Having generated a significant buzz in the industry, Relax Gaming has revealed that it is bringing back its iconic Money Train slot series for a fifth instalment later this year.
Speaking to iGaming Expert, CPO Tony O’Mahony discusses the rationale behind reviving the award-winning series for a bold new episode, ahead of its release in September.
You stated that bringing back the Money Train franchise had to be for the right reasons. What was the internal catalyst for Money Train 5, and how does this decision reflect Relax Gaming’s broader strategy for managing established IP?
Money Train is the most successful franchise we have ever produced so bringing it back was not a step that we took lightly. We positioned Money Train 4 as the ‘last stand’, as we believed the series had reached a natural conclusion and already achieved more than we ever imagined.
The catalyst for Money Train 5 was a simple question: can we challenge ourselves to raise the bar even further without losing what made the series special? In product development you spend so much time protecting what made you successful that you stop taking the risks that got you there in the first place. We wanted the Money Train franchise to stand for continual innovation and that question became the benchmark throughout development.
More broadly, that’s how we think about established IP at Relax Gaming. We don’t revisit successful franchises simply because they’re successful; we do it when we believe we can add something meaningful to the experience and push the brand forward in a way that surprises players.
The announcement makes it clear that Money Train 5 is not a ‘safe sequel’. How do you balance the demand for deeper, unpredictable gameplay with retaining the core identity that built the fanbase in the first place?
This is one of the most difficult aspects of any creative process in our industry. Players develop a strong affinity to certain game families that any change must be very carefully considered.
With Money Train 5, we retained the core identity by staying true to the way the bonus round operates. The goal wasn’t to repeat what worked – it was to evolve it into something that feels deeper, more unpredictable, and ultimately more rewarding for the players who are chasing those standout sessions. And that’s why we believe it’s already generating so much attention.
Money Train is arguably the franchise that defines Relax Gaming for many players. How do the lessons learned from evolving a powerhouse series like this inform your approach to launching new, unproven concepts?
One of the biggest lessons from Money Train is that innovation works best when it is built on something familiar. Players will naturally gravitate towards mechanics that they know and trust, and once you’ve built that trust, there is always an opportunity to surprise them with something new. Guitar Quest is a great example of that.
The challenge is finding the right balance between giving players what they love and introducing something they haven’t seen before; whether it’s a sequel or an entirely new concept.
What remains consistent across all our games is that we take an identical, highly rigorous approach to new concepts as well as our sequels. For example, when we launch a game like Guitar Quest, operators know that it will have the same level of polish as a Money Train game. That level of quality is our hallmark.
There is always a commercial risk factor of franchise fatigue with long-running series. As CPO, how do you measure the ultimate longevity of a flagship IP?
We measure potential longevity not only against player engagement metrics and commercial performance, but also by how heavily a game is anticipated by the market. With Money Train 5, the industry speculation ahead of the recent reveal proved just how strong the appetite was.
If a brand gets predictable, though, it becomes disposable. If a franchise stands for anything, it should stand for innovation, not repetition. Provided our developers are genuinely excited about the mechanics they are building, and the math leads to those standout, visceral sessions players are looking for, there is room for the train to keep moving.
We are not interested in milestones for the sake of it. We’re interested in making sure that every instalment earns its place and continues to deliver a gaming experience that remains the industry gold standard.
