Interview with Sean Liu, Director of Product Management at TaDa Gaming

Fishing-shooting games have become a standout genre for TaDa Gaming. What inspired you to focus on this segment?

Fishing-shooting games have exceptional appeal across demographics, jurisdictions and player experience levels. Offering skill-influenced and progressive play with in-game challenges, titles such as Mega Fishing create the win/win of differentiation for us as a content provider and a USP for our clients, the casino operators and aggregation platforms.

Our research also shows that new demographics switching up from video/console games are initially more drawn to fishing-shooting. Conversely, fishing-shooting also appeals to slot players as the betting mechanism is instantly recognisable. In slots, one spin = one bet and in fishing-shooting, each shot fired places the wager, so players are confident to try.

Your recent article emphasises that fishing-shooting games require skill and strategy rather than pure luck. How does this impact player engagement in comparison with traditional slot games?

Who can resist a challenge? Generally, our fishing-shooting games enjoy longer rounds played per session of up to 55% over slots due to the multiple bonuses, in-game events and large cast of characters, with repeat plays, new client sign up and DAUs also giving very healthy figures.

If you look at a game like Ocean King Jackpot, there are about 14, separate, character-driven features, each with a unique bonus, or multipliers up to 1,200x with the Ghost Ship or up to 2,400x with the Vampire Rock Skeleton; and that’s before you get to the three progressive jackpots.

Players can use strategic play to maximise their win potential when they decide on weapons and which characters to target. Although the games are RNG, this upskilling and decision making puts agency into players’ hands. This creates higher spend levels per session and an average 10% uplift in both DAUs and consequently engagement levels.

We also help players to skill up and improve their gaming with in-game tutorials, on-screen advice and warnings and free demo play, in which we advise new players to always start. Our website has great intel on successfully playing fishing-shooting, so it’s worth visiting and following us on social media for regular updates.

Ultimately the player has many choices on how to play our fishing-shooting games, which also gives the USP of each experience having the potential to be very different from the previous one.

However while engagement is high with fishing-shooting, our research shows that it is not a binary either/or choice between slots but that many players extend their screen time in the casino in order to play both.

Do you see this format evolving further? Do you think the genre will ever be on par with conventional slot and casino games in terms of popularity, especially in Western markets?

Our fishing-shooting games are a scalable vertical that is constantly growing in popularity, so the evolution of these games is already happening. With Fortune Zombie, our latest release, we have innovated by taking the game out of the water and on to the streets. This provides multiple opportunities for new features, innovation in weapons and power ups, fantastical designs and multiple different ways to win.

We are pioneering a new way to play and win with fishing-shooting and this is appealing globally. Our successful European launch started in Italy and is progressing across the continent. Latin-America, especially Brazil, has significantly picked up on this new concept and our recent entry to both Africa and the USA is already generating ROI. Fortune Zombie was tailored for the US sweepstake market but its overall immersive, medium/low volatility play has universal appeal. Plus, our campaigns actively promote fishing-shooting helping it to be a global phenomenon.

When casino gaming is discussed, slots are usually the first vertical that comes to mind as they are currently responsible for around 80% of GGR, so clearly a significant part of any casino offering. However, with more players looking for challenging and progressive play and younger demographics ready to enter iGaming, the new vertical of fishing-shooting games is a perfect bridge for operators looking to maximise their casino success.

Are there any new mechanics or innovations you’re currently working on to push the fishing-shooting genre even further?

We have recently introduced the Real-time Dynamic Scripting system. When players experience what we call ‘fortunate overfishing’, causing a noticeable reduction in the number of fish on screen, the system automatically triggers an auto fish-replenishment mechanism to maintain visual consistency and richness during gameplay. This also prevents emptier or less active scenes/screens. Furthermore, this dynamic replenishment mechanism indirectly enhances the visual impact and realism of fish or creature collision effects, optimising overall shooting feedback and significantly improving the immersive gaming experience.

We believe in constant improvement, so other challenges we have overcome include multi-platform compatibility and server synchronisation performance. The rapid-fire bullet mechanism was putting our servers to the test – both in terms of game visuals and bet data. We optimised our technical stack to handle the total bullet volume per unit of time, ensuring smooth performance without compromising stability and ensuring a better gaming experience.

Fishing-shooting games undoubtedly present gameplay that was unheard of in the online gaming industry not long ago. Do you think this genre has the potential to redefine iGaming content, or at least pave the way for other breakthrough experiences in the future?

Definitely. iGaming is one of the most exciting and rapidly changing industries. Not long ago, Crash games were unusual but now every successful operator offers them and they even have their own awards’ categories. Players are on a constant journey for new experiences and new ways to win and a uniquely attractive aspect of fishing-shooting games lies in the multiplayer functionality.

A constant in feedback on fishing-shooting, regardless of nationality, location or jurisdiction, is how the social aspect of most games which allows up to four players, simultaneously drives engagement and retention. Players crossing from video to iGaming expect multiplayer mode, collaborative efforts and leaderboards which our games deliver. With their fast-paced action, video-game-like visuals, and skill-influenced mechanics, these titles resonate strongly with players who only grew up on mobile gaming and esports.

Fishing-shooting bridges the gap between gaming and gambling, creating a new vertical that feels familiar but still exciting and deeply engaging for the next wave of iGaming players. And with their feedback and our innovation, then more breakthrough experiences are guaranteed.