Emoji Take Over Casinos as Microgaming and NetEnt Release More Emoji Games

As the hype of emoji picks up, there’s no escape from it in the world of iGaming either. Albeit the news doesn’t come as a surprise for insiders and the more active players, two popular gaming studios – Microgaming and NetEnt – are about to release their own versions of the emoji slot, both of which are now live at select casinos before the global release later during the month of August.

First up is the Microgaming powered EmotiCoins slot, with a full release scheduled for today, 2^nd August. This more classic-type video slot has 5 reels and 30 pay-lines, developed through a staff-powered innovation initiative, Business Intelligence.

What’s unique about this game compared to other studio’s releases that include Jurassic World, is the two-brand new wild features in both the base game and free spins. This includes Wild Blast™, which adds up to 5 overlay wild symbols for a guaranteed win, and Wild Stickers™, which only appear during the slot’s free spins bonus.

Speaking of the EmotiCoins bonus, it lasts for a fixed 10 free games and adds one sticky wild on every other spin, randomly. The good news is that they remain on-screen until the end of the feature, hopefully for big wins of up to the promised 92,000 coins.

As marked by one of the members who pitched the game idea, Anna McChesney, PR Manager for Microgaming: “As a marketer, to me the use of emoticons in social media and communication is fascinating; they have essentially become a universal language! 92% of the world’s online population use emoticons, so developing a themed game would automatically target the demographic of our operators’ players.”

Tears of Joy, Kiss and other popular emoji are also featured in NetEnt’s branded and exclusive Emojiplanet video slot. Scheduled just in time for the Emoji Movie, it’s unlike anything we’ve seen from the developer so far. More in line with Play’n GO’s reactor or grid slots like GEMiX, and the very new Moon Princess, there’s zero pay-lines and 30 emoji on the screen at a time.

Made with Global Merchandising Services & The emoji Company, this low volatility game was, unsurprisingly, developed and designed with a mobile first approach. Betting 20-200 coins per spin, you can squeeze out up to 10,000 coins by forming 5-of-a-kinds or better, vertically or horizontally. And all that happens with 5 emoji features, including Bombs, Pizza, Kiss, Rocket and Two Hearts. You can expect random coin wins of up to 100x the bet level, mega 3x3 wild symbols, Sticky Wilds, progressive win multipliers and more, at an RTP of 96.4%.

That said, the games are now live at select Microgaming and NetEnt casinos. And we’re excited to find out which one you like best. Leave your comments below.