Inside This Habanero Interview
Habanero's Head of Corporate Communications, Toni Karapetrov, sat down with GamblerID to talk through what actually happens inside Jackpot Race™, the studio's patented mechanic that has surprisingly little written about it despite being unique in the market. The conversation also covers Habanero's expanding regulatory footprint across Latin America, what's driving the 2026 release slate, and where the studio wants to be three years from now. This interview runs alongside the rest of the industry coverage in Publications on GamblerID.
Toni Karapetrov on Joining Habanero and What Makes the Studio Different
Let's start with the basics for readers meeting you for the first time - what's your title at Habanero, and how did you end up there? When did you join, and what pulled you toward this specific studio rather than somewhere else in the industry?
I have been with Habanero through a lot of its international growth, particularly as we've expanded into more regulated markets and built a much broader portfolio of games.
What I have always enjoyed about Habanero is the freedom people have to bring ideas to the table. We have a very collaborative approach to development, with different people bringing different strengths to the process, and I think that helps us avoid becoming too predictable. We are constantly looking at what players respond to, how different markets are evolving, and where we can do something differently.
Do you have a personal favourite among Habanero's slots, and what makes it stand out to you specifically?
What I like most is how well everything comes together. You can have a great-looking game, but if the maths and gameplay do not support it, players will quickly lose interest. With Scopa, the theme feels integral to the experience rather than something simply layered on top.
It is also a good example of how a game with a very specific identity can still appeal beyond the market that inspired it. We have seen the same with 5 Mariachis, which was developed with LatAm players in mind but also performed well in Europe. Ultimately, if you get the fundamentals right, a good game can travel.
How Jackpot Race™ Actually Works
Jackpot Race™ is a patented mechanic unique to Habanero, but there's surprisingly little written about how it actually works. Can you break down the three phases - accumulation, race, payout - for readers who've never encountered it?
Once it goes live, eligible players must be actively spinning to remain in contention. An RNG determines the winning moment, and the probability increases as the clock runs down, creating a natural build-up towards the end.
From there, the prize is awarded according to the operator’s chosen payout structure, whether that means one winner or several. Then everything resets and starts building towards the next one.
Growth Strategy: LatAm Expansion and the Road to 2026
You've built out licences in Malta, Romania, Panama, Sweden, Argentina and Peru - a notably wide regulatory spread. Panama and Argentina in particular don't come up much in Habanero's public interviews so far. What's driving the push into Latin America specifically?
LatAm has been important to us for a few years, but the region is changing quickly, creating many interesting opportunities. As regulation develops, there is greater scope for suppliers like us to build something there for the long term.
With that in mind, it is about taking the time to understand each market. Getting the regulatory side right is essential, but you also need to listen to the operators who know their players and ensure the games you bring in make sense for that audience.
There is huge potential across the region, but we are not interested in being everywhere just for the sake of it. We’d rather build properly in the right markets and grow from there.
2026 has already brought Happy Hatchlings, Rhythm Nights, Galaxy Babies, and now Battle The Beast and Battleship Strike. Is there a common thread across this year's releases, or is each one solving a different problem in the catalogue?
You can see that in the games themselves. Galaxy Babies is built around the Black Hole mechanic, which brings blocks of Wilds onto the reels, while Battle The Beast centres on duels between Viking Wilds and the Beast Scatter, with the victor expanding across the entire reel.
The mechanics may differ, but the development approach remains consistent. We pay close attention to what players want and how those preferences evolve. Fundamentally, it is about keeping the portfolio fresh without losing sight of the core elements that make a game work.
Where does Habanero want to be in three years that it isn't today?
That also means getting closer to individual markets. As we have seen across regions such as LatAm, entering a country is only the first step. To build something that lasts, you need to understand the operators, the players, and what actually works locally.
There is a lot more we want to do with the product as well. New games will obviously be part of that, but so will the tools around them, from promotional features to tournaments and other ways for operators to engage their players.
Three years from now, I’d like Habanero to have a stronger international presence without losing focus on the sustainable growth that brought us here in the first place.
Inside the Studio: Team, Recommendations and Player Trust
Could you tell us a bit about the team behind Habanero these days - roughly how many people, and where's the team primarily based?
Having people from different backgrounds is a real strength, particularly when creating games for players across such a wide range of markets. Even with teams in different locations, we have managed to maintain a close-knit way of working, and that collaboration is an important part of how our games come together.
As we have grown, maintaining that connection across the business has been important. It means different perspectives can feed into what we create while everyone is still working towards the same goal.
For a player who's never tried a Habanero slot before, which title would you point them to first, and why that one over the other 200+?
It would definitely have to say Hot Hot Fruit. It is one of our most popular games for a reason and has been for years. While it might look like a classic fruit slot from the outside, there are enough modern elements to keep things interesting, perfectly encapsulating what Habanero does best. The Hot Hot feature duplicates symbols across the reels and the free spin bonus round gives players something to aim for. With a 96.74% RTP and medium-to-high volatility, it hits a sweet spot that works for a wide range of players. Simple to understand and accessible but never dull, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
Of course, with more than 200 titles in the portfolio, no single game tells the whole story. If someone wanted to see where we are today, Galaxy Babies is a good example of our more recent work, built around a Black Hole mechanic that brings expanding blocks of Wilds into play and grows during Free Games. But if a player is looking for the perfect introduction to the wonderful world of Habanero, Hot Hot Fruit is where I’d point them to.
What's a mechanic or feature Habanero built that you expected players to love and they didn't - or the reverse, something small that turned out to be a bigger hit than anyone on the team predicted?
We conduct extensive market analysis before a game goes live, but the real test comes once players get their hands on it. Sometimes the features you expect to stand out are not the ones that draw the strongest response, and that feedback is valuable.
That is why we pay close attention to those patterns and use them to shape what comes next. You can have a very clear idea of how a game will perform, but in the end, it is the players who tell you what works.
Beyond RTP and licensing, what should a player actually check before trusting a slot provider - what do you look at that most players don't think to ask about?
For instance, technical performance matters just as much. A game needs to load quickly, run smoothly and work properly across different devices. It might not be the first thing a player considers when choosing a slot, but when it does not work, you notice it immediately.
Beyond that, transparency is equally important. Players should be able to understand what they are playing and how the game works, and have access to the right information and responsible gaming tools. Taken together, those things are what build trust.
