When you think of art, online casino slot games are not the type of art that your mind will conjure. You may think of Picasso, Michelangelo, or a piece of art such as a famous sculpture or architectural structure. However digital art is booming thanks to the intrinsic part that technology now plays in all of our lives.

Digital artistry comes in many forms; graphic design of company logos, animation for various movie studios and collectives, user experience in web design, drawing up life-like 3D pictures, and yes, even online casino slot games.

Online slots and the advancement of graphics technology
Have you played online slots before? It’s easy to play casino slots online for real money and is a way for many people to unwind at the end of a long day, or have a little bit of fun between other commitments.

Slots games have benefitted as much from advances in technology as other digital products, and in particular in terms of the level of graphics definition that’s now available. We’re way beyond the 8-bit block-style graphics (or are we) that dominated the 80s and early 90s.

Digital artists now can create rich graphical experiences without worrying too much about processing power; even if games are played via mobile phone - which they often are.

Artistry on games
While the notion still exists of ‘the starving artist,’ many digital artists find it easy to gain full-time employment, and a great place to get a job is within the gaming industry - as it’s always booming. One of the biggest games providers of the industry, NetEnt, has open positions for game artists generally year-round.

Within slot games, there is an opportunity for artists to work on both 2D and 3D graphics. Backgrounds and images on slots while they’re spinning will generally be rendered in 2D, however wins and features will often have 3D artwork and animations to really engage the player.

The greater the artistry, the most interesting the game is for the player, which is why game development houses can invest a lot in their artists. The more a player is driven to a game, the most yield for the house, after all!

The process behind slot game artistry
Slots games are usually developed from a template. You will notice that one game may be exactly the same as another, it’s just skinned differently. Building a whole new slots game takes a lot of time, which is why games houses generally just reskin games instead.

This means that artists will usually be given a brief with the same sections as they are used to, with an idea for the graphics at each section.

Sections may include: background graphic, feature background graphic/s, individual slot graphics, expanding reel graphics, feature transition animation, various win animations, title/help/about screens, end game animations, etc. Each of these must be planned by the artist then created.

The artist then completes each required piece of art, or there may be multiple artists working on different pieces of each game, so long as the colour scheme and style of art is the same throughout.

A programmer then assembles all the graphics on the screens and adds the underlying game maths, triggers and workflows to the game.

Game artistry still has plenty of room for innovation
While we mentioned the progression from the old-school graphics of yesteryear, through to today, there is still plenty of room for digital art to grow in slots.

While it’s not a slots game, the casino magic is there in VR with PokerStars VR on Steam. If you want a real lifestyle of play, or just want to take a look at the artistry involved, then it’s definitely worth taking a look at this game, although you’ll need a HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Valve Index to play. Adding this immersive experience to slots is in the works for game developers, although it’s not a high priority as most people still don’t have access to VR headsets.

While not as much time and money goes into developing online slots game art as, say, the latest Call of Duty game, advancements in digital media manipulation will make graphics faster and easier to produce by artists, which will mean we’ll see even better, more exciting and/or realistic art in slot games as the years go by.

A career for the realist artist
Slot game artistry is a clever career move for a digital artist, as there will always be work in the gaming sector worldwide. While it might not be the ‘sexiest’ job, there is plenty of room for imagination to flourish, alongside a healthy pay check at the end of the week. Slot game art is no less of an art form than other animation-style media, it’s simply one that isn’t often thought of in the same breath as say, animation work from Pixar.