Q&A: Retro Sweets wins Best Sequel at the Kongebonus Awards 2024
In light of the recent news that Retro Sweets won Best Sequel at the Kongebonus Awards 2024, Push Gaming's Head of Studio, Ihor Lozinskiy sat down with Kongebonus to discuss the game's success.
Congratulations on winning the prestigious Best Sequel Slot award at the Kongebonus Awards 2024! How does it feel to take home the prize in such a competitive and challenging category?
It’s always an incredible achievement to win an award, but it’s even sweeter to win an award that’s been chosen by the players. We’re all delighted with this result as a lot of time, effort and love went into developing Retro Sweets to make it the best game it could possibly be.
As you say, the Best Sequel category is easily one of the most competitive categories in the Kongebonus Awards, every studio wants to see their follow-up to much-loved titles shine. There were some real big-hitters amongst the nominees, so to come out top feels fantastic.
Releasing a brand-new title is one thing, but launching a sequel to a massive hit like Retro Tapes must have come with its own unique pressures and expectations. How did the team approach this challenge, and what do you think ultimately made Retro Sweets resonate so strongly with players?
We were always in agreement that any sequel to Retro Tapes would have to be special, so naturally there was a degree of pressure to ensure that absolutely everything about this game was how we wanted it to be from the very start.
We have always held the belief that creating new iterations of our most popular games is the right way to go! The tried and tested Push Gaming method is to add exciting new features and mechanics to recognisable gameplay and design elements.
2025 marks 15 years of Push Gaming. What does this milestone mean to you and the team?
It’s a fantastic milestone, there are very few studios out there that have the legacy that Push Gaming has made for itself. We are immensely proud to have entertained millions of players over the years. We are part of a very small fraternity of studios with such history, and we intend to honour that history by continuing to create truly brilliant games.
Looking back at the journey since 2010, what would you say are the key factors that have kept Push Gaming not only alive but thriving in such a competitive industry?
I think we’ve stayed true to our loyal player base by delivering the content we know they enjoy time and again. It’s common for studios to stray from what made them so successful in the first place, for example by following trends, or in some cases being overly ambitious and stretching themselves thin and delivering sub-par titles.
We have a lot of ambition and we’re certainly not afraid to try new things, which is evident within our roadmap, but we always ensure we focus on what we do best and deliver games players want, such as this award winning release, Retro Sweets!
In the ideation process, how do you balance introducing innovative features while maintaining the core elements that players love in your games?
We follow a similar formula for each new game we put out, especially when it comes to creating sequels to much-loved titles. It’s incredibly important that we analyse exactly what made our previous games so successful, as well as what didn’t work.
It’s imperative that the new mechanics compliment the old ones to create a better overall user experience, and the core of that remains whilst adding in features and mechanics that are popular with players, not just within our own portfolio. It’s always important to keep a close eye on what’s going on around us.
Given the success of your recent sequels, are there plans to revisit other classic titles from Push Gaming's portfolio for potential sequels or reimagined versions?
We’ve certainly seen a lot of success in revisiting and reimagining our classic titles when it comes to the Fat Series, and more recently the Mystery Series.
There are definitely plans to build on our popular IP’s, both old and new, but we only ever start work on a new concept when the idea excites us; we won’t make a sequel or spin off just for the sake of it.
For me personally, Shadow Order is a game I’d be really keen to return to. We don’t really have another game in our catalogue quite like it with the match three mechanic. It's definitely in our wheelhouse to give the Push treatment to a unique slot mechanic in a way players have never seen before.
The iGaming industry is continually evolving. How does Push Gaming stay ahead of emerging trends and ensure its games remain relevant and engaging?
As mentioned, we are constantly looking at what everyone around us is doing and making sure we are keeping up with the pace. That’s not to say that the entire industry is one big imitation game, but it’s important that if a specific feature or game mechanic is taking players by storm, then we’ll look to see how we can put our own spin on it. There’s nothing to gain from standing still whilst others evolve around you.
