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The staff at games developer Netent celebrated the tenth anniversary of their slot Starburst last week, complete with live music, a 3D-printed Starburst cake, and Starburst-themed photo booths.
The anniversary party was a little late, as Starburst was released in January 2012, but last January, we were still in the covid-affair. And late or not, Starburst is worth a celebration either way.
For years, this online slot was by far the most popular in the world, and Starburst is still high on the list of most played games in online casinos. In the past 2,5 years, according to Netent, no less than 18 billion spins have been played on Starburst. Play it now at the all slots login!
Why is Starburst so popular?
Why has Starburst been such a smashing success for the past decade? First, the game is relatively simple and quick to understand, so very suitable for novice players.
Secondly, on this slot, you get something exciting about once every eleven spins: a fold-out joker plus re-spin. So practically everyone who tries this slot will experience that exciting moment at least once. This is not the case with many slots where you have to wait endlessly for a bonus round – many players leave before they even see the bonus.
The main feature of the Starburst online slot is the star-shaped wild symbol. It only appears on the second, third, and fourth reels. If the star appears on a line with several of the same symbols, it will ‘turn’ into a missing symbol to form a combination.
When a wild appears on the field, it triggers the Wilds bonus. Once a star appears, it closes the reel, increasing the chances of collecting winning combinations. Once the reward is counted, a free respin begins. If another wild appears, it fills the reel and brings another respin. After which wild symbols disappear, three reps can be made in a row.
Payout multipliers for common symbols on slot machine:
- purple and blue crystal – 5, 10, 25;
- orange crystal – 7, 15, 40;
- green crystal – 8, 20, 50;
- yellow crystal – 10, 25, 60;
- seven (7) – 25, 60, 120;
- BAR – 50, 200, 250.
In addition, online casinos have traditionally been happy to give away free spins on Starburst, as it is a low-volatility slot: extreme winnings are rare, so the casino doesn’t have to worry that promotion will suddenly cost a lot more money than budgeted.
Yoju Casino thinks the hypnotic soundtrack contributes to Starburst’s success: you’re drawn into the slot’s atmosphere.
And yet. There are plenty of other slots that are nowhere near Starburst. Netent has tried to match its success with other games that resemble Starburst, but it never succeeded. Think of Dazzle Me and NRVNA and Sparks.
Only the sequel Starburst XXXtreme, a slightly more volatile version with the same symbols and fold-out jokers, has been a reasonable success. And then there is a Slingo version, which also has a small loyal fan base.
What’s changed about Starburst
Starburst itself hasn’t remained quite the same since its introduction in 2012. As a result, Netent has quietly made some changes to the game.
In the beginning, you could choose how many paylines you wanted to play with: one to ten.
This was already no longer possible on the mobile version launched later in 2012 (which was called Starburst Touch at the time).
In 2016, Netent reprogrammed the game in HTML5, eliminating the need for a separate mobile version. Unfortunately, since then, you always have had to play all ten paylines, even on your desktop computer.
In a way, that’s a shame because before, if you had less than ten cents in your casino account, you could still play a spin on Starburst. Now, you have to go to another slot that still lets you choose the number of paylines, such as Legacy of Dead.
Another thing that’s changed: before the transition to HTML5, Starburst’s payout percentage (RTP) was always 96.10%.
Since 2016, Starburst’s default RTP has been 96.09%, a negligible difference. But since April 2020, Netent also offers versions of this slot with a lower RTP and thus worse odds of winning.
Some legal online casinos in the Netherlands choose to offer such a lower-paying variant of Starburst. For example, at Circus Casino, Jack’s Casino Online, and BetCity, the RTP is 95.05%.
Fair Play Online initially went wild with an RTP for Starburst of 94.09%, but the casino has since opted for the standard RTP of 96.09% for this prominent slot.
Yoju Casino always mentions it in his casino reviews when an online casino offers less-paying variants of slots.
Starburst keeps going and going and going.
Netent is now part of the large live casino company Evolution. Evolution’s chief product officer, Todd Haushalter, gives a jubilant statement on the tenth anniversary of Starburst:
A decade-long run for a single slot game is an incredible achievement, and it’s been a top favorite with players ever since it was first launched. From the looks of things, that’s going to keep going. Starburst is the complete package – an exciting, classic game that entertains you immediately. I can’t wait to see what the next decade brings.
Yoju Casino is also very anxious to see how Starburst gets through the next decade. This evergreen has recently been hot on the heels of slots like Sweet Bonanza, Wolf Gold, and Book of Dead.
But Haushalter is undoubtedly correct: it’s an achievement for an online slot to stay on the market for ten years, let alone one so popular. Congratulations Netent!
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