As one of the most interesting genres to emerge from the industry in recent times, CCTV betting has also attracted its fair share of criticism. From public safety concerns, to the legality of it all, Global Gaming Insider published an analysis of the genre last week.
This week, we sit down with the Founder of 155.io and the man behind Rush Hour, Sam Jones. He answered our general questions, questions on integrity and also on the undeniable growth of the product so far.
What was your inspiration for this portfolio of products?
I do not believe a new entrant to the igaming industry can easily compete with the thousands of games in online casino lobbies today – there are simply too many slots, crash games, live dealer games. We are in an era where clones of games can be created very quickly using AI – so it will only get more and more competitive for game designers.
Unless you have wild budgets, you have to do something wildly different to compete. Our company, 155.io, are trying to do something totally different. That starts with creating games that are all based on real-life, physical games which are broadcast to our players. It's all real. Secondly, our games are designed for mobile users (over 85% of our players play on mobile) with very simple game design. Anyone should be able to understand the game immediately.
Thirdly, the games are intentionally chaotic, short and fun. We are in the attention business. When we look at this criteria, Duck Racing, Marble Racing, Coin Flipping and the CCTV Game all hit these requirements. So we designed and built games for this in our studio – and we broadcast them to clients all over the world.
Plinko is a classic, but what drew you to creating something like Stairpong or Fish Tank?
Stairpong was borne out of a guy I saw on Instagram. This creator was throwing a handful of ping pong balls down the stairs in his home. People could predict which colour would land in a bucket. The dimensions of a regular staircase fit nicely in a phone – so the visual worked well and the balls flew towards the user's eyes. I liked it. We could do better. I also wanted a game in our portfolio that offered the users a 2x return, a 5x return, and right the way up to x100 return. I think Aviator is a popular game because people get to choose their odds. We needed a game like this. We also needed a game that looked super colourful and chaotic, that started every 30 seconds or so.
Chaotic, rapid with a chance of a moon shot win. That was the brief. So we designed Stair Pong – 100+ ping pong balls dropped down a real-life staircase every 30 seconds by a robotic arm. The first ball in the glass vase wins. It is super popular all over the world. Fish Tank was similar. I saw a sneaker shop in Switzerland where they let customers drop a coin in a small fish tank. If the coin landed in a tequila glass at the bottom of the water, they won a pair of Air Jordans. This was blowing up on Instagram.
I loved the idea and I thought we could do something bigger and better. So we designed a larger fish tank to fit perfectly in the dimensions of a phone. We added some automation at the top of the fish tank to drop coins every 30 seconds or so. The coins could land in different containers and we would pay out based on this. Again, the user can choose their odds. This game runs 24/7.
What led you to create Rush Hour?
We run a studio. The purpose of the studio is to test ideas. Break a few things. Play with new formats. 80% of ideas never make it as a game. With limitations on space and time, I had started to consider how we could use content that was from outside of our studio, but I was underwhelmed with what I could find.
Secondly, last year I got a call from a client in the industry saying he wanted to launch a game recording a live monkey, so he could allow people to bet on what the monkey did next. I thought it was a wild idea. But the animal cruelty community would hunt me down if I launched that. So I passed. But it had me thinking.
Then, I attended a conference and started looking into vehicle tracking technology using AI. Similar to what Tesla uses. The software was super cool, and that got me thinking, too. So we started to explore live CCTV content and build software on top to count cars passing certain zones. We then allowed users to pick their odds. Like we do in other games. We launched the game. CCTV Game.
I don't see a risk of accidents. We change location every 30 seconds and sometimes don't come back to a location for hours
Rush Hour has captured quite a bit of attention, but what do you think the main draw to it is?
I think the world is asleep at the wheel most of the time when it comes to information we consume. We are all so unconscious when it comes to the content that we see on our phones. In the online casino world, CCTV Game provides something so new, edgy, and almost dystopian that people like it. People crave authenticity. Why bet on a slot game when you can bet on the real world?
Are the streams actually live, or are they pre-recorded and curated at all?
All the games are based on live feeds. What we show in the game is slightly delayed as the AI calculates the range of cars and makes sure the odds are fair.
Where do you actually get the footage from, and is this legal?
We license the content, or we have our own cameras out there.
If it is live, are you ever worried about there being accidents or something else scary happening during the feed?
If someone tried to stop the traffic, the location would not be shown, so it would be hard to fix it or cause problems. I don't see a risk of accidents. We change location every 30 seconds and sometimes don't come back to a location for hours.
So, I’ve seen that you switch between feeds every minute at random. What’s the thought process behind this?
People get bored – so we need to change constantly. We have some crazy new stuff coming to CCTV Game!
What are the risks of collusion in a live CCTV product like this? How easy would it be to get some friends waiting in front of a London CCTV camera, for example, to make sure your bet came in?
We change the location regularly and if you tried to stop the traffic flow, the AI would pick it up and we would skip the location. You also do not know what segment of traffic we will show, so you can not really game the system.
“155, launched in 2024, honours the iPhone 15’s 155mm display. Our name reminds us to be mobile-focused in the content and games that we create.” We’re seeing a growing trend of customers leaning towards cleaner, easier UI’s, especially compared to traditional UI, for example. Is ease of use and accessibility important to you?
I think a lot about UI. Games should feel simple and inevitable to a new user. I think too many games in the casino industry are overcomplicated and use jargon which people don't understand.
We want games to be easy and fun to watch – where the rules are obvious immediately – and the interface to be as simple as Tinder to use. That is the design challenge we are taking on. The audience for that is global.
Rush Hour and Duck River have RTP rates of between 91.50% – 93.50%
