Not many companies are lining up to associate themselves with American thrash metal band Megadeth, however, when Leander Games inked a licensing deal with the 1980s rock kings, representatives gushed the percussive head-banging of speed metal guitars matched their ethos perfectly, after all, “Leander” translates to “lion-like man”.
This Argentinian enterprise is the brainchild of two principle founders, Ramiro Atucha and Marcelo Blanco. Atucha’s background entailed outfitting land-based slot machines with digital capabilities and his plan in 2008 was to toss mathematicians, illustrators, scriptwriters, programmers and musicians into a creative blender to churn out products with attitude. Success materialized and prompt delivery to partners through a proprietary engine named LeGa ensued.
Industry Standing
Leander kicked and punched their way into the limelight thanks to aforementioned Megadeth, which manifested through a friend of a friend
making an introduction to get the ball rolling. Now, you simply can’t launch a slot based on heavy metal legends and not get noticed, the partnership putting them on the map as products slowly integrated at an increasing number of destinations.
From there, the delightful Taxi Slots was released, based on the 1970s hit sitcom starring Judd Hirsch, proving they weren’t just a “one hit wonder”. A string of highly successful machines were subsequently created, pleasing countless customers around the world.
Game Design
It’s obvious every Leander achievement required lots of hard work, evidenced by stellar animations and fantastic colour schemes. Their branded creations are designed beautifully to match source material and star characters always look realistic.
From a user experience stand point, players immediately know it’s been rigorously tested before release since issues are never found and controls are laid out perfectly.
Game Selection
In addition to its suite of virtual one-armed bandits, Leander released a collection of tables for its Reely series: Reely Poker, Reely Roulette, Reely Bingo, and Reely Caribbean Stud Poker. Through direct integration, software for operators was additionally manufactured from a development office in Buenos Aires and in 2014, they were tapped to begin designing products for Full Tilt Poker as they expanded to include a casino offering.
Although a relatively small catalog when compared to others is presented, they consistently deliver high-octane graphics and reliable game play. These aside, critics are still partial to Megadeath‘s music and the antics of band mascot Vic Rattlehead to get their motors humming.
Leander Blackjack
This firm has teamed up with many well-known names in iGaming since breaking onto the scene. In 2004, Full Tilt Poker rose to prominence backed by such professional stars as Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer and Andy Bloch, in what was billed as The World’s First Poker Dynasty
.
After sailing through regulatory battles, having its online domain seized and player accounts frozen, and weathering battles with rival Poker Stars, Tilt came out of the wreckage to begin operating as a subsidiary of Amaya Gaming and offered two versions of Leander Blackjack to customers.
Then in 2016, Full Tilt did what was unthinkable only a few years before and merged with Poker Stars, and in the following year Leander Games entered into an exclusive licensing deal with The Stars Group for Ave Caesar Slots. Partnerships continued at OranjeCasino, PaddyPower, Betfair, and Betson, all scrambling to sign distribution contracts.
Blackjack Classic
Numerous operators list Leander Blackjack Classic, including up-and-coming Videoslots, who forged unions with almost every software provider in the world. It will be familiar to most as tables are prepared for seven but once selecting stakes, only one place is set. Dealers stand on 17s and hit on 16s, making this a standard variant with the goal of beating croupiers without going over 21.