikes.
If any bonus games received a multiplier during the initial wheel spin, all regular or double boosters are multiplied by that number before bonus play begins. Global multipliers, however, are unaffected by the first spin.
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