Live Game Developer Interview

Live casino is a hybrid of television, real-time and product analytics. Unlike slots, not only the "math of the round" decides here, but also the rhythm of the show, the stability of the stream, the work of the dealer and the speed of the interface. We talked with the developer of live games (generalized interview) about how a hit is born and what compromises are inevitable.

1) Idea and pitch: what is a "viable" live game

Question: How does development begin?

Answer (Dev): With a simple pitch in two lines: mechanics + show scene + pace. Then - the "skeleton" of the cycle: preparation → acceptance of bets → event → verification of → payments → pause. We immediately record the target round length (for example, 25-35 seconds), the leader's gesture/replica dictionary and "pocket" moments for UX prompts and RG reminders.

2) Math and honesty without surprises

Question: How do you project payments and the chance of events?

Answer: The model is the most readable: pay tables on the screen, symmetrical fields, understandable multipliers. If a physical device (wheel, drum, card stirrer) is used, we validate its statistics over a long distance and publish the RTP range. We avoid "optical traps" (microsectors with imbalances) - trust is more important than short-term margins.

3) Studio and equipment

Question: What kind of hardware is critical?

Answer:

Cameras: minimum 2-3 angles for dynamics, global shutter, 50/60 fps, reserve.
Optics/light: constant temperature, "clean" skin and a gaming surface without glare.
Sound: master headsets + ceiling microphones, separate mix per stream.
Robotics: certified stirrers, wheels with position sensors.
Failover: duplication of power, networks, encoders, "hot" twin studio.

4) Flow and Latency: WebRTC, LL-HLS and CDN

Q: How do you achieve low latency with global coverage?

Answer: For bets/interactive - WebRTC (often 250-700 ms to the client), for wide distribution - LL-HLS (1. 5–3. 5 sec). We use:

SVC/simulacast for different channels, ABR with switching without "black frames," local edge nodes and georesolving, p50/p95 metrics on the stack (encoder → CDN → player).
Any feature comes from guardrails: if RTT> threshold, we change the length of the betting window.

5) Server logic and calculations

Question: Where does the truth of the round "live"?

Answer: On the server. Client - visualization only. Server:

opens/closes the betting window, receives the "moment of truth" from the sensor/visual tracker, calculates payments, publishes the event signature (hash/seq), writes magazines with balance movement.
In an incident, we have replay: video + telemetry + transactions.

6) UX and "television" directing

Q: How do you keep attention without toxic stimuli?

Answer: Director's plan: entering → bet with a timer and a clear sound signal → an event (close-up) → highlighting winnings → a short "breath" for decisions. The host works on scripts (no "sub"), and the UI gives short-hints, round history and re-bet/clear buttons. There are no trifles in live: the pace is UX.

7) Antifraud and protection against manipulation

Question: Where are the risks and how do you cover them?

Answer:

Device integrity: seals, calibration, sensors, daily self-check.
Video honesty: watermarks, time synchronization, stream archive.
Behavior: graph of connections "account-device-IP-payment," velocity of rates, abnormal patterns of groups.
Admin contours: RBAC, activity log, two-loop confirmation of changes.
Incidents: automatic freezing of a controversial round, investigation, public post-mortem.

8) Responsible Gambling in Live

Q: How do you embed an RG without breaking the show?

Answer: Reality checks by time, proposed presets of limits, soft pauses during night "sprints," disabling promo on risk signals. The texts are intelligible and short. Dealers are trained in correct communication and never put pressure on the continuation of the game.

9) Telemetry, A/B and Product Solutions

Question: What do you measure and how do you experiment?

Answer:

Technologies: RTT, stream starts, p95 buffering, drop-rate.
Game: participation in bets, average check, re-bet conversion, involvement in bonus rounds.
Sessions: length, returns, complaints.
Experiments - with guardrails (SLO, RG-KPI), split by geo/devices, duration 1-2 weeks on stable seasonality.

10) Reliability and incidents

Question: How are you preparing for the Black Hour?

Answer: SLO for "bet → result → payment." Runbooks for falling camera, encoder, network, device; instant cutover to backup desk; "read-only" mode for non-key actions; GameDays once a sprint. After - post-mortem with changes in the process.

11) Affordability and multi-region

Question: What about locales and devices?

Answer: Local presenters or overlay voice acting, subtitles, large print, contrasting CTAs. Mobile priority: large click zones, "one hand," saving traffic. By jurisdiction - separate RTP/limit/speed profiles, synchronization with licenses.

12) Team and processes

Q: Who makes a live game?

Answer: Client/server developers, video engineers, producer and director, QA/regression, DevOps/SRE, analyst, RG officer, dealer trainer. Sprint 2 weeks: "design → vertical cut → alpha studio → soft lunch → geo expansion."

13) Typical errors and how to avoid them

Too short a round → an increase in bet and ticket errors.

Unreadable paytable → complaints and mistrust.

Wagers "catch up" through UX pressure → conflict with RG and regulation.

Anti-cheat only on the client → necessarily a server arbitration kernel.

Stream without ABR/edge → local buffers and "asynchronous" bet windows.

14) 120-day roadmap for live game release

Days 1-20 - Design and Math

Pitch, cycle, round duration, pay tables and RTP range.

TK for the studio: cameras/light/sound/robots, reserve plan.

Host draft script and UX layouts.

Days 21-50 - Infrastructure and Prototype

WebRTC/LL-HLS pipeline, ABR, simulacast, metrics.

Settlement server, events/signatures, logs.

The first run in the "black" studio, basic anti-fraud.

Days 51-80 - Alpha Studio and Compliance

Setting up light/sound/cameras, training presenters.

RG-gardrails and texts, locales, availability.

Pre-certification tests, regression plan.

Days 81-120 - Soft lunch and scale

Geo-split, guardrails, A/B UI and timings.

Load, GameDays, backup studio.

Post-mortems, expansion of limits and geographies.

15) Checklists

Stream and Net

WebRTC for rates, LL-HLS for coverage.
ABR/simulacast, edge nodes, p95 monitoring.
Encoder/network reserve, time synchronization.

Game and server

Event signature (hash/seq), replay.
Pay tables in UI, history of rounds.
Failover table/device, freezing mode of disputed rounds.

Antifraud/safety

RBAC, Admin Activity Log, Change Loop 2.
Link graph and velocity, video watermarks.
Sensors/device calibration, daily self-check.

RG/Compliance/UX

Limits/timeouts/reality checks, soft pauses.
Readable conditions and RTP range on the screen.
Pressure-free host scripts, localization and subtitles.

Telemetry/Operating System

RTT/flow start/p95 buffering dashboards.
Participation/wagering metrics/re-bet, complaints/CSAT.
Runbooks, GameDays, post-mortems.

16) Metrics that decide

Technological: stream start <2 s, RTT WebRTC p95 <800 ms, LL-HLS p95 <3. 5 с, drop-rate <1. 5%.

Game: participation in rounds, re-bet-rate, average check, share of "successful" bets.

Business: payer conversion, ARPPU, D7/D30 retention, tickets/1000 sessions.

Reliability: uptime, p95 "stavka→vyplata," MTTR incidents.

RG: proportion of those who set limits, night sprints, time to intervention.

A successful live game is not a trick or a "beautiful table," but a well-coordinated system: clear mathematics, honest device, low latency, incident discipline, respectful UX and built-in RG. If the studio thinks in terms of SLO, replay and transparency, the viewer turns into a loyal player, and a one-time show turns into a long-lived product with a predictable economy.